Sophie Holohan – FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the singer-songwriter, Sophie Holohan, talks about the story of her first experience with live music. You can check out the story, after the break.

I was born into an extremely musical family. My dad had dreams of becoming a rockstar, and my mom hoped to grace a Broadway stage. Though neither one of them decided to go through with their musical aspirations, the love of music was a staple of my childhood. Because of this, it was no surprise that my first concert experience happened at the ripe old age of five.

My mom was a lover of country music and American Idol, so we decided to see Carrie Underwood together. I remember my mom picking me up from kindergarten and feeling the adrenaline and excitement coursing through my body. At the time, I lived in the suburbs of Chicago in a town called Grayslake. The concert, however, took place at Ravinia, an outdoor, pavilion-like venue that is home to the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States.

By the time we got to the venue, the sun was setting and I was ecstatic. Not only was I getting to see one of my idols at the time, but I was up way past my bedtime. My mom and I sat in our seats, and as the lights went down, I knew there was something magical about live music.

Though I don’t remember a lot about the concert itself or the songs that were sung, I remember one specific moment extremely vividly. Near the end of the show, Carrie Underwood brought a girl a few years older than me on stage to sing a song with her. When the show was over and we got back to our car, I remember angrily explaining to my mom that I could have been that girl singing the song on stage with Carrie Underwood. My mom remembers me telling her “that’s what I’m gonna do when I grow up”.

After that experience, I continued to grow my immense love for live music. Some of my favorite artists to see live have been Adele, Matt Maeson, the 1975, Billie Eilish, Twenty One Pilots, and Lizzo to name a few. And now that I am grown up, I am making music as a career! I’d like to think that I am making five-year-old Carrie-Underwood-loving me proud.

Keep up with her on Instagram and TikTok.