Concert Archives - Kati Rose

Recently, I hit a new level of fan for One Direction. There’s something I’m surprised about again – that there were actually levels of fan that I hadn’t yet achieved. I along with my friend Domingo decided to trip it down to Miami, Florida for the boy’s final show of the Where We Are tour. It was one of the best decisions of my life. There’s more to come on that in specific concert and travel posts soon – stay tuned. Today, it’s all about my concert outfit. No matter how many shows I go to, I still enjoy the simple act of deciding what the perfect outfit is for each artist and venue. I know there are plenty of people who are fine throwing on jeans and a tee, but that’s not me. For each show I think about the whole experience and what feels right. One Direction’s show was nothing different. Planning my perfect concert outfit was up there in my top priorities before departing for Miami.

You may notice – these pictures weren’t taken the actual day of the One Direction concert in Miami. I was much too excited and amped to get to SunLife Stadium and embrace my inner fangirl that I completely spaced taking any fashion pics. Rest assured this is what I wore (hopefully recreating the shoot at a later date doesn’t count as cheating) as I was much too excited about my final outfit to not post about it.

At a One Direction concert you could practically pinpoint who a person’s favorite member was based on how they were dressed. I’m not sure if this was intentional, or if certain personalities flock to similar personalities. Take a look, can you tell mine?

Indie rocker chic, yes? (Trust me it works more than you would expect at a One Direction concert.) Have my favorite member figured out yet?

Okay I’ll give you a hint. It’s Harry Styles. While I love all the boys very much (like fiercely love) it is Harry who has a special place in my fashion heart.

Do you see the similarities between our ways of dress? As soon as it got pointed out to me during the show, I totally couldn’t un-see my channeling of Harry in my concert outfit choices. I didn’t even try to emulate Harry on purpose, it just kinda happened. I think in my case, it’s more than just favorite member syndrome (even if I do love Harry and his cupcake endearing ways) due to the fact that I acknowledge Harry is a huge fashion inspiration for me outside of just who he is as a member of One Direction. He’s even in an upcoming fashion icon post.

I choose this outfit for Miami for a few reasons. I knew I wanted my outfit to fall within my indie rock vibe I love, but I had my practical reasons too. It was mainly based around the fact were outside in an uncovered stadium in peak sunlight. I wanted to be covered as much as I could be, but not sweltering in the heat. This lightweight airy kimono was the perfect solution. It doesn’t hurt that I love the style of kimonos either.

Once I had this kimono selected (with ace colors that just vibe with Miami) I started to assemble the rest of my outfit. I had just received my Chelsea boots and really wanted to wear them – they fit with the vibe of the kimono I was going for anyhow. At that point it was a battle of shorts and a top or a dress and with how draped the kimono is it made much more sense to go with something tight and formfitting. That whole balance of opposites.

Of course, my accessories were just as planned as the rest of my outfit. As soon as I saw this anchor necklace at Target, I knew I had found the perfect piece.

A million and a half I love you points if any of my readers know why I chose this specific anchor and rope necklace to the concert 😉 It’s got meaning and it’s part of the reason why I fell in love with the boys in the first place. Anybody?

I really enjoy this bracelet as it looks more elegant than the cheap price I paid for it. However, I had to coat the back of it in clear nail polish as when I was outside in the 90 degree temps of Miami it left a green mark around my wrist. That alone means as much as I like the look of it, I probably won’t wear it very often.

Excuse my ghostly-ness in this next picture. I’ve warned you before I feel like I’m part ghost most days. Even I couldn’t get a tan in Miami. (Bonus points though I didn’t get burned either – that was quite the feat.)

You guys don’t know how in love with these boots I am. I seriously don’t think I’ve worn any other type of shoe since I got them. I had been on the hunt for literally YEARS to score a pair of nice Chelsea boots. I wanted a pair that looked like real black leather (aka not cheap looking) but didn’t cost me a fortune. It was much harder than it sounds. I finally found them at my favorite store ASOS. HALLELUJAH! I feel like I really need to stock up and invest in a few more pairs to last me with how much I’m wearing these babies. Would that be strange? These New Look Chelsea boots are the most comfy things ever. Plus, they can be dressed up and down for a variety of looks. I also LOVE them for flying because of the stretch panel on the side they are incredibly easy to get on and off while going through security. See would you look at that? I’m talking myself into doing something through a blog post. I’ll keep you updated on how many pairs I end up buying.

I really loved this outfit and felt amazing in it. I felt it was one of my more recent outfits that really showed off my personality as well. I can’t wait until I can rock it on an average day and not for concerts only next summer.

//Clothes Breakdown//

Xhilaration Bodycon Black Sleeveless Dress from Target – SIMILARS 1 2
Junior’s Ankle Socks 2-Pack with Ruffles from Target in Black – EXACT
Target’s Women’s Anchor Pendant – ALMOST EXACT (Mine is gold, this is silver.)
Women’s Braided Bracelet w/ Stone Casted Bar in Silver/Gold at Target – EXACT
Work Your Angles Geo-Tribal Kimono in Green from Go Jane – EXACT
New Look Darcy Low Flat Chelsea Boots from ASOS – EXACT
Ray Ban Violet Floral Print Wayfarers – SIMILAR 1

Now that I’m back from the city that goes ’til the break of dawn I have to sadly put away all my summer clothes and properly break out my fall essentials. As happy as I am for my jumpers (that’s British for sweaters get used to me using it) and boots, I’m sad to admit the cold is on it’s way. Maybe I’ll find another excuse to jet-set to a warmer climate when I’m really missing my summer wardrobe.

P.S. – Flying to Miami wasn’t the first time I saw One Direction live.

Until next time,

You guys, I saw Ed Sheeran again a few weeks back and I think I’m even more in love. Yeah, you would think that wasn’t possible – I know I didn’t think so either. This was the 7th time I have seen the British singer-songwriter since his 2010 debut (am I officially band-aid status yet?) and WOW. What was neat about this year’s X tour, was Ed finally headlining massive arenas by himself. I remember when I first saw him and there were maybe 20 people in the audience, so it’s amazing to see how far he has came and the success he’s experienced.

***IF YOU USE MY PICTURES OR VIDEOS ANYWHERE PLEASE KEEP THE WATERMARK ON AND PROPERLY CREDIT!***

I wasn’t a fan of the intro band, Rudimental. I was the only one of us four who knew of prior songs of theirs. Thanks Radio 1 listening! I had enjoyed the singles played in the UK, but I wondered if it was due to the help of John Newman and I found it was. Rudimental was electro rock and my biggest complaint was they were too aggressive and intense. The bass was much too loud I could barely hear the actual music. I go to plenty of concerts and never once have I felt uncomfortable from the bass level until their set. My advice? Turn down the bass and you’d gain more fans. Selfishly, I wanted to start a hashtag of #BringBackPassenger because he was the perfect company to join Ed on tour. Plus, they had the cutest friendship. Oh well it was over soon enough.

The show lasted almost two hours and Ed performed around 17 songs with a few random bits mixed in here and there. He even snuck in a bit of THE BACKSTREET BOYS! Be still my heart, it was two of my loves colliding. There was a mixture of old favorites and new hits that every fan would leave pleased with the selection. I know everyone in my group had their all time favorite song played so I’d say it’s a win.

Ed choose Minneapolis as the lucky stop to perform “The Man” live for the very first time on tour. He also randomly decided to perform one of my throwback faves in “Kiss Me” – I was very much a happy camper with every song selection.

There is one factor nobody can dispute – Ed holds his own. He performs his entire live set with no backing band. He doesn’t even add in a lot of fancy set designs to keep you occupied. It’s mainly Ed, his series of guitars (which are all aptly named) and his loop pedal. This is an incredible feat for solo acts to accomplish in an arena. Ed is one of a handful of artists that have managed it through time.

Ed creates the backing track by using his aforementioned loop pedal. He uses it by creating layers of sound using his voice whether this be melodies, beatboxing, or just random sounds he can make with his mouth layered with how he can use his guitar – from string plucking to even hitting various parts of his instrument to make a drum like beat. It’s really fucking wicked watching him build the entire rich complex song from nothing in front of your eyes.

Ed always jokes that he’s just a short, chubby ginger, with a lazy eye, who can rap, and plays guitar. That’s how you are supposed to remember who he is if you ever need to google him. Every time he steps on stage he shows he’s much more than that self-appointed title.

Lyrically he’s one of the best wordsmiths out there. He’s known for his clever plays on the English language in his run of the mill songs. But did you know he’s also quite the excellent free verse rapper? Especially when you add in that it comes from such an unexpected source. Crowd favorite “You Need Me I Don’t Need You” ended up being almost 10 minutes long for a single song because of Ed’s additional spun verses. Of course, he didn’t forget the ultimate line of they say I’m up and coming like I’m fucking in an elevator that the entire arena patiently waited for Ed to spit with a massive grin on his face.

If you didn’t notice from my discussion on Ed’s description of himself – one of the things working in his favor is his wit and self condescending humor. It takes his quiet one man stage presence and turns it into an engaging act that really feeds off the audience. It’s what makes him so likable because he does just seem like an average lad living his dream.

My favorite moment of Ed’s recent show was when he set off to sing a beautiful ballad a grown man from the audience yelled “I LOVE YOU ED!” and then Ed continued to say he loved the big fella back and this song was dedicated to him. When other people in the audience started yelling too – Ed mock chastised them that they were taking away this man’s moment he had dreamed of. You can see the whole occurrence in my “Give Me Love” video below.

The audience was a bit different now that he’s toured with Taylor Swift. There’s more young females and screaming, but still has some diversity to it. I was worried because of the crowd age people wouldn’t respect Ed’s wishes of no screaming during music times and quietness during the really emotional songs, but surprisingly even the pre-teens realized it was in their benefit to shh. I do miss that in a massive arena Ed can’t do his standard stand back from the mic, 100% acoustic version of a song, but I guess there’s always trade offs in life.

Every song was done amazing. From the slower songs full of emotion to the faster songs where Ed just went nuts with energy. Each one was a treat to observe and listen and bask in.

The more bass driven tracks unfortunately had a little too much feedback in places due to where I was sitting close to the speakers, so be warned when you listen to them. The slower tracks are both HD sound and video. Remember to watch all videos in 1080p. I also only linked to a handful of tracks here (they are all new songs off X) to see all videos simply go to my YouTube page HERE.

The Man

Runaway

Bloodstream

Tenerife Sea

Thinking Out Loud

Ed Sheeran is just a genuinely likable person who is destined for great things. There’s a reason why all the big legends (Elton John, Paul McCartney, and the list goes on) have a soft spot for him. In a world where music integrity is often questioned, Ed proves that there are some quality artists still changing the music game.

I’ll say it now and I’ll say it again, if you ever get the chance to check out Ed live – its a MUST. The way he works the loop pedal and creates his songs from scratch is work checking out alone due to the neat factor.

You know when I get my 8th (why does it have to be so far away? so sad) and all the way to 100th and more chances to see Ed Sheeran I’ll definitely be there and be up front yet again with my tickets bought months in advance. Maybe one of these times my ultimate dream of interviewing him or somehow even finding a way to work amongst his tour crew may even come true. (Hey Ed or Stuart I’m always up for the opportunity! Just saying.)

Is there any artist you see every time they’re in town?

P.S. – I reviewed the time I saw Ed Sheeran as part of the Taylor Swift Red tour.

Until next time,

kati-rose

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