Random thoughts - One Direction LIVE - On The Road Again tour - Seattle, July 15, 2015

A collection of 41 observations and thoughts that I had during the One Direction concert (in chronological order):

1. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many teenage girls gathered in one place in my life. It's sort of a nightmare. CenturyLink stadium is sold out. How many people does that hold? Anyway, the atmosphere has the strangest energy; it's hormones, and lip gloss and braces, and ponytails and the amalgamation of thousands of different perfumes. And screaming. So much screaming.
2. Most of the moms/chaperones that have been dragged to this event are acting appropriately. But there is a large contigent of "cool moms" - you know Amy Poehler's character from Mean Girls? Yeah, that kind of horror. It's all too tight and too blushed. And lots of glitter.
3. There are way more straight dudes (not dads) here than I expected. Dragged along by their girlfriends I suspect. And in fact seem to be making out with said girlfriends way more than is necessary - to prove something? Later during the concert, Harry Styles actually calls out a couple for making out the entire show. Guys, if a pop star from 30 feet away notices you're kissing, maybe tone it down a bit?
4. There are 4 gay men in their 50s (2 couples?) sitting in the 4th row sans children. They're worse than me, right?
5. Something called an "Icona Pop" is opening up for 1D. They are a duo. From the UK? Australia maybe? These two women seriously look like they are doing bad Spice Girls cosplay. One is like Scary Spice, and the other is like a Ginger/Sporty Spice combo. They are actually singing and not lyp-syncing so that's something in their favor. But as with a lot of EDM stuff, they're singing to music tracks. They keep slipping behind a weird DJ booth to change outfits?
6. This is how you can tell the parents/chaperones in the audience - they're all sitting. Hee! You guys, we're old okay? The show is just starting and we have 3 1/2 more hours ahead of us to get through.
7. I lucked out with the perfect seat. Far right section on the floor; Row 15, which is just far enough back that I can see everything; and on the aisle so no one's blocking me. This sweet tween girl behind me whispered to her sister/friend that she wouldn't be able to see over me and wondered if she should ask me to switch seats - her friend wisely responded that she didn't think I would do it. Ha! My resting-bitch-face works in my favor again!
8. Oh! Icona Pop are the ones that sing that "I Don't Care. I Love It!" song. They saved the best for last.
9. In the interim before 1D comes out, they're showing music videos and movie trailers. And Honda ads, because I guess they're a big sponsor of this tour.
10. A lot of the videos are for that other boy band from the UK (?), 500 Summers or something? (That's not the name. But I'm too lazy to look it up and I DON'T CARE.) Are these guys also on Simon Cowell's label or something? Otherwise it seems weird to promote another boy band at a One Direction concert. 
11. In true Seattle fashion, I've noticed an inordinate amount of Birkenstocks and Tevas on these otherwise tarted up teen girls.
12. Girls are retouching their makeup before 1D comes out. Why? It's not like Niall is going to see you, much less give a thought to how much lip gloss or mascara you're wearing.
13. I am truly impressed with the amount of signage here! It's nice to know that teen girls still make signs to take to concerts of their favorite bands. Gotta keep those poster board companies in business somehow!
14. So far I've seen only one "congrats on the baby" poster for Louis.
15. Boy, "Uptown Funk" is still an undeniable hit. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was up out of their seats and dancing around when the song was played over the loud speakers. Infectious indeed.
16. As we get closer to the main event, the audience is getting hyper and ratcheting up the screaming. The screaming over NOTHING. 10 minutes before show time and the girls are screaming for anything at this point - roadies/crew coming out on stage to set things up; 1D ads for perfume; some of the backing band members walking through the tunnels on the side to get to the understage area.
17. 4 min before show time: A PSA comes on with One Direction talking about their charity. I guess you buy gold stars at the show that raises money. Girls screamed throughout the entire PSA; the screams amping up each time a different one of the 4 guys did their part of the speel. I guess if this gets teens to give a shit about poverty and the environment I'm all for it. I just would rather also have my eardrums.
18. The long runway that they have coming out into the audience from the mainstage is fairly low to the ground. Lower than I expected. (It would be at boob-level if I was standing next to it). I don't trust any of these chicks not to clock a security guard to get to Harry Styles. They are taking a risk.
19. Honda is giving away a custom 1D Civic, complete with wacky paint job and the 4 lads' signatures on the hood. I'm not saying I didn't enter the contest to win it...umm
20. Yikes. There are seriously A LOT of freaking people here! They don't have that much of the stadium blocked off. I think there must be 30,000 folks here. Does the "Clink" even have that many seats. I'm bad at math.
21. Oh! Here they come! Oh no, the screaming has increased to a face melting squeal pitch. A deafening wall of screaming as each of the guys comes out in the following order: Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis.
22. SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
23. Liam took over the Zayn Malik vocals in the first couple of songs, but surprisingly Niall is the one that steps up and does the Zayn parts of the majority of their set. And Niall is killing it vocally!
24. They have a toilet on stage!! Behind this elaborate curtain. Louis used it between songs and kept his mic on! I mean, we couldn't hear him peeing or anything, but Liam had to work the crowd to cover the time and asked if Louis was done yet. All of a sudden we heard Louis over the loud speakers - "I had to use the loo. Sorry - too much tea before the show. Went right through." Louis can even make taking a piss adorable.
25. Eleven songs into the set the guys sang "Little Things". The girls around me lost their ever-loving minds! They were floored that they were performing the song without Zayn, because he has such a major solo in it. Harry took over the Zayn parts on this one. These girls were so excited. Something so unexpected made them so happy. It was a nice moment, even for this hard-hearted old woman. 
26. Oh, and the harmonies on "Little Things" were out of this world. These guys can really sing.
27. I had studied the set lists for San Diego and San Francisco and I was hoping for something new, but they are following the established set to a tee. That's okay. I guess.
28. Louis acknowledged one of the "Congrats on baby" signs that was held up, with a sweet smile and a thank you. Aww
29. Naill is raunchier/sexier on stage than I expected. I've always imagined him as the sweet, virginal one.
30. Harry is way goofier. And sexy AF. I get it now. 
31. Harry is wearing very cool brown suede boots that I covet.
32. During the performance of "Night Changes", all of the teens in the audience whipped out their old charity stars and held them over their heads, swaying back and forth. It was all very choreographed and well done. I don't know guys, this audience is operating on a different level from me.
33. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
34. The guys' voices blend really well together. Louis is definitely the weakest link vocally, but he writes most of their songs, so I forgive him. Also that face!
35. Liam keeps taking phones from the audience and taking selfies with them. It's sweet. 
36. In fact, the entire evening One Direction has been incredibly gracious and thankful for their fans. Well done, lads.
37. Girls are throwing the most random things onto the stage - sunglasses; plastic leis; toe shoes?; and a lot of bras. C'mon young ladies, keep it classy.
38. 4 encores! FOUR.
39. When all was said and done, the guys performed for 3 hours straight! Do you think they're able to do that because they're so young? That kind of stamina is beyond me. The stage loo probably helps too.
40. They played only one of my favorite songs of theirs. But that's okay. If they had sung "Fool's Gold" or "Same Mistakes" I may have burst into tears and embarrassed myself in front of hundreds of 15 yr olds.
41. Thank god for earplugs. I wore them all the way back to my car that I had parked about 20 blocks away. And when I removed them, my ears felt great.

1D or BUST! (or how I stopped being embarrassed and embraced my love of boy bands) - PREVIEW

So, tonight's the night. I'm finally seeing One Direction live in concert. I have a floor seat and I'm riding solo, so I'm sure to stand out in a sea of teens and tweens.
Full disclosure - just yesterday I was given the opportunity to write a piece for a small women's issues blog. It may or may not get published there, but it does sort of give me a ready excuse to use if questioned as to why a woman in her mid-40s is attending a 1D concert alone.
Never mind the fact that I'm a super-fan that bought my ticket months ago. I will be reporting back on my experience in detail tomorrow or Friday.

Some things I'm looking forward to -

1. This will be Louis Tomlinson's first public appearance since his baby-daddy news came out, so I'll be curious if it's addressed.
2. I'm excited to see how they've reworked their songs, with the loss of Zayn Malik's beautiful tenor voice.
3. So far they've kept the same set list for the U.S. tour dates; will Seattle be the city that gets a new set?!
4. Will they sing any of my favorite songs?! Actually I'm sort of hoping that they won't. Because I  don't want to cry in front of 13 yr olds.