Nep - FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the indie rock artist, Nep, talks about the story of the first concert she ever went to. You can check out the story below:

My first ever concert was Tyler, The Creator. I was 16 and just, like, devouring new music left and right…I think my older sibling got me tickets for my birthday. Me and my friends were really into Kali Uchis in 2017, so when she got featured on Flower Boy it was the coolest thing we could’ve ever imagined. Flower Boy really showed me how concept albums work. I kinda forgot how big of an impact it had on me. Actually, I’m remembering that a few years later, I wrote one of my college essays based around the song November. That album and Igor totally blew my mind.

The night before the show I got to stay at my sibling’s place. I remember feeling so cool talking to their roommates like, “yeah, I’m going to see Tyler tomorrow.” I brought my green One Stars…that was my whole aesthetic back then. Like, a big, striped rugby polo and One Star Converse. Gosh, I’m only 22 but I feel old talking about this!!! The arena was a 2-minute walk, and that felt even cooler, because I loved (still do, honestly) feeling like a local. Florida concerts are crazy, because artists usually only hit one city—Orlando, Tampa, or Miami—and everybody from all around just buys tickets and drives. No matter how far it is. I didn’t realize until I went to college with people from out-of-state that a lot of people think an hour drive is pretty far. Florida is long, so you can’t really get anywhere in an hour. And, because everybody’s put so much work into getting there, I think Florida crowds are just way more excited.

We had seats in the lower bowl, which was definitely a better place for me than the pit. I got so overwhelmed. I heard the crowd cheer for the first time when GoldLink came out, and I was actually, like, so thrown off. I remember asking my sibling if that was a real sound. It was so loud it sounded fake, like the crowd sounds they put in movies. Everybody was smoking and vaping and that was all new to me too. Jaden also opened, so, my first concert having two openers set a pretty high bar for all the shows I’ve seen since. Tyler’s set was just, wow. He was in character the whole time which was SO cool to me. I was freaking out and just couldn’t fathom that he was a person who was there. I still get that feeling when I see musicians in person. That was the first time I ever lost my voice from screaming. I think I decided that night I wanted to have an alter ego…alas, maybe one day!

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