Katelyn Benschoter-
Sometimes, spontaneity leads to some of the best memories. I can attest to this by telling many stories of last-minute ideas that have led to some of my favorite memories. A recent memory that I will never forget is when a few friends and I decided to say “Why not?” when it came to buying some concert tickets to girl in red. The tickets were reasonably priced, the show was an hour away, and we all really enjoyed her music. So, we did it and bought the tickets. I then attended one of the best concerts I have ever been to. This is my story on why you should always buy those tickets. After all, you only live once.
Prior to seeing girl in red this past December at her standalone concert, I had seen her open for none other than Taylor Swift at The Eras Tour in July of 2023. At this time, I was not a huge fan of girl in red, as I hadn’t done enough digging into her discography. But I did know her popular songs such as “we fell in love in october.” And as someone who attended the Eras Tour purely for Taylor Swift, I was amazed at girl in red’s stage presence and live sound. That concert led me to dig deep down into all of her music, and I have now become a pretty big fan. Watching her at the Eras Tour setting aside the music she was singing, it was clear she knew how to handle a stage. She was running all over Swift’s massive stage, and interacting with the crowd any chance she could get. I knew leaving that show, I wanted to someday see her in concert again.
Now, let’s fast forward to December of 2024. I had been eyeing the girl in red concert tickets for a while, as the $50 price tag was just too good to resist. After mentioning it enough times to the right friends, I found myself with a ticket to see girl in red on December 10th, 2024. While I was very excited, these tickets were a last-minute decision and in my mind could never compare to a massive show like the Eras Tour. But she exceeded my expectations. This show was at the Palace Theater in St. Paul, MN. This venue is quaint, with beautiful architecture inside. My friends and I had floor tickets, and I was very excited to see girl in red perform up close, as opposed to my nosebleed Eras Tour seats. My friends and I snagged the perfect place to stand as it was the back of the true pit section, and we still managed to have room to breathe and dance. This concert was my best experience having floor seats. It was a smaller area, which made it less hot and congested compared to big-named artists. The general vibe of the crowd was also very friendly and safe, which led to a feeling of comfort standing so close to strangers as you do when you are in a concert pit.
It was finally time for girl in red to take the stage, and it was amazing. She opened her show with the title track of her 2024 album, “I’m Doing It Again Baby.” This is a short song that opens her album filled with self-confidence and good energy. This song was a very smart way to open the show to get the crowd hyped up for fan favorites later on. One of my favorite songs she played was “bad idea,” which was the second song she played in the night. This song is a personal favorite of mine, but also one of her most popular, so the energy was electric. I had an amazing time bopping along to every song with friends as well as strangers.
While many of girl in red’s songs are upbeat and got the crowd hyped up, she also created space for more intimate and soft moments throughout the show for songs like “rue” or “two queens in a king sized bed.” She has many songs that focus on heavier topics such as mental health and sexuality, so it was nice to see her incorporate moments for those songs that address those heavier ideas. As girl in red was introducing a few songs, she even “trauma dumped” to the crowd about her childhood. She opened up the space for each individual to think of how these songs related to them. But as girl in red fans know, it would not have been a girl in red show without some humor. She is insanely funny, and I do not think I have ever laughed so hard at a concert before. An example of what her humor was like throughout the show is when she started playing “october passed me by” she meowed the first few lines instead of singing the words. Her humor and interactions with the crowd were something that made this show stand out from any other concert I have attended.
It finally came time for the concert to end. This is arguably the worst part about concerts; they always have to end. She ended the show with one of her biggest hits “i wanna be your girlfriend” which was such a fun way to end. And not only is she a great singer, but she is also a great guitarist. I would make an argument that she is a modern-day rockstar. She has the stage presence, the guitar, the outfits…and she crowd surfs. You heard that right, to end the show, she told the audience to put away their phones as she was going to ask us to hold her up. Crowd surfing was truly only something I had heard old rock stars did – I never thought I would see someone do it live in front of me. It was wild, and something I will never forget.
Every concert I have attended has its own memories and its own reasons that made it fun, and the girl in red concert is the show that I have had the most fun at from start to finish. If you ever have the chance to see girl in red, especially in a smaller venue, I could not recommend it enough. It is a fun time, and who doesn’t love live music? Once again, this is your sign if you are on the fence about buying tickets, do it. You will not regret it. I typically plan out attending concerts months in advance. This time, I had only bought tickets about two weeks prior and still had a phenomenal time. So seriously, buy that ticket. I know you are contemplating buying it.