Summer 2017: Summer Internship, Concert Week & APMAs

As my senior year of college has finally started, and my first week of classes is officially over, I wanted to reflect on the fun adventures I had this summer.

Summer Internship:

This summer, the majority of my time was spent interning at Do317. For those of you who have never heard of it, it’s located in Indianapolis (hence 317) and it’s basically a website that serves as a social calendar for Indy and the surrounding areas. Being a huge music fan, the majority of the special projects I worked on were music related. Two of my favorite projects being the Midwest Music Festival Forecast and the Outdoor Concert Essentials list. For my very first project, I got the chance to play the new mini golf course at the Indianapolis Museum of Art before it opened to the public!

I had a blast at my internship this summer, and as a plus I gained a lot of valuable experience in the public relations field.

Concert Week

July is one of my favorite times of the year. Why? Because there’s usually one particular week in July that is jam packed with concerts. I took a week out of my busy schedule to travel to see my favorite bands in the surrounding states. From July 16–23, I went to five various concerts throughout the week. There was a free show in Cleveland that Sunday with one of my favorite bands, State Champs, so you know I had to go. Monday, the APMAs and red carpet took place in Cleveland. My grandparents took me back home for a couple days after the APMAs, and then on Friday I got to see my all-time favorite band, All Time Low, with two of my roommates in Chicago. I also got to see The Chainsmokers and DNCE at 400 Fest (I’m still crying over the fact I got to see 1/3 of the Jonas Brothers for the first time in years). As big of a fangirl as I am, I went to see All Time Low a second time that weekend (because one time wasn’t enough). For those of you that have never seen them, they really do put on an amazing live performance and their random chatter between songs is unique for every show and it might just make you laugh so hard you cry. Plus, you can never see your favorite band too many times.

APMAs

For those of you who don’t know, I have made the 6 hour trip up to Cleveland with my grandparents for The Alternative Press Music Awards the past three years in a row. The past two years I learned the tips and tricks for meeting the most band members and having the best time (or so I thought). This year, everything changed. I’m guessing the main problem was that they switched venues FIVE DAYS before the APMAs took place. Also, this was my first year purchasing a VIP package because I wanted the chance to hang out with my friends, Whitney and Emily, at the VIP exclusive red carpet viewing area. With the venue change came so much confusion and an even smaller red carpet than usual. We decided to stand in our usual spot at the red carpet, but it ended up being the worst decision we could have made. We were lucky to meet a few band members, but most of them were rushed past us to have time for interviews.

The red carpet was not the greatest experience I’ve ever had, but the awards show itself made up for everything that had happened that afternoon. VIP tickets were handed out in the order that you arrived to pick them up, so we were about five rows away from the stage. We also got lucky and got seats by the aisle, so band members walked right past us all night. I was internally fangirling when Josh Dun, the drummer for Twenty One Pilots, came down off stage and did a drum performance TWO FEET AWAY FROM ME.

Overall, the show itself was pretty awesome (not as awesome as when Jack and Alex from All Time Low hosted, but still pretty cool). I loved getting to see All Time Low, Pierce the Veil, and Sleeping With Sirens all perform. It was definitely a night to remember.

——

Let’s just say this year’s concert week is something I will never forget. I honestly have enough memories and stories to tell from that week that I could write a blog post for each day of the week alone, but I wanted to keep it short(ish) and sweet.

Onto the next adventure,