Hi, I'm Jess, I'm 20 years old and I love One Direction.
I have come to a point in my life where I am no longer afraid to admit that I adore a boy band so many people look down their noses at and have come to embrace the gentle teasing and judging. Everyone has different music tastes and your preference is not superior than mine because at the end of the day, it's all just a different type of noise.
On the day of the concert I woke at an ungodly hour in the morning to get on my train to Cardiff. Several hours later and a few train changes I made it to the welsh capital ready to meet my friend who I had met online and was attending the concert with. The eager fan girl inside me wanted to go straight to the venue and queue to be as close to the stage as possible but luckily my friend reminded me that we were in standing and could easily wiggle through to get a better spot.
After getting ready and listening to the set list in preparation we headed off towards the stadium. Arriving at the central train station it was pretty hard to miss that One Direction were in town. The main roads through the city centre had been closed and thousands of people were roaming the streets. I immediately felt under dressed as we passed hundreds of people in 1D merch with drawings on their faces, banners and even some mums had tattoos of the boys down their arms.
As we had got slightly lost getting from the hotel to the stadium we had sacrificed our time to find a bar and have a few drinks in preparation for the evening and most importantly enable myself to dance the night away. We ventured into Tesco's in the hope to find some last minute drinks and possible something in the form of dinner to find all the alcohol sealed off and covered up. With that avenue closed we walked slightly further down the road to find a small off license that was happy to sell us whatever we wanted. Loaded up with the shops entire supply of miniature bottles of jager and a bottle of coke we went to join our designated queue. You will always know the strength of a friendship when you are stood in a queue with 10-12 year olds in front of you with their mums and you are behind them sneakily trying to take a shot of jager and then chase down some coke without the stewards noticing.
Surprisingly the queue only lasted around 20 minutes and after getting a wristband and our ticket scanned with no bag checks or any type of security we very casually walked into the venue. Being the sucker I am, I had to get some merch. So I queued for what seemed like an hour but was probably only 10 minutes to get a t-shirt and a wrist band for myself and my friend. A horrendous amount of money later we spotted the bar and queued again, loading ourselves up with cider purely for something to hold in the crowd.
The standing area was pretty spacious and most people were older seeing as 14 years old and under weren't allowed in there, so we squeezed through to find a good viewing spot. Adverts and music videos were played while we waited, including the you and I perfume advert which got a mixed review when Zayn came on screen because people actually booed him. I know the pain is real that he left, but come on. A short while later after jamming out to a bit of MNEK and 5SOS that was playing it was time for McBusted. See, my inner 10 year old who had last seen both McFly and Busted separately was screaming internally because it had been 10 years since seeing them perform and I am just as much a fan now as I was then.
McBusted did not disappoint. There was a real feeling of unity from the band from the choreographed little dance moves and the bunny hopping as they came on stage, it really felt like a McBusted production and not them opening for One Direction. Playing some classic McFly and Busted hits, they then moved onto some of their newer stuff. I, like so many around us, sang along to both old and new and was suitably warmed up for the main act. After finishing with the smash hit 'Year 3000' they left me wanting to see an actual McBusted tour show, proving that they were the perfect choice of support act.
Around an hour later, One Direction exploded onstage. Right from the very first note of 'Clouds' to the mellow closing bars of 'Best Song Ever' they absolutely blew me away. Yes, I know I am a huge fan of them and would probably have enjoyed it if they came out and threw flour over the crowd and left but in terms of concerts, it was pretty special.
If i'm being honest, I was worried how these shows were going to go. They were the first of the European tour, the first back in England after Zayn leaving and the first after a much needed 2 month break. The set list hadn't changed like so many people had hoped but that didn't bother me as I hadn't been able to go to the Where We Are Tour, I relished being able to hear some of the golden oldies such as 'Kiss You' and 'Little White Lies'. They were able to cover Zayn's parts pretty flawlessly, it was only if you really knew the little flourishes he provided in the background did you notice, but honestly no one was really listening for them. It was great to hear the boys but mainly Niall take on some bigger vocals and solos which the crowd made sure to acknowledge but the copious amount of screaming. All of the boys seemed to enjoy themselves on stage, interacting with the crowd and each other. Harry was full out on the prancing, Liam did his little shuffling dance, Niall glued himself to his guitars and Louis seemed to be having the time of his life. The concert flew by and before we knew it, they were kissing the air and waving goodbye.
I had the most wonderful time in Cardiff with my friend laughing, dancing and singing the weekend away. Taking chances, saying yes and chasing down opportunities is the best thing I have ever decided to. Here's to many more last minute adventures.
