On Friday night, September 11^th 2015, I attended KVILs Poptopia at Southside Ballroom in Downtown Dallas to see my favorite band. Every year, local radio station 103.7 KVIL hosts a pop concert event to advertise their station and to help sponsor local charity Guns and Hoses. Tickets are on the cheaper side and give an opportunity for fans of different artists to come together.

The concert started off with Banks, a singer songwriter from Orange County Florida. She is most well known for her songs “Begging for thread” and “Waiting Game” but I had not heard of her until the concert. She performed five to six songs, and you could tell many people, like me, were not sad when she finished her performance. I didn’t understand her style, but I think she was trying very hard to be appealing to hipster teens and that was not the crowd at this specific concert.

Artist Rachel Platen came out next, best known for her track “Fight Song” which hit top ten charts internationally. She was amazing. I really enjoyed her diverse set, slow and upbeat songs mixed perfectly, and the emotions that she put into the performance. You could tell she was so appreciative of our singing and really loved what she did.

Third up was Elle King. Now, I have many thoughts about this special performance. “Her set was nothing like I had ever seen before,” Sophomore Ashley Jackson said. You could tell she did not have a list of songs that she had planned to perform, instead yelling at the band right when she decided to “follow her lead.” She also informed us that she was “tired of singing her own songs.” This was three hours into standing in a crowded room, so at this point I was contemplating leaving, but decided to stick it out for the next 30 minutes.

Right when I felt like it was time to go, Andy Grammar came on and changed my mind. Best known for his hits like “Honey I’m good” “Keep your head up” and “Fine by me”, he came out energetic and ready to please the crowd. He sang about eight songs and had to turn down an encore due to time restraints. The whole audience sang and danced, enjoying the long night. “He and his band had choreographed dance moves for each song, and that was really fun for the audience to watch,” Sophomore Riley Stafford said.

Feeling good, sore feet and little voice left, I patiently waited for Needtobreathe, the main band of the night. A Christian rock band composed of two brothers and two friends, known for songs like “Brother” and “Something Beautiful.” They came out and immediately I knew the night was going to end on a high note. The band performed about 15 of their most known songs, and it was just amazing. They had a great mixture of songs to perform and told background of each song before they performed it which was something very unique.

Overall, I would say the event was a great experience. It was definitely different than any other concert I had ever been to, but was worth trying out.