july 7th ᯓ★ starbenders concert

A few months ago I listened to a playlist of mine, created about 5 years ago which included a song I used to listen to countless amount of times, but I never commited myself to discover other songs from the band. This song was called Never Gonna Die by Starbenders. Now, I decided to listen to other tracks too, and I immediately fell in love with their music, their style, their performances, and obviously with them as well (I mean come on, look at them. Bisexual culture is Starbenders). I started watching their live performances, interviews, reading more about them and the history of the band. That's when I discovered they were going on a tour in Europe and will also perform in Hungary in July. Maybe I was being impulsive (but I don't have any regrets) and I asked a friend of mine if she wanted to come with me. She said "yes, absolutely" so we bought the tickets and waited for the day to come. 

And the day came.
I am the type of person to say "THIS WAS THE BEST CONCERT I'VE EVER BEEN TO" after almost every concert I attend, but I honestly can't imagine that there will be any other that could top this one for a while now. The atmosphere was amazing and Kimi, the frontwoman of the band was so communicative with the audience, she was such a sweet person. The opener band was also really good, they were very young but talented, I especially liked the two singers. They were called the Waiting Room. 
Maybe the only problem I had is that it may have been a bit unhealthily loud. After the concert ended and we went out we could barely hear not only each other but ourselves. But I didn't mind that much, I really couldn't care after such an amazing concert. I'm sure I'll go the next time too, if they will ever come to Hungary again.

Starbenders was on a tour with their new album called The Beast Goes On so they were playing songs exclusively (I think?) from that album. As I mentioned before, this was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I bought the tickets. There was a moment when Kimi asked the audience to start dancing whimsically, to start the so called whimsy pit and me and my friend were somewhere in the middle front by this time (I don't know how but we somehow drifted there from the left side lol) and and AND Kimi came down into the crowd and in the middle of the whimsy pit and she went closer to many girls who were dancing, including my friend and me! And I was recording with my phone so I have a video of Kimi with my friend, and of her looking at me and singing close to me. Or... I would have a video if I wasn't such a klutz and would have actually started recording but I messed up and now I don't have the video. I'm kinda mad at myself, but the memory matters most, and I will not forget this moment for a reaaally long time. But, as compensation, someone posted a photo and the band reposted it so I asked the guy to send me the picture, and he was really kind and sent it to me, so here it is. I can't really be seen but it is me for sure!

That's me and my friend there!! Behind the hand! Kimi is singing in front of me yipppiiii xPP

I also found out an answer to a question I was wondering about; when I started looking into the band I found that one of the band member's last name sounded suspiciously hungarian, even though they are an american band. He is called Kriss Tokaji. I tried doing some research about his Hungarian background, if there was any, but I couldn't find any information on it. But Kimi, at the beginning of the concert confirmed it and said that he is Hungarian! Not like it matters, but it still makes me happy and a bit proud(?).

They are such a cool band, and I like not only their music but their performances, their style, appearance, their communication with their fans. They seem like genuine human beings who care about their fans. I would say my favourite member is Qi Wei, who is a relatively a new member in the band. She is the drummer, and she has some videos of her solos on youtube and instagram, and I could listen to her banging the drums for hours. I mentioned Kriss Tokaji before, he is the guitarist, and there is the bassist Aaron Lecesne. And of course Kimi Shelter, the frontwoman; the vocalist, guitarist and lyricist of the band. I heard she is also the one who usually picks out the theme and outfits for live events and photo shoots. Another favourite of mine is also  a drummer, but she is only a former member of the band, called Emily Moon. She was the drummer before Qi. All of them are very talented musicians, I love them both separately and together. It's hard talking about them without admitting I have a huge crush on all of them (especially Emily hehe). 

I felt like a teenage girl in the 80's-90's hardcore fangirling out on a The Runaways or The Cure concert, it was such an euphoric feeling, I was able to feel like myself, and completely give myself over to the music. Their music is able to bring me back in time, back to the late 80's, even though I wasn't even born back then. Maybe it's because of their outfits, and because their music is hard to categorize into one genre only. There are elements of rock, pop, metal and punk in it, but at the same time it's none of those either. They are very unique but still easy to connect to them and there is something nostalgic about them that make it easy to love them by many people. They are "modern" and "retro" at the same time, whatever those terms mean in this context, but you get it (I hope you do).

All there's left to say for me is to tell you to go and listen to them, maybe take a look at their social media, or website. If they will go on tour near you as well, and you liked their music but unsure whether it's worth paying for the tickets; IT TOTALLY IS!