Young God

It was raining money. Literally. Stage lights, chaotic and vivid, flickered across the slips of paper raining down on the crowd in front of the “Young God”, drowning her adoring fans in their feelings of awe and excitement. I was one of them. It was at this moment that my vision blurred and my hearing began to warp. This was not from the effects of drugs that were, surprisingly, not present at the show. This was the adrenaline that I fed off from my fellow fans, the blinding lights, and the rush of the show that shook all of my senses and made me weak to it’s grasp. Everything felt like I was living life at it’s fullest potential–fast, bright, colorful–and I craved more of everything. I had been so completely taken in this moment of money showering down on me and the bodies surrounding. I had been so completely taken in dancing in the lights that poured onto us to “New Americana” being performed. Halsey, a one woman show, had completely taken me. And to be honest, I think I needed it more than anything.

      On November 6th, 2015, I walked myself into the Varsity Theater with an impulsively chosen outfit, and high expectations of the night. Just before, I had waited 3 hours outside the venue, as it was general admission meaning there were no reserved seating or space, so waiting outside early gets you admitted quicker so you get better a spot. With this show, much of the other concert goers had been there for just as long as I had. With this, it should be said that her fanbase is known to be rather rowdy and rude, and that causes to a lot of fans to pass out at her shows. So knowing this and walking in, it was a bit frightening. However, I was about to see the incredibly talented alternative singer whose new album, “Badlands”, had held me captive in its alluring lyrics and intoxicating sounds, and I was going to take away every bit of the magic in this show.

      Once piling in, there was an hour wait before the show actually began, and even then it was just her opening act to play. The opening act, an alternative band with a humble lead singer, got the crowd to move a bit. But really, everyone in that room wanted Halsey. Another hour or so had passed, the band finished out their setlist and left the stage, only to have concert lights shift to the normal lighting of the venue with radio tunes filling the void allowing time to pass. After even more time, the night actually begun when the lights flicked off and screams rang out in anticipation. Familiar sounds began to fill our ears, her stage lighting began to flicker in and out, and everyone pushed forward with the crave for her. Finally, a voice came intertwined with the beat and sounds to form the song “Gasoline” we knew so well, and she appeared on stage.

      Being in the presence of Halsey, it’s honest to goodness the closest thing you’ll ever get to magic, or a “god” itself. She’s got rhythm in her voice and body, and the crowd aggressively swayed and swooned to dance and sing along while also throwing up hands, desperate for her touch. She made her way her way across the stage, back and forth, rocking the crowd with her astonishing stage presence and sex appeal. She really did feel like a god. Her calm, cool demeanor enslaved us while her flowingly strong voice captured us. Making her way through the setlist, in the middle of the show she took the time share a serious moment with us and talk about how much Minneapolis meant to her. Playing back in June earlier this year, she performed as the opening act for Imagine Dragons at the Xcel Energy Center. Having been touring for awhile she found herself in a bad place, she told us. She felt helpless to a continuous routine of making her way underground from a tour bus to a stadium, eating food people made for her and being told what to do. However, after playing that Xcel show, she decided to walk across to a certain baseball field and asked to go down to it once it had cleared out and was empty. The man she asked told her no but she’d persisted, saying it was something she really needed. Lucky enough, she was able to make it happen, and it was down there in that moment looking out into the empty seats and bright lights she decided she didn’t want to feel bad anymore. She didn’t want to feel trapped. So at that moment she decided to make a change for herself to make her life better. After sincerely sharing this story and shattering all the hearts of us in the crowd, she picked up the setlist and didn’t allow us dwell on this sadness, but to take it to heart and move on with big upbeat songs.

      In one of these next songs after getting back into the music, is where money shot out of confetti cannons and awed every set of eyes in the venue. This money, however, wasn’t any money. It’s rainbowed tinted slips of money with her face printed on them, each of them reading “$100”, “BADLANDS UNITED”, “Only valid in Badlands, Nowhere else”, completed with other takes on typical elements of dollar bills and finished off with her signature. This money, of course, had no actual money value, but had a magic to it. Although, I did pick up two actual dollar bills on the ground while walking out of the venue later on.

      It’s things like these that sets Halsey apart of other artists and performers. Small details that finish off everything with a subtle yet explosive wonder to everything. Everything from the rhythmatic strobe and color changes in the lights, to the order of the setlist was well thought out and stunningly crafted. Closing out her setlist, she performed a very fitting song,” Young God”. In this captivating track (that’s much better live) she sang out to the crowd who sang it right back at her, “Do you feel like a Young God?”. And I can guarantee that everyone in that room, in that moment, did indeed feel like a Young God.