On July 29th, singer/songwriter Halsey performed her first show in Indianapolis for her Badlands: the Final Installment tour. She left her fans with a moment that is unforgettable.
“The experience was amazing! We waited outside for hours before the concert, but it was fun because we made so many friends. It is nice meeting people at concerts because you automatically have something in common: loving the artist you are seeing. We got to go into the venue around six o’clock because we had red tier upgrades, which means we got to go to a Q&A with Halsey before the concert. It seemed to go by so fast after that because the concert was so much fun, even though it was almost 90 degrees,” Elena Gorney (12) said.
Those who bought the Camp Badlands upgrades were let into the venue about two hours before the show started for a live question and answer. Halsey picked her favorite questions that fans wrote down and answered as many as she could. There was a wide range of questions, ranging from if her album Badlands was in a specific order to whether she would be an alien or a mermaid.
“I loved the Q&A because there was not a lot of people there, and everyone was being respectful and quiet. It was like Halsey was having a casual conversation with us,” Gorney said.
Halsey had a relatively unknown opening act, Gallant, who surprised many with his vocal range and style. There was originally no opening act announced until Halsey announced it during her Q&A that evening.
“I thought the opening act was amazing. I did not expect it to be so good because I had never heard of the people before, and I usually do not like that genre of music, but Chris Gallant’s voice and range are incredible,” Gorney said.
After performing her song ,”New Americana”, she talked about how her concerts are a place to be yourself and how no one will judge you for how you are. She followed this short speech with a comment telling those who did not agree to leave the concert immediately. At the end of the song, she also showed a picture on the screen with the colors of the pride flag and the words “send love” in light of the events that happened earlier this summer.
“I would describe the concert as a place where you can be yourself, forget everything else going on in the world and enjoy the music and performance. Halsey is a very open-minded person, and she stated that she hopes the reason people go to her concerts is so they can feel free to be their complete selves in her audience,” Gorney said.
Close to the end of the concert, Halsey performed her song “Is There Somewhere” off of her debut extended player album, Room 93. Before the final verse, she stood at the edge of the barricade and held a fan’s hand while giving a short speech and looking at everyone in the audience.
“One highlight of the concert was when Halsey stepped into the crowd during ‘Is There Somewhere’ and people held her up while she sang. It was nice to see her interacting with her audience so closely and people holding her up respectfully. It is so eye-opening to see that even though Halsey is famous and performing for us on stage, she was just like us at one point in her life. She is a person, too,” Gorney said.
After playing her song “Young God”, Halsey announced that it was her final song of the evening and left the stage followed by her band members. They came out minutes later for the encore when she performed her song “Colors”.
