Remember the Cheetah Girls? The group of girls who only wore animal print and made movies about singing around the world? I was only in elementary school when my aunt took my sister, my cousin and I to see our Disney Channel idols in concert. (Vanessa Hudgens was one of the opening acts because she hadn’t made a huge name for herself yet, so you can see how long ago this show was.) Ever since that special night, I have been hooked on going to concerts.

Before a concert starts, there’s loads of anticipation leading up to the moment where the main act begins their set. You spend weeks in advance getting hyped up by listening to all their music, investing in some of their merch and stalking them like crazy on social media. Then when you finally get to the show, the opening acts are there to get you dancing and singing. Also, if you pay attention to the opening acts, you are introduced to new musicians you may never have heard of before. Saint Motel, Misterwives, Capital Cities, Dan Croll and Justin Moore are some of the best openers I have seen so far.

At last, the big moment finally comes where the lights go dim, the crowd becomes silent and the headliner appears on stage. The best performances are the ones given by one of your all-time favorite artists. Being only inches away from them is surreal. Suddenly you realize that they are real people…and they’re standing directly in front of you.

Live music is better than anything you can play off a recording. Hearing a person’s real voice instead of an autotuned track is extremely different. The sound is raw and authentic. Sometimes in live performances they even switch up the notes or the lyrics so you can hear something a little different.

At concerts, you’re surrounded by hundreds or thousands of strangers, but everyone is sharing this one moment in common. You all love the same music and can sing along. You get the opportunity to meet interesting people and make new dance partners. Everyone is there to have a good time.

Of course, the only downside is dealing with post-concert depression. At the end of the night, you must leave the venue knowing you won’t see that singer or band on tour for a long, long time. So naturally, the only cure is to buy tickets to another show as soon as possible.