There's no experience quite like going to a concert. A live performance is a beautiful thing; it's one of those rare times when you get to live completely in the moment. When you're in a crowd, real life is put on hold--there's no studying to do, emails to answer, or tasks to accomplish. If you stop and look around, you'll see a crowd of people singing along, dancing, and waving their hands in the air. Everyone unites for a common purpose: to enjoy the music. To say it's a good time is an understatement. It's worth noting, however, that attending a concert is a legitimate process filled with lots of emotion, anticipation, and adrenaline. Your live music experience is one that you won't soon forget--but what makes it so unforgettable? Let me break it down for you.

1. Buying tickets.

For an in-demand concert (or music festival), there is NOTHING more nerve-wracking than buying tickets. You know at sporting events, when they launch t-shirts and free stuff into the crowd? And people nearly injure themselves trying to catch it first? Buying concert tickets is a lot like that, except there are thousands more people, and it's about a million times worse. (Oh, and it's anything but free.)

The intense day of ticket sales pretty much goes something like this: your laptop's open, credit card at the ready. Fingers poised over the mouse, cursor hovering over the refresh button, you sit ready to strike. You count down the seconds: 3...2...1...GO TIME. The next few stress-filled, anxiety-induced minutes will decide your fate. After what you're positive was an eternity of waiting (though it was probably no more than ten minutes), your screen changes. YOU GOT THE TICKETS. You can breathe now.

2. The week before the concert.

Weeks, maybe even months go by, and before you know it, it's the week before the concert. This is the time when the excitement really starts to build. You plan logistics, pick out your outfit, and of course listen to the artist or group you're seeing on repeat. It really starts to hit you that you're actually going--it's not just a vague date in the near future anymore. You also probably put the concert somewhat out of your mind after you bought the tickets--so, uh, you should probably go find those.

3. The day of the concert/arriving at the venue.

THE TIME HAS COME. You're practically giddy; the level of anticipation has never been higher. The excitement you feel can be paralleled only by small children on Christmas morning, and your dog greeting you when you come home from college.

You probably spend a couple of hours--maybe even all day if you're really dedicated--waiting in line, often in less-than-ideal weather conditions. You finally get shuffled into the venue, and, if you're at a general admission concert, this is when all hell breaks loose. Forget those friends you made in line--it's a mad dash to the front. In those terrifying few minutes, you get your feet wildly stomped on, your whole body will take a shove (or 20), and you may even get an elbow or two to the face. By the time everyone's been corralled in, you're squished tighter than sardines. You wonder if you have ever actually been this closely pressed into a complete stranger before. You look around and take little comfort in knowing that by the end of the night, you will not only be coated in your own sweat, but you will also be coated in the sweat of the lovely people around you. How sanitary! Ah, the things we put up with for live music.

4. When the concert FINALLY starts.

After adjusting to your squished and sweaty surroundings, tolerating the opening act, and getting your iPhone ready to record, the moment you've been waiting for arrives. The lights go down, music blares from the speakers, and the crowd goes BANANAS. Finally the person you've been waiting to see takes the stage. You spend the next two hours having the time of your life. You cheer, you dance, and you sing along to your favorite songs. If you take the time to look at the crowd around you, you'll see the amazing effect that live music has on people. Everyone is having fun, but it's a different kind of fun than you would have at just any old party. There's a sort of unity that takes place; there's an adrenaline rush you won't feel anywhere else. The sweaty people and close quarters don't bother you anymore--you could stay in that crowd for hours, and it would never get old.

5. The End.

You use your last burst of energy for the encore, and before you know it, the concert's over. Your phone is dead, your feet hurt, and you're in desperate need of a shower. You leave the venue on a high, knowing every dollar you spent on tickets was completely worth it. After trying to relive just a little bit of the night through your shakily recorded videos, picking out which picture to Instagram, and finally taking that shower you needed, you fall asleep feeling happy and whole. You'll feel sad when you wake up the next morning knowing that the concert is over and you can't relive the experience. Don't let this get you down, though. The best cure for post-concert depression is--you guessed it--more concert tickets.