I Was Supposed to See Harry Styles in Concert, But Now I Can’t!

After refunding my Def Leppard concert tickets for summer 2020, I decided to purchase new concert tickets for a band that my 13-year-old self never got to see live…One Direction! Well, at least part of One Direction. On June 19, 2020, I purchased two tickets to see Harry Styles at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 4, 2021 (hoping that COVID-19 would be under control by then). I was a huge One Direction (1D) fan from middle school till the start of high school and unfortunately, I never got to see them live because they broke up in 2016. Technically, they went on “hiatus,” but it’s been five years and they’re still not back together.

However, a few months passed by and I started to regret purchasing the tickets. Partially because I don’t listen to 1D’s music much anymore and partially because Judas Priest was going to be in Vegas in October (a month after the Harry Styles concert). In my post titled, Confessions of a One Direction Fangirl, I mentioned that listening to 1D’s music and being a fan of theirs, in general, took a toll on my mental health. They were teenage boys that every teenage girl desired to be with and I had low self-esteem, so I was comparing myself to the girls that the 1D boys hung out with.

Plus, there was a lot of drama behind the band with their management, the Larry Stylinson rumors, and Zayn Malik leaving the group. Because of their shaky past, it’s hard for me to enjoy 1D like I used to, unless I’m in the mood for it. 

I don’t even like Styles’ new music. I liked his first studio album from 2017, which contained a lot of soft rock elements. But his second studio album, Fine Line (2019), took a more psychedelic pop approach, which isn’t really my thing. Most of the songs suck, except for “Falling” and “Adore You.” Fine Line sounds like happy butterflies flying across the sky with a couple skipping through the meadows, and I hate it! Oh and the booklet features a nude picture of Styles, which is dumb and inappropriate because teenage girls (maybe even younger) listen to his music too.

I do have a physical copy of the album, but it came with the tickets, so it was free. Actually, there was one album per ticket, but I sold one of them to the Book Off at Pearlridge.

Flash forward to August 2021, where COVID-19 cases on the mainland are really bad and the Delta variant is spreading like wildfire in Hawaii. Everyone is telling my family to cancel the trip because of the risk of catching COVID-19. Then, my dad gets sick (that’s all I’m going to say for privacy reasons) and he’s been sick for over three weeks now. His immune system is so weak that there’s no way he can fly on a plane and have a decent time in Vegas. We have no choice, but to cancel the trip. My parents and I would’ve left for Vegas on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, but we’re still stuck at home thanks to dang COVID-19 and my dad getting sick at the wrong time.

It’s not so bad, I wouldn’t want to risk getting sick anyways. Though, it does irritate me how we have to sacrifice our enjoyment for other people. I’m not trying to get political here, but I wish more people would take this virus seriously. Because of their carelessness, there are victims out there either dying or put in hospitals because of COVID-19. The people that do take the virus seriously want to get back to doing the things they love, but they can’t yet. 

It’s not like I was desperate to see Styles in concert, so really, it’s not that bad. I just wish I was able to get a refund. I got the tickets from AXS, a digital marketing platform for purchasing concert and sports events tickets. Unfortunately, they don’t offer refunds for their tickets, which I should’ve done more research on before purchasing them.

The only option I had was to sell my tickets, but the “sell” button wouldn’t work because my tickets wouldn’t arrive until 72 hours before the event. When the tickets finally arrived, the “sell” button wasn’t working. So, after talking with customer service, they agreed to put in a refund request since my dad is sick and the “sell” button is acting up. There are no guarantees I’ll get my money back, but it’s worth a shot! That’s the last time I’m buying tickets from AXS, for sure.

From now on, I’m going to do more research on the companies I buy concert tickets from, focus on seeing my favorite rock bands in concert before they all retire, and not purchase concert tickets to relive childhood dreams. The only reason why I purchased concert tickets for Styles was to relive my childhood memories, not because I enjoy his current music nor am I still a massive fan of 1D. I didn’t purchase the tickets for the right purposes, so I feel like this experience happened for a reason. 

Since my dad is still sick and now is not the time to be travelling, there’s no way I can see Judas Priest in October. I’ll just have to plan accordingly for next time.

Comment below an artist that you never got to see in concert yet, but you really want to see them live!

Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana