I have been counting down the days for eight months and it’s finally here! My One Direction concert is today and I can’t wait. My sister and I are getting up early to make posters. I’m making one that says, “I ? U NIALL.” I know it’s typical and boring, but it’s easy. Heather, my sister, is making one that says,“Happy B-Day Liam.” As you probably guessed, it is Liam’s, one of the members, birthday.  We are leaving at twelve in the afternoon to drive down to Chicago.

 
TWO HOURS EARLIER
It was super hectic when we got to Chicago. It took us a while to find the hotel, but it took even longer to get checked in. After waiting a while to get into the temporary parking, my mom went into the lobby to check us in. She came back out and it took us a long time again to get out. Because it took so long, my mom let my sister and I go up to the room while she found a parking space. It was crazy when we walked through the lobby. There were people playing the One Direction song on Just Dance. There were people taking pictures with cardboard cutouts. It was the hotel’s One Direction party.  In the elevator there was a little TV advertizing events that were going on in the area. Obviously they were promoting the concert and it said, “A quick ten-fifteen minute walk to Soldier Field.”

When my sister and I got up to the room we had no idea where to put the key. There wasn’t a slot like there usually is on hotel rooms. We had tried everything until my sister put the key up to a little black circle on the door. It was the weirdest thing. We walked in and I was in awe. This was by far the nicest hotel I had ever been in. We started getting ready because we only had two and a half hours until the concert started, and we wanted to be there early.

Once we were ready we grabbed our signs and went out to get a cab. The first thing I realized when I got in the cab was a reek of eggs. Our driver was also really crabby and was yelling at everybody and everything.
Whooo! We were in the stadium. We bought T-shirts then went to find our seats. I couldn’t contain the excitement anymore! We waited and waited while music videos were playing on the big screen, and the seats were filling up. Anytime a curtain would move or a video of One Direction or 5 Seconds of Summer would play on the big screen, everyone would scream at the top of their lungs. We waited even longer until everyone screamed, but it didn’t die down like it had before.  I looked over to where the screaming came from, but I couldn’t tell what it was about. My sister pointed out that Liam’s parents were in the audience! I still couldn’t find them. I looked some more and saw Geoff, Liam’s dad. Because I found Geoff, I found Karen, Liam’s mom.  People that were sitting near them were taking pictures and being really nice to them.
Everything was pretty calm, and it was nice until the safety video started to play.  Yes, they need a safety video for a One Direction concert. We “fangirls” will do anything to meet one of the of  1D,  5SOS , Liam’s  parents, or even Paul, their manager.  The video was going over rules like: no pushing, have a meeting space with your group if you were to get lost, stay hydrated etc. When the video was over 5 Seconds of Summer, the opening act, came out, and everyone screamed at the top of their lungs (including me). They performed a couple of songs then started talking about Chicago. Calum, Luke and Mikey said stuff like, “I heard that Chicago is the windiest city in America.” They also said it was  awesomest city in America, but we all know that they probably say that at every gig. After Calum, Luke and Mikey gave a couple of examples, Ashton, the drummer said, “I’ve got nothing, They took all the good ones.” Then he laughed his infamous laugh along with everyone else. They sang the rest of their songs and covers until it got dark.

PRESENT TIME
There is now a break after the opening act so that everyone can go to the bathroom, but I don’t think 80,000 girls can use the bathroom in ten minutes. My mom is going to get me a pretzel during the break while my sister and I are staying in our seats.  I see my mom come back as they are playing some songs on the radio until the safety video will start again.  Now that the safety video is over, I hear the first guitar chords of  “MIdnight Memories” play and all of us pause in a moment of silence. Then the screams erupt.  The wall at the back of the stage rises and the five boys walk out. I am screaming as loud as I possibly can along with them as they sing “Midnight Memories”.  Liam is starting to tell us that it is his birthday, although we already know. He’s telling us about the time he threw a birthday party and no one showed up and that now he has 80,000 people ready to party with him.  Niall starts, “This next song, while we were writin’ it…  I was thinkin ‘bout you guys,” he says in his Irish accent. He continues to say how we make them feel at home in every country they go to, but they can’t forget their home and need to stay humble and down to earth, “this is… Don’t Forget Where You Belong.” he finishes. They are singing the song as I, yet again, ‘sing’ along. 
They sing a couple more songs and now Liam is saying that they are going to slow it down a bit, then they will get the party started! They sing “Little Things” and  “Moments” etc. while we enjoy the performance
Now, after their older slow songs, Harry is talking about Liam’s birthday. He makes a humorous comment to Liam’s parents and gets a good laugh. Because everyone laughed at his previous comment, he now thinks he is a comedian and starts more shenanigans throughout the night. He asks the crowd, “Whose birthday is it today?” about three times and Liam raises his hand all three times. The crowd giggles and ‘awws’. Then Harry shouts, “It’s Liam’s birthday!” We all laugh and then sing “Happy Birthday.”

Now that we have sang “Happy Birthday” they are performing a couple more songs like “Story of my Life,”  “Little White Lies,” “Little Black Dress,” “Better than Words,” “Strong” etc.  Now we have an intermission.                                        

The lights just go dim and I know it’s time for them to come back out. I see Niall walk out all by himself as “You and I” starts to play. Niall is almost at the end of his part when the rest of the boys walk out and start singing the chorus.

They are explaining that it is Michael Jackson’s birthday too so out of respect the should sing one of his songs. They end up singing “The Way You Make Me Feel.” by him, which I enjoy because it’s my favorite song of his.
They play the rest of their songs like “Diana” which was cool because the second stage rises and there was a screen playing cartoons of the boys on the side of it.

Now they are singing “Best Song Ever” which is their last song for the night. I think it’s a great song to end with because it’s upbeat and there is an instrumental part near the end, so they can thank us for coming and tell us that they appreciate everything that we do for them. Everyone is  sad that it’s over even as confetti is being shot into the air. This is the best night of my life and I couldn’t be happier with the experience.

Now we are walking back to the hotel because traffic would be terrible, and it’s only going to take ten to fifteen minutes.

The walk home ends up to be about forty-five minutes and my feet are killing me! We just get back to the hotel; it is now 1:30 am, and I don’t think we will be getting to bed anytime soon.

It’s the next morning and I just wake up thinking about last night. All that I can think about is that I wouldn’t change that day in a million years.