With school out in a few months, many artists are having concerts and touring the US to share their music with everyone. For many people, this summer brings them their first concert experience and they don’t know what to bring. Whether it’s your first concert or 10th, there are essential items that everyone needs.  

Many shows have different types of tickets, General Admission, and seat tickets. With seat tickets you are assigned a certain area and seat to sit at during the whole show and you can be sure that no one will take your spot. However, this is different than general admission tickets. GA (general admission) tickets mean that you bought tickets to the whole floor and to secure the best spot, many people get to the concert venue hours ahead of the time the concert starts to be closest. No matter what seats you have, you are bound to lose your phone battery while waiting, making a portable charger necessary for any concert. Many people opt in for a smaller charger as venues have rules about bag size. Despite the size, a portable charger can save your phone from dying before the main event even comes on. “Bringing it saved my life, a lot of the time you are just standing in line and waiting. So, most of the time I am on my phone, and it drained my battery fast,” Katelyn Kellerman said.  

Depending on the venue, various places have different rules about the bags you can bring in, to make sure you won’t get stopped at security checkpoints or delayed at the gate, check venue rules beforehand to plan. “I didn’t check the rules before and when security was telling us the rules, I got scared that my bag wouldn’t work, but luckily it was small enough to bring in,” Kellerman said.  

With many different types of music coming to Washington, each show offers a unique experience. Because of this it’s important to look ahead and make a plan to have the best experience that you can.