Confetti burst in the air and magically descended above our heads like snow, as royal blue lights illuminated the hall. A dark masked figure emerged; it’s Alan Walker, the headlining artist.
The iconic figure in all black, who, according to his Spotify, has been “wearing a mask since 2015,” bounced up and down to the spirit of his productions in a way which resurfaced pre-teen memories. After the screen teased his entrance with blinking buffers as tired, patient arms held up phones, his song, “The Spectre,” began to play, an upbeat EDM tune which evoked immediate euphoria from the crowd.
As part of his Walkerworld tour, Alan Walker came to Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Sept. 14 for a seamless set of his original productions and remixes from all his albums for a danceable night to remember.
When I was first introduced to his songs in middle school, I frequently used his songs “The Spectre” and “Faded” as background music for my silly YouTube channel videos. For songs “Faded,” “Alone” and “Sing Me To Sleep,” I screenshotted the sheet music from YouTube piano tutorials, edited them together on Canva, and learned to play them until my fingers knew it by heart.
I continued to listen to his full-length albums, enjoying his amazing collaboration with artists like Sofia Carson, Sabrina Carpenter and Ava Max. I listened to all my favorite songs, from “Different World,” to “Lost Control,” and “Back to Beautiful,” on repeat and repeat. Walker’s production always stood out to me as smoother and more melodic, setting it apart from the often mechanical mainstream EDM music.
Unfortunately, I fell out of the Walkerverse after middle school (we can thank my Taylor Swift obsession for that). It was only by chance that I went to his concert after my friend passed along a ticket. By the end of the night, we were blown away. We loved how we didn’t have to be at the front of the crowd to experience the concert’s brightly colorful visuals and music.
However, the concert also reeked of male body odor and alcohol, something a future Alan Walker concert goer should be wary of. I was tired out from jumping on the wet floor of spilled drinks, unable to maintain my energy for the whole night, because the opener drained my energy, was quite long and not as great as Alan Walker. If I were to go again, I would skip the opener.
I don’t know why I didn’t expect it, but there were a lot of guys there, which overwhelmed me a lot. Alan Walker is a guy after all, and the EDM genre is dominated by men. At Wellesley, I sometimes joke about missing the energy of guys, but that night made me realize that maybe I don’t; it made me grateful for Wellesley. Thank god people at Wellesley know what deodorant is. I am, in fact, a victim of the Wellesley bubble.
We were extremely impressed with the way Walker’s productions and remixes sounded live, along with the constant smoke cannons and confetti drops throughout the night. I felt like the music was injected into me in the best way possible. I still patiently waited for any one of the featured singers on Walker’s productions to show up, but alas, none took the stage. The night was, nonetheless, magical and memorable –– it even lifted the spirits of my middle school self.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Norah Catlin, Ivy Buck
