One of my life goals is to see Fall Out Boy perform live.
Last October I was struggling to accept that I was not able to secure a patron ticket for Fall Out Boy’s concert. I became a fan around 2005 during their From Under the Cork Tree days when a high school friend shared their song “Of All The Gin Joints In All The World” with me. Fast forward to 2023 and I am still a fan but I haven’t been keeping up, so imagine my surprise and delight when I heard the news from a friend that they are pre-selling tickets for a concert in Manila in December. Coincidentally, my youngest sister and I were just discussing my dream of watching Fall Out Boy someday when I heard this announcement.
Sadly, I missed the pre-selling because I chose to spend time with my friends and be present (yes, I got my priorities straight!). Although I could have excused myself for a moment to buy, I didn’t, as I was going to try on the general sale the next day anyway. I had my alarm ready an hour before it opened and I just sat there waiting til the countdown struck 0. I was one of the first many people in the queue and at the time could select 2 patron tickets for me and my sister. Done, added them to the cart. But wait, is 104 the view I wanted? Let’s check 117. Then just a few seconds passed the majority of the seats were sold out, to my dismay.
I felt so angry at myself for hesitating and that day being a Sunday, a worship day, it was difficult for me to calm down and still be God-honoring despite my frustration. I cried to the Lord and asked why I was robbed of the chance to see them, but then it wasn’t His fault. I thought to myself, maybe God has a better purpose for the money I was going to spend, something more important is going to happen that day, or that I need to lessen listening to secular music. Yet it didn’t stop me from hating myself for dilly-dallying. Needless to say, the negative feelings lingered for a few more days until I finally accepted that es lo que hay and moved on.
On November 21, I suddenly received a message from a former colleague, Sarah, asking if I was going to watch the Fall Out Boy concert on December 9. We haven’t kept in touch with each other for a long while so it was surprising that she popped up. I told her I wouldn’t be because of the reasons above and asked if she was going. She said yes and told me that she still had 1 extra ticket! I took it even though it wasn’t my preferred seat. Plus, it’s a bonus that she’s selling it for the actual price because most of the tickets I’ve seen on Twitter or Carousell are selling with a massive markup!
The concert day came on (December 9) and I was nothing but giddy, singing my heart out to all the songs I knew and intently listening to those I didn’t. I felt like my teenage self again. It was incredible seeing all 4 members on stage and knowing that Joe is doing better now mentally. I couldn’t believe I finally saw the band that inspired me to play the guitar and write my musings. I am truly grateful that God gave me an opportunity to watch Fall Out Boy through Sarah; listening to a band that we both enjoy was such a wonderful way to reconnect. 🎸