By Ricardo Camacho ’27
One of my favorite past times involves hours of endless scrolling through countless photos of my friends, marvelous places I’ve had the chance to see, and countless moments of pure and unmistakable joy. This time, just as I was about to end my scroll, something stopped me: a photo album filled with snapshots from concerts I’ve been to with some of my best friends. Naturally, I clicked on it and within seconds my screen was flooded with glimmers of my life stretching back nearly four years.
There’s something so special about tracing the soundtrack of your life—not just through Spotify playlists, but through the memories of those you danced beside, screamed lyrics with, and grew up alongside. As I scrolled through concert after concert, artist after artist, I felt a wave of nostalgia, but more than anything, I felt deeply grateful for the people who made those magical times come to life. Over the years, my music taste has certainly wandered—shifting genres, skipping eras, rewinding itself again and again—but the people I’ve been able to share all those moments with have remained in perfect harmony.
Admittedly, I entered the concert scene a bit later than many of my friends—I went to my first concert during my senior year of high school! But over time, I began exploring the thrills of live music in all its stages: getting ready in my friends’ bathroom, figuring out the setlist in the car, screaming the wrong lyrics (and laughing about it after). Along the way, I’ve built a patchwork of beautiful concert memories—each one stitched together by a different sound, a different artist, a different version of who I was at the time. Anyway, this blog post is about musical exploration, so musical exploration you shall read—here are some of my favorite concert memories.
A Driver Era concert was my first-ever live show back in 2022—and what a way to start, I’ll say. As a die-hard lover of Ross and Rocky Lynch since their R5 days, that night was surreal, to say the least. It even introduced me to a band I now love deeply, Summer Salt, who opened for them and has stayed at the top of my playlists for years. Two months later, I was buzzing with excitement in the crowd of a Harry House concert, surrounded by rows of feathery boas, shimmering sequins, and so many other fans just as eager to lose their voices. And with that, 2022 came to a close.
Fast forward to 2023, I started my first year at Pomona pretty strong, seeing none other than Taylor Swift herself at the SoFi Stadium, belting out “August” in August with my best friend, Gwen. Truth be told, I had only started listening to Taylor a month before this concert, but her dynamic storytelling quickly won me over, and her tracks have filled many of my days ever since. And right ahead of my second year, we both returned to the streets of Los Angeles—accompanied by our other best friend, Jenet—to scream some of our favorite songs with swarms of fellow Olivia Rodrigo fans and, by night’s end, we were swimming in a sea of iridescent confetti stars.
By this point, you can probably tell that I clearly love pop, and honestly, I didn’t really begin exploring other genres until my second year at Pomona. I started branching out through my first tech house concert, seeing John Summit with Jenet and Gwen—who both persistently convinced me to go in the first place—and it was incredible. Between the crowd’s energy, rhythms that manage to hit your bones just right, and the blinding lights, I felt so exhilarated—and I now enjoy beats of house and EDM music on the regular. A couple months after, I tuned into a Rex Orange County concert, sitting in the Fonda Theatre listening to anything from “Pluto Projector” and “Always” to “AMAZING” and “Best Friend,” with my best friend, Gwen. What a night to remember.
Through every show, every song, and every unexpected moment, I wasn’t just discovering new music, I was also deepening the friendships that made all these times unforgettable. Without a doubt, that is easily the best part of it all: sharing the soundtracks of our lives with each other. I’m grateful I have the kind of friends who give artists and albums a shot just because I love it and who send me songs because “it made me think of you.” And moments like these are happening all the time for people at Pomona. You’ll find that a love for live music is certainly shared by many people here. I for one can’t wait to see Kali Uchis in August with one of my friends—and during your time here, I hope you can also catch a show of your own!
Here’s to the playlists we build, the concerts we chase, and the friends who turn every beat into a memory worth keeping.