The awkwardness of reviewing a gig alone

You will likely only notice it if you’re really looking, but at least one row of seats at your average concert will be populated by journalists scribbling away on notepads, or tapping away on their phones like people with very 21st-century addictions.

That journalists have any grievances about what amounts to a free gig in exchange for a few words is, to put it mildly, entirely gross. But it is difficult not to feel awkward. For one thing, there’s the nagging feeling that you’re conspicuous by way of your scribbling. In fact, earlier this year, a journalist acquaintance’s presence at a Nicki Minaj gig, pen in hand and eyes occasionally daring to dart away from the stage, caught the attention of Minaj’s security, who promptly escorted the journalist out to question them about their “suspicious behaviour”.

For solo gig reviewers, it is your worst nightmare. But there are occasions when reviewing a gig alone only heightens the intrigue of it all. In June, I was commissioned to review the first Wembley concert by the beloved K-pop boyband BTS, a group otherwise recognised as an assault of positivity, prettiness and fast-paced choreography.

In keeping with the way journalism sometimes operates, I wasn’t enormously familiar with BTS’s music prior to getting the commission. But I did my homework, listened to their music, and prepared myself for an experience I had little frame of reference for. But being alone and unable to sing along to the words (both because they’re almost entirely sung in Korean and because I wasn’t well-versed enough anyway), it quickly became fascinatingly surreal – as if being absorbed first-hand into a world driven by love and adoration that, mere hours before, I had no understanding of. It felt oddly moving.

Reviewing gigs on your own is still not my favourite thing in the world, but primarily because few people recognise a solo writer when they see one. So if you ever glimpse a nervous-looking individual haphazardly writing things down while everyone else has their eyes glued to the actual performer, just remember that it’s probably a journalist, and they’re very, very embarrassed about it.

Yours,

Adam White

Culture reporter