The whole world stopped: it seemed like time had paused and I could live in that moment forever. Even if it was only three seconds of a little concert in a little town, I still found it amazing. Glancing around and seeing all kinds of people all brought together by one thing, you really start to notice the world around you. Different things can bring completely different people together, and that thing for me, was music.

The sun was beating down on everyone: people were bunched up in crowds, sweating, half asleep. It was hard to enjoy something when you feel like you’re about to pass out. I looked around as the music played from the stage. Uninterested, irritable, almost miserable looking faces stared forward to the music. Everyone was tired. It wasn’t that late in the day, but the sun and lack of water took away my energy along with everyone else’s. All of a sudden, I heard a slight boom… I looked around and saw people cheering as confetti floated towards the ground. I thought to myself, I am at this amazing music festival, why not enjoy it? I wasn’t the only one thinking that, I could tell everybody else realized it too. The people around me cheered up right after that. I think it’s where everyone connected and I just hadn’t realized it yet. It’s what made Warped Tour so alive.

The music filled my ears.
“You want me to lift you up?” my sister raised her voice over the music.
“Uh, sure,” I responded loudly.

That was it. Thats  where I saw the connection. For the whole three seconds in the air, something clicked. I saw the band I had only seen online in pictures and music videos. I saw the hundreds of people singing and dancing along, the confetti on the ground. Nobody judged others, people weren’t scared to start a conversation when they saw someone with the same t-shirt or had a question. Warped Tour brings together complete strangers who will accept each other's differences. There at that outside concert venue, I can find things that I’ve never seen in society - acceptance.

My sister set me down and her eyes just lit up. She looked so happy to be there.

“Did you see them?” she asked with a huge grin.

I shook my head yes, still in awe of what I realized. After that, I didn’t care that I felt like I was going to pass out from the 90 degree weather and tons of body heat - I could just enjoy being there. From where I was standing in the back, I could still see the crowd surfers having fun. Even thought about doing it myself. The people around me jumping, laughing, smiling, crying, singing their hearts out, enjoying the music without judgement, just like I was.
Being there, at that concert, it showed me that no matter your race, religion, sexuality, hair color, appearance, etc., people still have one thing in common;  loving something they’re passionate about. In this case, it’s music. I just had this feeling that everybody connected because of the music. Music can bring so many people together no matter what they’re like. In society, people have created boundaries, all you see is rudeness and distance. But, there at that concert venue, in the melting sun, everybody seemed so happy to be together, listening to the music. I know I was too.