Monday 4 March 2013

Cody Simpson The indigo2 Paradise Tour


Cody Simpson and I before the 'Paradise' show
After a lot of stress involving buying tickets and the date being pushed back, I finally got the opportunity to see up-and-coming Australian teen sensation Cody Simpson. I have seen many concerts at the O2 arena in London but this was the first time I had been to the small, club venue within the large arena called The indigO2. I had a VIP ticket and so my first stop when I arrived was the ‘sound check party’ whereby Cody performed his songs ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Wish U Were Here’ acoustically and answers a few questions from the audience. There were only about 100 people at the sound check which made the experience feel very special and intimate. I was quite shocked at how well Cody sang and he proved that he is not a mediocre singer famous just for his surfer blonde locks. After this, we met Cody and he was very sweet (would it be extremely cheesy for me to say he was a gentleman?), giving every girl a rose and taking a picture with everyone. We collected our wristbands that allowed us to enter the front standing section for the concert (the first 500 people received a wristband but this was not explicitly stated so many people were disappointed to find out they could not enter the front section despite the fact they paid the same price as everyone else). The March night was excruciatingly cold to wait in for two hours before the show but I faced the most frustrating dilemma when going to a concert: do you take a coat but have to uncomfortably carry it when trying to dance inside, or do you freeze to death outside but not have the burden inside? This time I decided to go without the coat but regretted it when I lost most feeling in my hands, however I did reach the conclusion that the best solution to the problem is to try and research whether the venue has a cloakroom before you go and if it does, paying a few pounds is definitely worth it. First world problems.

At around half past 6 we were allowed back into the venue for the concert. The indigo2 is stylish and has a good dancing area however I definitely recommend getting standing tickets as the upstairs seating seemed too high and possibly lacked the atmosphere of being in front of the stage. Surrounded by a sea of high-pitched screaming girls, I watched as Cody made a grand entrance onto the stage, accompanied by his two dancers with a futuristic style dance routine to the James Bond theme tune. He then went on to show off his dancing and singing skills as he performed his hits ‘Wish U Were Here’ and ‘All Day’. This energetic performance of ‘Wish U Were Here’ was greatly contrasting to the stripped down version I had heard just a few hours prior which made the evening a great opportunity to see the two sides to Cody’s shows. Featuring a chair as a dance prop and a short ‘Teach Me How To Dougie’ interlude, ‘All Day’ was one of my favourite performances of the night. Another highlight of the show was when Cody did a surprise cover of Jack Johnson’s ‘Bubble Toes’ because he said he was “in the moment”. I love ‘Bubble Toes’ and it is a tricky song to sing so I was impressed and it was a nice addition to the set list. Cody played ‘Paradise’, ‘Angel’ , ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Got Me Good’ on the guitar and then resumed his Justin Timberlake style dancing and singing  which prompted a few bras to be flung on stage. When it came to the time of the show for ‘Not Just You’, my favourite Cody Simpson song, my heart melted as he brought onto the stage a girl who I had seen previously at the VIP. As he sang, he danced, hugged, took a picture with and even kissed the very lucky fan which just made the whole audience fall for him even more. After ‘On My Mind’, Cody and the band left the stage, leaving the crowd chanting for him to return (which he obviously would as he had not yet performed his most famous song, iYiYiY). The final song was a great way to end the show and the whole crowd went crazy dancing and singing along. The whole evening was lovely and I would definitely love to see Cody again sometime soon. For a 16 year old, this boy has the potential for a long career and certainly knows how to please a crowd.  

3 comments:

  1. Do the VIP automatically get the wristband to upgrade to the front section? why do they do this? I'm going to the paradise tour in LA tomorrow & would like to know how early I should arrive. thanks! :)

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    1. Yes you do because, in the UK, the VIP package was £90 which included meet and greet, sound check, a merchandise package and entrance to the front section of the venue, it should be similar in LA. If you buy VIP you receive an email a week or so before the concert telling you what time to arrive and I would recommend getting there between 30 and 60 minutes before that time to get a good place in the VIP queue and if you want to be at the front for the actual concert I would recommend getting in the general queue as soon as you are given your wrist band after meet and greet. Hope you have a good time! :)

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  2. Oh alright, thank you so much:) this really helped

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