I have been really looking forward to seeing Lindsey Stirling’s show. I was sad to see it cancelled several months ago and couldn’t wait until she would be back on stage. I’m a huge Stirling fan, I love violin music, I love the choreography, the lighting, the sets, her constant motion AND this was my first indoor concert since Covid closed everything down months ago. Would my high expectations doom the show? Not a chance – the show was everything that I expected and more!!
My first indoor concert started bad, I thought I was going to get there late – rush hour and accidents had traffic backed up and moving at a snails pace. I kept thinking if I missed the opener it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I parked with 15 minutes to spare to get my pass, get to the media entrance and get my equipment set up. Everything was like clockwork. This may have been the first concert at the Armory in over 16 months, but you couldn’t tell it. There were no lines, my credentials were ready, people were seated and things were ready to go. Great job Armory!! I thought for sure there would be some issues after the long layoff.
Another photographer and I were escorted to the front of stage and I asked a security person when Lindsey was scheduled to go on. When he said 7:00 pm I was quick to correct him. “Sorry, not the opener, I meant Lindsey.” It seems the opener had come down with covid and Stirling would start at 7:00 pm. Note to self – in the current environment, don’t be late for the opener at any concert!! Shortly after, the stage was flooded with red lights and Stirling took the stage. The crowd cheered wildly and would frequently throughout the show.
I was in awe watching Stirling play while dancing and doing incredible gymnastics all while not missing a beat. She mentioned that the opener was not able to appear due to illness and thanked all her fans for coming and also the husbands that were forced to come with their wives. Not sure how many of the later were in attendance, but I bet she won over a lot or most of them before the evening was over. The lighting and sets were incredible. The screen behind her played videos, some of Stirling, throughout the show. Dancers joined her on the stage at times and other times she danced and jumped alone.
The crowd cheered after every song and it was so exciting to be around live music inside again. I had shot some outdoor events recently, but to me the excitement seems so much higher inside an arena. A fantastic job by Armory staff made the evening go smoothly and it was an awe inspiring performance by Stirling with incredible lighting, great dancers and her backup band. I was sad to see the show came to an end. This was my second time seeing Stirling and she has so much energy and is so uplifting, I can’t wait to see her again!!