by Sanaa Mason
Never in a million years did I think that I would see Kenzie Ziegler live in concert. But also never in a million years did I think I would also meet the woman herself. An amazing dancer starring on shows such as Dancing With the Stars Juniors turned into an amazing singer, Kenzie’s first leg of her tour opening for artist Mark Ambor was in Philadelphia, PA. The prospect of seeing someone I’ve watched since I was merely 6 years old, just 37 miles north of WVUD’s headquarters left me beyond excited.
Right on South Street in the middle of Philadelphia, many anticipatory fans lined the sidewalk waiting to be let in. The Theatre of Living Arts, while a small venue puts what it lacks in size into the intimacy of the concert. Everything is in the pit, only allowing 800 guests in the entire venue. I got there just before the doors opened and settled into a nice spot by the barricade; I was pretty much on the stage.
Kenzie was a showstopper; she was gorgeous and an amazing voice accompanied it. She started with “biting my tongue”, sounding much better live than I imagined. Her vocals accompanied by her live band set the venue on fire. A beautiful softer melody accompanied by a rough and hard guitar line made this a fantastic opener. She also performed more popular songs such as “paper” and “anatomy” which turned out to be my favorites of the night. You could tell she connected to the songs wholeheartedly; the words she wrote reflected her feelings and she portrayed that perfectly to the audience. I got some great pictures of her and her band despite the tallest man I’ve ever seen was next to me. The set ended after 30 minutes to the dismay of me and many others, but my night was just getting started.
After the concert, I got to meet her which was such a surreal experience. She ended her set with “If anyone wants to meet me, I’ll be at the merch table!” I didn’t know if I had to have some sort of special pass or if she was only meeting a certain number of people, but I knew I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. After waiting in line behind about 20 hopefuls, I finally met her. She was even more gorgeous in person, and I showed her my favorite picture I took of her before asking for one myself. I was so giddy leaving the venue that you would’ve thought I had 20 Pixie Sticks.
The amazing opportunity to not only get photos but also experience the beautiful live music she put on really made my week. From someone I grew up watching to someone who I saw perform live, it really gave me that amazing “full circle” feeling.
