To say that I'm a huge Justin Bieber fan would be merely an understatement, and the Believe Tour was an incredible, exciting, disappointing yet mesmerising experience all rolled into one. We purchased tickets back in July for his concerts on 4th and 7th March, and for the 4th we had meet and greet tickets. I spent 8 months counting down and was anticipating on March 4th 2013 being the best day of my life. Hmm. What a surprise I was in for. We were told to arrive at the arena at 3 in order to check in for the meet and greet. After about an hour and a half of being sent to different places, we eventually checked in and were given our wristbands and lanyards. Whilst waiting to meet Justin, we were made to stand in a freezing cold section of the arena for 2 hours (but we did meet his guitarist Dan, who was very friendly. At 6:15, Justin eventually turned up, and the meet and greet started. It was not worth what I paid for. We were shoved into the room, the photo was snapped, and then we were shoved out. Even though we paid for individual photos I had to get it in a pair. Justin was unfriendly and didn't even say hi or smile for the picture. But I am grateful that I met him. After the meet and greet, we went to our seats, which were 5th row and had a perfect view. The first opening act, Jaden Smith, came on at 7. The second, Cody Simpson, at 7:30. Carly Rae Jepen didn't finish until 9 and by now people were starting to panic. When it reached 10:30, about a quarter of the audience had to leave. Justin eventually decided to show up at 10:30pm. His performance wasn't as good as it has been the other times I've seen him, as he seemed tired and his dance moves were sloppy, not to mention the fact that he cut 3 songs from the setlist, including the acoustic set. I left the arena at midnight, crying and disappointed. Having Thursday to look forward to was the only thing which made it better. What annoys me is knowing that because of the meet and greet, he had been in the building at least 4 hours prior to when he came onstage, so what was he doing? And no apology either. It was hurtful to me knowing that I was so looking forward to something where the artist clearly didn't want to be there. Him now and the sweet boy who I saw at the O2 on 16th March 2011, seemed like different people.
So on Thursday, I went again, feeling kind of nervous. I had another pre show meet and greet, this time one which I had won from a competition, and Justin was a lot friendlier this time and even hugged me! Our seats were on the floor and had an excellent view, and he came onstage at 9:10, which was great. This concert started off absolutely excellent. Justin sounded great, and his dance moves were full of energy and also rather seductive yet innocent at the same time. He has become so much better at interacting with the crowd too, and unlike on Monday, even had some banter with his band and joked around onstage. Each song had a different theme (e.g. All Around The World had a space theme, and Die In Your Arms had a motown theme) which I loved! During the acoustic set, a huge crane propelled him above the audience (a feature also used in his last tour), which enabled everybody to have a better view of him. He sounded absolutely beautiful then: just him, his guitar, and an awe-struck crowd. I was so happy to finally hear Fall and Be Alright live. Another amazing moment was when he sung a medley of songs from his first album, such as One Time and Eenie Menie! During She Don't Like The Lights, Justin was chased by fake paparazzi onstage, and it felt very theatrical, as did a lot of the show! There were several video montages during his outfit changes, but these videos were well thought out and blended great with the themes of each song! Generally, it was incredible night, the only downside being when he felt ill and had to go offstage for 10 minutes. But being the trooper he is, Justin came back out, and finished the show, and seemed unaffected by the incident. The best moment had to be at the end of As Long As You Love Me, when Justin sung the last few lines ace-pella, and the crowd joined in with him, as he just started at the adoring crowd. It was magical. Thursday night COMPLETELY made up for the disaster which was Monday, and Justin proved to be more than just a tween star. Ever since his last tour, he has evolved so much as an artist and a performer, and he seemed so much more mature, not to mention how much better his voice and dance moves have become. I really hope that his "bad stage" which has been happening throughout 2013, stops, because he really does have the potential to go very far. I've witnessed it with my own eyes.
I'm already saving for the next tour now!
O2 Arena @
- London @
- 07/03/2013 @
Favourite moment: As Long As You Love Me, Fall, Be Alright, Yellow Raincoat, One Time @
Setlist: Believe album, My World album @
Opening act(s): Jaden Smith, Cody Simpson, Carly Rae Jepsen. @