Living in the midwest is hard. Politics and weather aside, concerts you’re actually interested in going to are few and far between. When the day finally comes that your favorite band or artist comes to Kansas, what do you do? What do you bring? What do you wear? Don’t stress out too much — here are a few tips to help you survive a concert and ensure you have a great time.

1. Water. Water is essential. Depending on the venue you may or may not be able to bring in your own water bottle. Especially if you’re going to an outdoor festival like Warped Tour or Coachella, water will keep you from getting dehydrated and keep the fun times rolling. Make sure you double check with the venue before you set it in stone.
2. Wear shorts. Especially if it’s outdoors, but even at an indoor show you will either be standing surrounded by other sweaty happy people or you’ll be in seated rows and you’ll be up dancing all night. You do not want to overheat at a show. Primarily because it’s bad for your health, but you also won’t be able to see the rest of the show.
3. Put your phone away. I know, we all want to have a super pretty aesthetic photo for Instagram or videos to look back on later, but seriously put your phone away. The biggest part of keeping your phone away is to make sure you’re enjoying the concert and living in the moment. If you’ve been waiting for this moment for as long as some people in the crowd might have, you should truly focus on the act in front of you and not your phone. It’s disrespectful to those around you and it’s often in the way for the people in the back.

Establish a rendezvous spot. If you’re at a festival with a group of friends, there is an extremely high chance you will get separated. Whether it be because you’re going to different artists, or you get lost in the crowd. Make sure when you get to the festival, before you all run off to different stages, so you know when and where to find each other by the time the show is over. This will ensure that you or your friends don’t get lost and you can leave the show faster.