Doors to The Sound opened at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 6 for Flipturn, but at 6:47 p.m., I was still at home searching high and low for my wallet. It had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth, leaving me running from my car to my apartment, overturning everything that could be overturned — one more mess on top of a Week 9 that had totally scrambled my thoughts already — and now, I was beginning to panic about missing the show.
At last, my wayward wallet revealed itself in my trunk; heaving a sigh of relief, I sank into the passenger seat, trying to distract my mind from all the work awaiting me back at home, as Tommy drove me to the venue. The endless final assignments continued to haunt my thoughts even after we arrived. Feeling as though rain was telling me to run back to the car, we waited outside for 15 minutes getting drenched just to receive the press passes, leaving me debating whether or not I still wanted to be at this concert. I was freezing, soaking wet, and mentally exhausted from the end of the quarter. But once I stepped into the venue, everything changed.
The ceiling was dappled in the same shades that color the sunrise, rejuvenating my overworked mind. I was captivated watching orange and pink paint the walls as if it was already the next day and I took a deep breath, realizing: Tomorrow is a new day. A day when I will finish up my assignments for the quarter and can finally take a breath, but also the day when my favorite band will venture from San Diego with no answer on when they’ll return, so I needed to savor these next few hours with them.
The moment opener Krooked Kings stepped on stage, I knew I made the right decision to stick it out. My chest rose and fell to the bass of “Catacombs,” my heart pounding aligning with every beat. Goosebumps soared from the bottom of my spine to the tips of my fingers as the lead singer belted “Coming of Age” and the pit swayed back and forth as one.
Before I could even check the time, Flipturn was rolling out on stage to “Juno” with beams of flashing blue and white lights, electrifying the crowd and giving us boundless energy. This band has the unique ability to invigorate a crowd unlike any artist I have gotten to see live. Most performances I have been to have their few hits that get the crowd to sing along, and while hopping up and down was expected, I was surprised to see the audience belting each song word for word. While some may be a bit more popular than others, something I adore about Flipturn’s songs is how thoughtfully constructed they are. Each song tends to sound entirely different from one another sonically, but they hit the mark on delivering music that sucks you in until you realize you have become obsessed with the whole album. It takes special skill to create as many well-loved songs as Flipturn has, and being in a room full of fans screaming every lyric proves how masterfully formulated their discography is.
I went into this concert hoping they would play my favorites — after all, I had trekked through the rain on a Thursday night for this — especially “Swim Between Trees,” which, as I stated in my “Burnout Days” review, is my favorite track on their new album. It’s a song about reconnecting with friends from home to get us through the hardest of times. Subconsciously, I think I wanted the opportunity to scream along to the song so I could channel how much I have been missing my childhood best friend who is currently studying abroad in India. She always knows how to pull me out of my academic burnout, and I think my fatigue this quarter felt particularly trying without her.
Yet, as the concert proceeded, I stopped anticipating one song after the other and just let myself embrace the present moment — something I wasn’t able to do all week because I had been constantly planning out my final projects, studying for future exams, and just yearning to see my hometown friends. I even found myself remembering every lyric to the tracks I don’t have on replay. I closed my eyes and let the beams of purple, orange, and yellow caress my face as the symphonic bubble of Flipturn’s voices encompassed me, allowing me to feel like I was the only person in the auditorium with them.
As if a prize for my patience, they finally played “Swim Between Trees,” eliciting a roar from the audience. As I stood among my fellow Flipturn lovers, I thanked myself for pushing through this week to be here. Looking back, the rain was like a symbol of delayed gratification. Though it did everything in its power to make me go home, I allowed myself to reap the reward of my labor by letting loose at this concert.
The San Diego stop of Flipturn’s “Burnout Days” tour reminded me how to harness serenity in an overwrought time in the quarter by slowing down, appreciating the small, joyous things around me. At the concert, I basked in the warm smiles and voices singing in exaltation around me of people who also braved through the rain to get to this show. Warmth filled my heart from knowing that, despite being strangers who all fought their respective battles this week, we were here together in this moment with five incredible artists delivering the most extraordinary two hours of 2025 thus far.
Upon exiting The Sound, the parking lot had transformed into a lake. Unlike before, when I was dragging my feet through the rain, I left the venue sauntering to my car, knee-high boots bracing the 6 inches of water easily and giggling at the sight of everyone else trying to shuffle through to get to their respective vehicles. My attitude had shifted completely from earlier that evening, and I had Flipturn to thank for that. Even in the trenches of Week 9, Flipturn reminded me I can find rest and recovery in moments of bliss in my day-to-day life if I take the time to notice them.
