Senior Isabella Acosta sat in her floor seat at the Kia Center in Orlando, excited to see Elevation Worship in concert for the first
time since she started to listen to the band. With tickets being in high demand, Acosta said she was lucky enough to get a ticket during the initial release.
“I thought seeing Elevation Worship was so cool, because I have loved them since I first heard them in church a few months ago,” Acosta said. “The band coming to Orlando for a concert made me cry over seven times; I felt so moved during it.”
Despite many celebrities previously skipping the state because of its geographical location, research by IBISworld shows a
4.7% increase in celebrities coming to Florida. Junior Anita Mahindra said she wanted to see Billie Eilish, who has previously skipped the state for over four years.
“I went to the Billie Eilish concert in October at the Miami venue,” Mahindra said. “I was upset about losing the opportunity to
go to Orlando. The site was crashing, and I couldn’t get more than one ticket at a time. I wanted to see her Orlando concert more since it was closer.”
Seeing the increase in demand for tickets, Tate McRae added more locations, including Orlando, to her 2025 “Miss Possessive” tour schedule.
“It’s cool that we get to have similar experiences to other fans, and culture gets to spread a bit more,” junior Emily LeGros said. “I would love to have more artists in Florida. They would have such a large fan base to attend.”
Some artists, like Gracie Abrams, have excluded Florida from their touring schedule entirely. This caused Mahindra to travel out of state to see the artist.
“I went out of state to New York to see Gracie Abrams, my best friend and I went in late July,” Mahindra said. “We based our trip on the concert, adding more days to see a city I love.”
With Adele and other celebrities focusing on larger cities such as New York or Boston, some are looking for more locations in their area.
“If I wanted to see live music, I would rather travel to a different country than Florida,” Language Arts teacher Heather da Silva said. “Being in a European pub is more interesting than artists’ tours in the U.S.”
While da Silva said she would rather travel outside the country, freshman Amanda Benginc said she is looking for artists to come to her.
“I would love to see Sabrina Carpenter in Florida,” Amanda Benginc said. “She has such great fan interaction, and her music is amazing. If I have the opportunity to see her, I will take it.”
Senior Sophia Fetouh said her shared obsession of live music with her father made going to concerts a birthday tradition However, she said if the concert is out of state, it jeopardizes the tradition.
“All of the concerts I went to weren’t just ones I enjoyed; they were something that my entire family bonded over,” Fetouh said.
