Was the homecoming dance playlist good?

October 26, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Gabe Kleiber

Highland’s homecoming dance was a few Fridays ago, and one obvious challenge for any school dance is accommodating for the various age groups and genre preferences that come with having a school with hundreds of students.

But how well was this done?

To answer this question, I asked students what they liked and disliked about the song selection, and to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.

One student said, “I really liked that they had some Spanish songs in there, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the rap ones.”

This brings up another huge issue for picking songs; the language barrier. Knowing and understanding the words to songs is often a big factor of whether or not you like them. There is no real option but to play songs in multiple languages, which they did, and it seemed to go over pretty well with everyone.

Another student said, “I liked that there was a variety of songs. My favorite was the dance pop songs, especially the classics like ‘I got a feeling’. I didn’t dislike many songs they played and they switched up the style a lot, so I will give it a 8/10.”

The last person I talked to said this, “I was expecting more slow music, but a lot of it was energetic and exciting. Even though they played a lot of music that I didn’t like, a lot of people seemed to enjoy every song they played. It wasn’t kids music either, it was the kind of music people our age actually listen too. I especially liked the hip hop ones like ‘Love Sosa’ and ‘Pop Out’. Overall they played something for everyone and did a nice job balancing different tastes. 7.5/10.”

I completely agree with this last one. It seems like overall there was a nice variety of music for all different genre preferences. Even if you aren’t a fan of pop music, they never played more than one or two without changing it up and playing something different. This made it so everything felt unique and everyone could dance to a song they liked often no matter what kind of music they liked.

They really did a good job with the balancing. I didn’t talk to anyone that didn’t enjoy at least 5 different songs they played, and there wasn’t a single song that any of them strongly disliked. Obviously, there were songs they were less fond of, but to keep everyone happy you have to play things that some people don’t like as much.

Overall, I am impressed they were able to keep so many people with different tastes happy, so I will give the playlist a 8.5/10.

Music/Concerts

Harry Styles Love on Tour: A review and overview

October 26, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By Erin M. Moore

On October 15, 2022, I had the privilege of attending Harry Styles’ Love on Tour. In my opinion, it was the best concert I’ve been to in my entire life. Thus, I decided to detail and review the experience for anyone who comes across this article.

Disclaimer for the following article: I am a huge fan of both Harry Styles and his music, so this article will definitely be affected by that.

I’ll begin with an overview of the concert.

His North America tour began in Toronto on August 15th and 16th, then went to New York from August 20th-September 21st. From there he went to Austin from September 25th-October 3rd, Chicago from October 6th-October 15th, and finally to Los Angeles from October 23rd-November 15th.

His Europe, Asia, and South America tour began on June 11th, in Glasgow, UK and will end on December 10th in Curitiba, Brazil, taking a break for the North America tour following July 31st in Lisbon, Portugal, and prior to his concert in Guadalajara, Mexico on November 20th.

Harry’s North America setlist has contained most every song from his most recent album, ‘Harry’s House,’ along with “Golden”, “Adore You”, “Treat People With Kindness”, and “Watermelon Sugar” from his second solo album, ‘Fine Line.’ It also included “Sign of the Times” and ‘Kiwi”, from his first solo album, “What Makes You Beautiful”, from his first album with One Direction, and an unreleased song, “Medicine”.

I attended the final night in Chicago, Illinois at the United Center on October 15, 2022. The United Center had several special features for the concert, including Late Night Talking Phone Booths to record a message for Harry Styles, Harry’s Garage Photo Wall to take pictures in front of, Commemorative Puzzle Pieces for the first 10,000 fans at each show, and Harry’s Hangout, a lounge for chaperones of those attending the concert.

On to the review section.

Two of my friends, fellow students at HPSH, also attended earlier dates in Chicago. “I’ve never been so happy and sad at the same time,” said Lucy Bradford, “it was the peak of my existence.”

Prior to the concert, my favorite songs off his album, ‘Harry’s House,’ were “Late Night Talking,” “As It Was,” and “Love of My Life.” I was also very excited to hear “Kiwi” as it was my favorite off his first solo album.

After the concert, this remained fairly similar. The best song, in my opinion, that I heard live, was “Medicine”, though most of the songs I listed in the above paragraph were high up in my list as well. While “Medicine” was frequently on his setlist three years ago, October 15 was the third time he’d played it since. The crowd was likely at its height volume-wise, his vocals and dancing were amazing, and the song in general was great.

While I adore all of his songs, my least favorite song of his that I heard live was probably “Adore You,” simply because it didn’t stick out to me as a performance anywhere close to as outstanding as some of his others, and it wasn’t as memorable as many of his setlist.

If you know anything about Harry Styles outside of his music career, you know he’s known for his fashion sense, which many would consider to be groundbreaking. For the concert I attended, he wore a white vest with yellow hearts and baby blue pants. Which, in my opinion, was one of his best outfits of the tour thus far (however, not the best, because he’s had some utterly stunning outfits in earlier concerts).

On the topic of fashion, the concert also sold lots of various types of merchandise, including crewnecks, hoodies, shirts, tote bags, socks, and posters (though posters were free at the concert I attended). Chicago had orange crewnecks, which weren’t as cute of a color as some others, but still looked very comfy and great on those who purchased them. I got the black concert t-shirt, because I thought it had the best design, it would be comfortable, and I would frequently wear it. Overall, the merch was very stylish and comfortable.

One of my favorite memories from the concert was when “Medicine” came on and the entire arena was filled with noise. I also enjoyed when he read peoples’ signs and responded to them.

Want to learn more? Check out unitedcenter.com/harryshouse, harrystyles.com, any social medias of Harry Styles’, YouTube (and other) videos of the concert, or playlists of the setlist.

Soccer

Minnesota United final regular season game plus preview of the playoffs

October 26, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

Image taken from: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/minnesota-united-bullish-on-playoff- chances-this-group-can-win-games-anywhere

On Decision Day in MLS, the Loons hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps at home at Allianz Field. Coming into this game, there were high expectations and a good amount of pressure on the Loons to finally win a game after not winning a game in the previous six fixtures. If the Loons won they would be into the playoffs! A loss would be the end of the season and a tie would get them over the line but only receiving the seventh spot. As for Vancouver, they would have to win the game outright.

The final game of the season at home would be crucial in order for the Loons to have the home team momentum. The record setting number of fans echoing voices boosted the Loons momentum and would help the team through the match.

Vancouver would be off to the start early with a few beautiful opportunities to score against the Loons, especially in the 6th minute when Vancouver was in front of the goal and almost scored. They would also have a few other chances but none could reach the back net. Loon’s goalkeeper, Dayne St. Clair had glorious saves and made sure the ball stayed out of the net.

After a nerving start, the Loons got composed and in the 17th minute, Argentine midfielder Franco Fragapane rolled the ball into the bottom right corner. 1-0 loons!

Throughout the remaining time of the first half and even into the second half, both the Loons and the Whitecaps showed their progressive attacking chances going forward.

An All Star performance by goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who also received the Man of the Match, helped the Loons keep a clean sheet (not since July 16) and not concede a goal vs Vancouver.

The end of Vancouver’s season would be when newly arrived midfielder Jonathan González slammed the ball into the back of the net in the 77th minute!

The Loons showed their character after some unfortunate matches in order to book their spot in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. They would receive the 6th spot and would make the playoffs for the 4th straight year!

Looking to Monday October 17th, the Loons will travel to Dallas to take on the 3rd spot team, FC Dallas, at 8:30 pm for the first round of the playoffs. Dallas is a strong team but results have not been the best for them as of late. T

he Loons will have to prove once again how they can play anybody day in day out in order for a victory. It should be a good game and a true test for both teams. The MLS Playoffs should be exciting and best of luck to all teams!