Wizards of Waverly Place was my favorite Disney Channel show growing up. Selena Gomez portrayed the sassy main character, Alex Russo, that eventually inspired many magical make-believe childhood games between my younger sister and me, where we would pretend to be wizards in the mystical world from the show. Moving out of my Disney Channel phase, I continued to keep a close eye on Gomez’s work, from her newest upbeat album, Revival, to her latest appearances in films like the Netflix hit, The Fundamentals of Caring. On top of all her accomplishments, she also holds the highest amount of Instagram followers with an astonishing 102 million. So after faintly hearing her name on the radio on June 28th, I turned the volume up to tune in. The DJ stated that Selena Gomez’s Revival Tour was making a stop at the Xcel Energy Center that day.

Being able to attend the pop star’s concert seemed highly unlikely, but later that day, my mom spontaneously bought tickets after my successful efforts of persuasion. Jumping into the car, it seemed surreal that we were making our way to see her perform live. Her album was blaring in our car as we glided through St. Paul, passing electrified concert-goers with neon signs and decorated t-shirts, smiles plastered on their faces.

With pure excitement rushing through my veins, we finally found a parking spot and skittered into the arena. Following a short wait, the lights dimmed and the first opening act, girl group Bahari, cooled the crowd with their calm Californian-style tunes. The three young girls were hard to hear over the blaring speakers, but from what I could catch, they were a talented group. Next, spunky pop-rock band DNCE took the stage, captivating the crowd with their energetic attitudes and flamboyant outfits. DNCE has seen growing success in the past year. Their live performance exceptionally showed their hard work was paying off, with the audience singing along to every word of their well known singles, “Cake by the Ocean” and “Toothbrush,” led by lead singer Joe Jonas. Following their set, high pitched screams vibrated through the air as the group ran off the stage, and Gomez’s shadow appeared on a large screen behind her.

Throughout the star’s show, she ensured that her fans knew just how important they are to her, and how without them, she would never be as successful as she has been and continues to be. Another message Gomez promoted during her concert was acception and self-love, with her performance of her 2011 single “Who Says,” along with persistent positive comments every so often. Although the dazzled pop star relied on her backup singers at times for vocal support, she generally maintained strong throughout the concert.

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press argued that Gomez failed to bring any unique factors to her show in Minnesota. While this may be true, simply being able to dance and sing along to each live song was enough for most fans at the show. Although the star’s Disney days are long over, seeing her on the stage brought me back to the days when I stared at her through a TV screen. She went onto show that she has evolved into something much more than a child star, but an amazingly wise young woman with an incredibly bright future insite.