Loving: Tegan and Sara

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Good old Myspace; remember the days when the number of picture comments (pc4pc???) determined how popular and, essentially, add-worthy you were? Yep, side fringes that were a seemingly timeless hairstyle and selfies (before they were named selfies) all originated from us Myspace kids. It really was a place for friends, and relationship statuses that were just as important back in 2006 as they are today...

Now that Facebook has well and truly established its ruling over all the social media sites, Myspace has kind of fizzled into an embarrassing record that's been playing a bit too long, and a big part of me wishes it would just give up already and accept defeat. However, I still maintain that it was the one and only back in the days of angsty teenage romances. I used to love designing my layout and learning HTML, posting those quizzes via the bulletin board that no one ever read, and logging in to find I had new messages, comments, picture comments AND friend requests.

But I digress. The reason why I am reflecting on my teenage years which were for a large part, admittedly, spent on such social networking sites, is because Myspace is where I discovered Tegan and Sara, my favourite musical artists.

It was through a girl's profile song that I found the band that captured and held my attention for the next six years. The sound of Nineteen was like nothing I had ever heard before, and every time I listen to it, it feels like the first time.

I was fifteen and had recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. There was something about this song. Something about Tegan and Sara; I had to listen to more, so I downloaded as much of their music as I could find and popped it onto my iPod. My mum and I were driving to Birmingham that weekend to pick up my sister for the Christmas holidays, and for the hour and a half car journey I listened to about twenty different tracks, loving every single one of them.

My taste in music has changed a fair bit over the years, but my love for Tegan and Sara has remained constant. They have always been number one for me. I can't put my finger on what it is that doesn't get tired. Perhaps it is their somewhat nonsensical but refreshingly honest lyrics and unique melodies, but as they have recently changed to suit a wider, more varied audience, their music has become a little more generic and plain which I do find disappointing. I definitely prefer their older work, but people change and develop and they will go where they will go.

Last year, when I found out that Tegan and Sara would be supporting The Killers on their UK tour, I had to get tickets. I was ecstatic when I did. I played their music every day before I went to see them, and even tracked down the set list they would be playing so I could listen to each song in order, imagining seeing them live for the first time. A few weeks later, I found out they were doing their own tour - and of course I had to get tickets for that too. My then boyfriend accompanied me on both trips and took all of the photos above while I stood and stared at the two best female artists of all time.

When something you have dreamed about for so long actually happens, you don't know how to react. Everything was brilliant. I nearly cried when they played Nineteen - the song that had started this love back in 2007. Five years on and I was listening to and watching two of the most talented female artists perform for me. It was surreal.

Even though T&S cannot be seen in this photo, I love the memory of how excited I was.

I still look back on the two nights that I saw Tegan and Sara perform live with a great happiness and excitement. Live music is always invigorating, inspiring and uplifting, but when it's from a band you have admired for so long and for such personal reasons, it touches something much deeper within you. I still listen to their songs, enjoying the things I know from the past and the new things I am learning. They are like a jigsaw puzzle that may never be complete, and that is what I love about them the most.