By Madelyn Carter | Staff Writer

I’ve been to a few concerts in my time, but never have my ears approached deafness as they did on Friday night. The AT&T Center was completely packed with mostly middle school-aged girls; accompanied by their moms, half of whom were just as into the concert as their offspring. The show opened with a boy band named Burnham, which featured surprisingly good vocals from a young lead singer. The next act featured headliner Bieber’s rumoredgirlfriend, hip-hop wannabe Jasmine V. Her narcissistic lyrics and provocative dance moves, performed before thousands of impressionable young girls were less than impressive. I’m not bitter. At all. Next up was Sean Kingston, who really got the party started by telling us to ‘get our hands up’ every five seconds and deejaying some popular singles in between singing his own. He had he crowd thoroughly exhausted before it ever got a glimpse of Justin’s face.

Then, the moment we’d all been waiting for arrived. Justin emerged from underneath the stage into a metal ball and belted “Love Me” to a crowd that embraced that message wholeheartedly. Since Bieber recently pulled a lip-synching stunt on the VMAs, I was doubtful of his legitimacy, but that quickly changed. He climbed into a heart-shaped contraption and flew over the crowd with his acoustic guitar, singing “Favorite Girl” and “Never Let You Go” with no band accompanying him. The girls (myself included) went absolutely insane. After this, he showed us the preview for his new 3D movie, “Never Say Never,” as he changed his wardrobe behind the scenes. He returned to sing his “Overboard” duet with Jasmine V. and the inimitable “Eenie Meanie” with Sean Kingston. Afterward, he flew over the audience yet again in a metal, balloon-shaped vessel for his song “Up”. The roar of the crowd peaked when Justin concluded with his hits, “One Time” and “Baby.”

All in all, this concert was exceptional. I’m still a Belieber.