This Friday I’m going to a J. Cole concert being held at my school. Who is J. Cole you may ask? He is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper best known for his songs “Work Out” and “Can’t Get Enough.” His much-talked about mixtapes eventually landed him a record deal with Jay-Z’s label Roc Nation. And apparently he was born in Germany.

In preparation for the general admission craziness I’ll be dealing with, I have created a list of things for you and me to keep in mind for our prospective concert adventures.

• Expect to get sweaty. A crowd of excited people pushed together = sweat. Fluid excretions everywhere.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Self-explanatory.
• Oh, and wear deodorant. Definitely self-explanatory.
• If you want to move closer in, get into the crowd from the side. People have a tendency to gather in the middle, so it’s next to impossible to push through if you do it from there.
• Stay hydrated. Buy an overpriced bottle of water if you need to. It’s better than collapsing in the middle of the crowd from dehydration. I feel like this list is starting to get a little Mom-ish but this is important, damn it.
• Be tall. It turns out that’s pretty helpful. If you aren’t tall like I am, find a tall Concert Friend and get on their shoulders or something. Which leads me to my next point…
• Make Concert Friends. This is more for the people who go to concerts solo or with only a friend or two in tow. Concert Friends are on the Friend Scale above Public Transportation Friends (the people you exchange glances and jokes with when a crazy finds their way onto your train car) and below Beginner Spanish Class Friends (the people you partner up with during class exercises and text when you need notes because you missed a class). It’s fun to connect with someone for a few hours based on your shared taste of music.
• Don’t be afraid to sing and/or dance your little heart out. If you’re too cool for that, at the very least bob your head. Concerts are a bad time to get all self-conscious – getting into the music does nothing but add to your experience.
• Be totally present with the artist. That statement sounds unintentionally spiritual but I can’t stress enough how important it is to be really listening and really watching, whether you’re familiar with the artist/song or not. It’s very easy to get distracted by the people around you, how hot you feel, or the fact that of all the people you had to get pressed up against in the crowd, it’s the guy that looks like Mickey Rourke (present day Mickey Rourke, not ‘80s Mickey Rourke).

All of this is a surefire way to having a fun, safe, and comfortable concert experience. Tune in later this week for my review of J. Cole!