People often associate the concert bracelets as a recent trend, but they are far from the truth. They’re different than a wristband for the pit but instead are just bracelets made of beads to trade or just give to fellow concert goers. Unlike in the K-Pop sphere where light up sticks are the trend, the concert friendship bracelet is resurfacing and gaining popularity. The bracelets have been going back ever since the 70s, and have molded differently with artists. I love them as they’re a way to get a free memory of the concert besides buying merch or taking pictures/videos.

Types of Bracelets

The ones I will be discussing are the “Kandi bracelets”, which has stemmed out from the friendship bracelet, but other examples have been wristbands popularized by Madonna, with punks apparently would cut up socks and use the elastic and Xylobands with Coldplay; which are similar to the K-Pop wand. The band would synchronize to the music and give an alternative way to enjoy the concert.

Letter Beads

Now for basically every bracelet I’ve seen or received it has letters on it. I have three types of letter beads; the basic circle beads (in black and in white) and white hearts with black letters. But, depending on the concert or theme you can get a variety. Specifically, I got the white heart letter beads because of the Glass Animals concert (the album being ilysfm so…love). Or for the Saint Motel Concert, I got colorful beads.

But for concerts you don’t need one theme for bracelets, I know for my twenty one pilots I got really cool blue alphabet beads, I got square ones, and etc. so it’s a slippery slope. But, if you only have one alphabet bead type that’s perfectly fine.

The Basics of Bracelets

Now, the biggest variety with bracelets: beads. It’s a trial and error to see exactly what you want your bracelet beads to be and that’s what gives it the originality of them. Similar with letter beads, there are so many types of them. I myself, prefer either my glass beads or glass seed beads, and white letter beads. It gives my bracelets a more muted look, perfect for twenty one pilots. I also like my smaller less matte glass beads because they come in either a solid sparkly color, a color/white or two colors mixed together.

The diameter of the string and beads really varies so make sure you get the correct string type. At least with what I’ve found the smaller the diameter of the string the more it stretches but it’s more likely to break if stressed. So, keep that in mind but luckily you need string that isn’t bigger than the diameter of the beads. For me, I usually cut it 25 cm because with a 5 meter string you get 20 bracelets from it and it usually is a universal size. I usually make 1 or 2 larger and 1 or 2 smaller just to give that variety in wrist size.

The easiest way to create a bracelet is in two ways. First, the album covers. In each picture I provide, I have at least one album bracelet (where it says the name of the album and in the color scheme). Second, song lyrics or song titles with colors. I know for twenty one pilots they have eras which makes it easy to create bracelets but sometimes songs just have those colors. Level of Concern, in my twenty one pilots bracelets is full of neon colors. That’s a bit due to the music video, but also it fits. The album cover is a black USB with yellow and red. My reworked Van Horn bracelet is in very earthy colors because when I hear that song I see those dusty sand colors and imagine listening to it in the desert.

Extra Charms

Now, when it comes to concerts there is a theme but it doesn’t mean that the bracelets are an exception. While a concert has a theme of the album/era the bracelets luckily don’t have to follow that. For example, at Glass Animals while it was a space theme it doesn’t mean I only got bracelets based on the album. I got a Pork Soda bracelet which had pineapple charms on it and was themed on the album How to Be a Human Being. My favorite charms are my iridescent stars for Glass Animals or my iridescent dolphins that will be used more for my Saint Motel concert.

What I’ve learned from previous concerts is seen in my Saint Motel bracelets. I’ve done a variety of patterns, but still kept to the album colors. In my Puzzle Pieces bracelet, I learned how to connect the magnetic heart to make 2 bracelets. I also started using colorful beads because they look fantastic.

The Goal of Bracelets

I make my bracelets to remember the concert, and I know for my smaller concerts like Foster the People I made me and my stepdad each one (then I got inspired and did another one). For AMPERS&ONE I made one for me, and two for my friend. For Saint Motel I only have 8 because I don’t imagine I will be seeing the whole bracelet trading scene for them. But for AJR, Glass Animals this summer I will make more. I love to make and give/trade bracelets but it also is about exploring a novel place.

The main goal of them though, is to extend your concert enjoying experience. It’s very optional and it’s also time consuming and a bit expensive (as someone getting her supplies due to Joann’s going out of business). But, it is an enjoyable thing even if you don’t get something back. In Canada, I got origami birds as a trade and that was memorable.