Justin Bieber: Not just a teen sensation, but a brand

By Connor Hayes     11/11/10 6:00pm

Some of you may change the world one day as a successful doctor, lawyer or politician - but none of you were as close to Justin Bieber as I was on the evening of Nov. 6, 2010.The story starts in August when I purchased an early bird ticket to attend Austin's FunFunFun Fest, which was the weekend of Nov 5. Jumping at the chance to see a ton of bands perform over the course of three days, I gladly spent $100 on my weekend pass. Little did I know, things would change.

In September, on a whim, I had Thresher A&E Editor Joe Dwyer send an e-mail to the press people at the Toyota Center to ask about the possibility of getting access to the Bieber show in November. At this point I hadn't realized the existing conflict between my super indie-pretentious music festival and what would eventually be the experience that defined me as a person. OK, so I went a little far with that example, but roll with me here - the McRib is back and my mind is all over the place.

Needless to say, I was faced with a tough decision when a member of Bieber's PR team got back to us to say that I was in. My first thought was that I could do both: drive to Austin Friday, back to Houston Saturday night and then do it all over again on Sunday. This dream died with my car radio. The hours of silent solitude, paired with the combination of pre-Bieber anticipation and post-Bieber euphoria, would have driven me so crazy that I might have offed myself somewhere around La Grange. I made the call with a week to spare. I flipped my FunFunFun ticket on Craigslist and never looked back. I was about to enter Bieber's world and never return (until the end of the concert, but still).

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To say that I wasn't the most legitimate member of the media present would be an understatement. Since regular review passes weren't available when the Thresher first contacted Bieber's people, I was a photographer for the night. Due to the insufficient size of my camera, I felt like I had just finished a cold swim and walked into a locker room full of well-endowed dudes. But hey, they were middle-aged men photographing a Justin Bieber concert, so who really wins here?

In thinking about how to write about this experience, I was much more drawn to the sociology of Justin Bieber than the concert itself. What I mean is that Bieber has become more than a musical artist: He's an icon and he's only getting bigger. I'm no investment banker, but if he were publicly traded, I'd be pouring out my piggy bank to hop on board. I realize the previous sentence made it seem like I want to purchase teenage boys and hop on them, but bear with me here - I'm no pedophile.

Everything about his show was extravagant. Granted, I don't usually attend the concerts of large-scale pop superstars, but Bieber's was high in production value. As a laser show began and smoke filled the metal sphere from which he would eventually emerge, the thousands of young girls in attendance screeched to a volume and frequency that I never thought humanly possible. Standing inches from the stage and wildly snapping photos, I was inches away from Bieber as he performed "Love Me," the first song in his set. On a night where those in the front few rows had presumably paid hundreds of dollars to take in the Bieber experience, I somehow had found myself right next to the stage and would eventually be paid to do it. It was at that point, as I turned around for a glance at the screaming throngs, that I realized exactly how insane this kid's life must actually be.

It's one thing to be a star, but Bieber has become a brand and a lifestyle to his fans. Whoever is leading the business side of his enterprise knows exactly what they're doing. As I walked down to the stage to photograph the opening act, it seemed like half the crowd had left their seats to go buy anything Bieber-related. With the recent release of his autobiography (yeah, I know) and the announcement of a February release for the 3-D movie about his rise to stardom called Never Say Never (yeah, I know), there seem to be no limitations as to how his enterprise can generate cash.

I walked out of the Toyota Center that night with a solid perspective on the Bieber phenomenon. I had experienced one side of a polarizing figure, but would be heading right back to the other side when I arrived at South Main. Whereas the concert symbolized his considerable effect on pre-teen superfans, a college campus is the perfect example of a breeding ground for anti-Bieber sentiment. With a considerable amount of hate coming from all angles, Bieber has an endless list of counterexamples to his alleged lack ?of talent. Armed with the most viewed YouTube video of all time (the music video for "Baby" has almost 400 million views) and a skyrocketing superstardom, the kid must be doing something right.

My unforgettable Bieber experience put this type of superstar status in perspective. Needless to say, I'm impressed both by his poise and his brand. In a time where media pulls at the seams of any notable figure, Bieber has managed to maintain a consistently positive image. If you're unimpressed by my apparent infatuation, then go read Veg Out or put on your thick-framed non-prescription glasses and mourn the fact that Agora burned down - Justin and I don't need your negativity. For a few hours last Saturday night, the Toyota Center was Bieber's world and I was most definitely living in it.

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