Citizen Soldier preaching the strength in asking for help

Citizen Soldier, 10 Years, and Adelitas Way touched down in Chicago this last weekend, August 10th, as one of their many stops in the HeartSupport Tour.

To be quite frank, I didn’t know what to expect walking into this show. I more or less knew what the message was going to be about, but for the most part, I went in blind. (I later find out that I had already listened to one of the bands without realizing it.)

There is so much to say about the message that is conveyed, and the reason behind, this tour; it’s called The HeartSupport Tour for a reason. The message is one that I back wholeheartedly - which is that of acceptance. Accepting that we are not perfect; accepting that we are not always okay; accepting and acknowledging that asking for help is okay.

We all need someone to lean on at some point in our lives. True strength is knowing when you’re not able to do something alone and have to ask for help - because it’s harder to let others see us for who we think we are. Ironically, it’s during these moments that people end up shattering our own self-image; it‘s truly eye opening to realize that other people don’t see us in the same negative light that we see ourselves.

As someone who lives with a lot of these same emotions, this show really hit close to home, and it was apparent that the same could be said for everyone in the crowd. I’m not ashamed to say that my eyes were sweating a little bit during the show. And you know what, it felt good. I felt rejuvenated by just being at the show, and it felt good feeling some of the emotional burden being lifted too. For the moment that we all shared the same space, we were all friends, we were all heard, and everywhere you turned you could see hope for a better tomorrow.

Speak up and live more.. because the pain doesn’t end with you gone.

I just wanted to say how much respect i have for these bands - especially Citizen Soldier - for the amount of love and care they put into their fans. While I was a stranger to their music, you’ve just gained a new fan. To Jake - between your day job (trauma therapist) and this band, you’re affecting a lot of people. Never stop what you’re doing.

”Shared joy is double the joy; shared sorrow is halved the sorrow.”