10 Fandom Moments That Shaped Us As Stans 🫡

Written by: Kiri Hassinger

As the year is quickly coming to an end, we’ve been doing some reflecting. Not necessarily reflecting on this past year (though we’ll probably do that at another point), but reflecting on everything we’ve seen that has brought us to where we are today. To put it in less dramatic terms, we’ve been thinking about fandom moments that shaped us. And trust us, there’s a lot. Following your favs since the beginning means you get to grow with them and watch all of the silly, and later iconic, things that they do. In true With the Band fashion, we’ve made a list of our top 10 fandom moments, the ones that really made us into the stans that we are today. 🥰

One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer on Tour Together

Picture this: It’s 2014. You wake up, throw your hair into a messy bun, and get ready for the day. Your outfit? Black tank top, skinny jeans with rips at the knees, a flannel (that’s probably red and black), and your roughed-up vans. You look at your phone, and you realize that today is the day. You’re going to see One Direction in concert. And, to add to the excitement, 5 Seconds of Summer is opening. Watching the videos from this tour, and seeing the pictures of the boys when they were so young, just tugs at our heartstrings! We’ll definitely never forget how 5 Seconds of Summer blew up during and after the Where We Are Tour! And their performance of “Teenage Dirtbag?” Are you kidding? This definitely altered our brain chemistry. 🤯

Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl”

Listen, we’ve watched this music video more times than we probably care to admit. But, can you really blame us? Back in the day, this music video shaped our relationship goals. Seriously, this seemed SO romantic! Watching this video makes us feel so much nostalgia, just look at how young Justin was! And remember when he brought a fan up during his live performance of this song at Madison Square Garden during the Never Say Never movie? How sweet is that! 💜

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

Can you name another moment in history that truly united this many people? From this many different backgrounds? For this long? The Eras Tour is not only iconic, it’s historic. It’s our Roman empire. Not only was it an amazing way to bring fans together, whether it was through in-person meet-ups, celebrations, or even the struggles of Ticketmaster, but it was also a way for fans to see all of their favorite Taylor songs performed live! This moment didn’t just change us, it changed the world. 🪩

The Jonas Brothers’ “Oh how the tables have turned” Saga

Yes, we mean saga. Back in 2008, our lives were changed when Kevin and Nick picked up a table and turned it around, prompting Joe to walk in and say “Oh how the tables have turned.” It was silly, and it made us laugh back then. But in 2019, not only did they reunite, they also recreated this iconic video to announce the JoBros reunion. Not only was this extremely nostalgic for a lot of stans, but it was, dare we say, even sillier the second time around! 😂

BTS’ V and Olivia Rodrigo at the 2022 Grammys

Now we know it was scripted but in the moment? We were FLOORED. Olivia and V? We couldn’t believe it! BTS’ 2022 Grammys performance was a sight to behold, with Jung Kook entering from the ceiling of the venue, Jin “hacking” the performance, and V flirting with Olivia Rodrigo and slipping her a note after! It had stan Twitter freaking out, even after we found out it was scripted! 🤭

Billie Eilish at Coachella 2019

Coachella 2019 was certainly something you had to be there for. The lineup was amazing enough anyway, but add Billie Eilish to the mix? Yeah, we needed those tickets. 2019 not only marked the release of Billie’s album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? But it also marked the year that she made history! She was the youngest headliner in Coachella history! We’re still so proud of everything she was able to accomplish that year. 🥹

The Impact of After

It feels like we know some sort of dirty little secret. We won’t lie, this book was in our Wattpad library back in 2013. Back when it was still fanfiction. Can you believe that there are people out there who have watched these movies and have no clue that it’s Harry Styles fanfiction? Anna Todd was an author for the masses. She knew what we wanted, “a rude boy named [Harry], with too many tattoos and piercings.” The books became such a hit that they were published and then turned into a film series. 🫡

Justin Bieber’s “I like that laugh”

Now this isn’t a moment exclusive to stans, but it definitely shaped us. Seeing Justin in nearly every single “rip Vine compilation” was great for us. Tell us you didn’t hear at least 10 people quoting this vine everyday. Justin has quite the repertoire of iconic moments but this one is definitely in the top five. 🙌

Luke Hemmings Lip Piercing (and When He Removed It)

When the world was first introduced to 5 Seconds of Summer, we immediately fell in love with them. Their personalities were silly, they had great stage presence when performing, and their songs were the perfect mix of pop-punk for us! Of course, they’ve grown a lot since they first became mainstream, and we’re so proud of how far they’ve come, but we can’t help but miss a few little things. For example: Luke’s lip ring. When the news broke that he took it out, it was a tough day for the stans in Luke’s lane. We loved him all the same, but we can’t lie and say we didn’t want it back. 😩

Polyvore Preferences

How did fans get outfit inspo back in the day? Sure, we could watch YouTube videos and maybe even draw inspiration from what our favs were wearing on stage. But nothing gave us inspiration like Polyvore’s preferences and imagines. These outfits were the catalysts of niche moodboards and outfit boards. They’re relics. What would we have worn without them? 👗

It took a lot to get here, but look how far we’ve come! We definitely wouldn’t be who we are as stans without all of these iconic moments. And there are still so many more! We’re so grateful to have grown with our favs and to stick with them through thick and thin. Not only has this brought us closer to them, but its brought us closer to each other! Do you have a favorite fandom moment that we didn’t mention on this list? Let us know on our Instagram, X, or TikTok! 😊

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