Almost a year ago, a friend and I told each other we'd buy tickets to Taylor's upcoming (well..a year away!) concert - and he bought them. I was pretty ecstatic. Elated. Really pumped.
Fast forward a year - and whew, a lot of things changed. Including my date to the concert - and THANKFULLY my wonderful partner in running (and crime..we'd be a pretty sweet crime duo..just saying), Dara, accepted my offer and came with! We talked about it a lot in the weeks leading up to it - including a few countdown texts like this:
And then October 17th came. She picked me up in her little car and off we went to Jerry World (you know, where the Cowgirls..I mean, Cowboys play). We stopped for dinner at this little bar (aptly named Grease Monkey) about a half mile from the stadium that offered a shuttle to the stadium. A bacon cheeseburger AND I wouldn't have to pay $60 for parking? (yes, that's the truth..they were charging 60 BUCKS for parking..rude)
SOLD.
WE MADE IT!
We arrived about two hours early (we thought traffic would be horrible..it was, you know, later on in the night..ha) and headed up to our seats. We were about 7-10 rows from the top. Which, I totally didn't mind..I just wanted to be there. We sat in our seats for a little while, basking in the "calm before the storm" - the storm being 60,00 other people - before walking down to meet up with my friend Hannah.
Hannah and I were in the same sorority in college and I was even in her wedding last fall! That was actually the last time I saw her - she up and moved to Colorado pretty soon after! She's a lucky girl. I'm glad we got to see each other for a few minutes.
After the trek downstairs, we made our way upstairs and took our seats!
(if you're wondering..yes our shirts say "Shake It Off" - I found them on Etsy!)
The show began with an adorable little 17 year old named Shawn Mendes. Shawn sings "Stiches", which has invaded the radio waves completely.
Besides being cute, the kid can sing. He was up there, just him and guitar and did his thing. Can you imagine being 17 and playing a show (let alone an entire tour) of 60,000 people? I'd be freaking out a little..but he managed with grace.
I got a panorama of the stadium lit up with phone lights during Shawn's set. I thought it was pretty cool myself.
Next up was Vance Joy.
Vance sings another little song that you may have heard of this summer, Riptide. You might have, you may have not. If you haven't, you've been living under a rock. I also really enjoyed his set! And loved his cover of "Stay With Me". He's coming back in March, and Dara and I are talking about seeing him again. He's that good. And really attractive. AND has an Australian accent. So..there's that.
AND THEN:
The crowd went NUTS. She opened with "Welcome to New York" - which, I'll admit isn't my favorite song (at all) on the 1989 album..but I was singing to it regardless. I read somewhere that she sang all but two songs from the album. I didn't exactly keep track..I was just lost in it.
And, in the spirit of her tour, she brought out Ellie Goulding as her celebrity guest:
She was..okay. She sang "Love Me Like You Do" and while I sang every word (like I do every time), I'm a little over the song - so it was a dull moment in the concert for me.
BUT..
The whole thing was just electric. Surreal. She's literally everything you'd think she'd be and more. I don't even have enough words for it, honestly. I mean, the woman spent 15 minutes in the middle of her concert to stop and talk about being yourself and being happy. (the speech is somewhere on Youtube..google it, it's worth a listen) She knows exactly who her audience is - it's little girls who hate this about themselves and don't fit in anywhere. It's the 25 year old who identify (a little too much) with the different relationship woes she's had. She's been in their shoes..in my shoes..the shoes are just a little more expensive.
I'm thankful that there are role models for little girls like Taylor Swift. Someone you can actually look up to. She's not going out partying every night or going off the deep end on purpose..*ahem, Miley*
She's just trying to do what she does and be a good person. The kind of person that writes personal Christmas letters to fans (and hand delivers them!) and dances really horribly at award shows. The kind of person that gives $50k to one of her back up dancer's nephews because he's battling cancer and the bills are piling up.
I love her - and I'm going to keep loving her. There's enough bad things happening in the world, and none have to do with Taylor Swift.
I was just really happy to be there, with one of my best friends, enjoying my first (and not my last) Swift experience..
*sigh..*
C
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