First off a bit of a disclaimer: I may be in the minority of thirty year old women that happen to absolutely adore Taylor Swift. Sure I shrug it off with my friends and family and even strangers like "ugh fml I have to take my kid to see Taylor Swift." Secretly I felt like a kid myself knowing I would get to be a part of something that would both let me see my daughter be the happiest I've ever seen her and have fun screaming pop songs.
The night didn't really start out all peaches and cream, what with the hour and a half car ride due to traffic. Non-the-less it was expected and my husband was the one doing the driving; dropping us off and picking us up like many other people did. It was insane considering there were over 15,000 people in attendance. And the night couldn't be complete without a wacky almost mishap getting there because of my total ditziness. I re-read the tickets as we pulled by the Glendale stadium that the AZ Cardinals play at assuming that was the place the concert was. "Oh shit, what the hell," I said as we drove past, no cars and no one was in sight! My husband and I look at each other in utter shock while my now almost ten year old says "Maybe we are early." I showed my husband the ticket and he says "Huh, I was wondering why there was a coyote on the ticket, it's at the Gila River Arena." To which I almost freaked out thinking we would have to drive farther to find it. I told my husband I assumed the places were one and the same. Yes I am a total dork but my amazing hubby wasn't bothered at all and said it was no big deal, they were next door to each other. (Cut me some slack though. I've only been to Phoenix a small handful of times in my 30 years and don't know the names of the stadiums. Which may be shocking to some seeing as I am a native.)
Once we got there with the hordes of other mothers and daughters decked out in fan fare with striped baseball socks and tutus and homemade t-shirts. Declaring slogans ranging from We Love You Taylor, to We've got Style. Oh and did I mention these were the mothers and a few fathers not their children. Most of the kids whose parents were toting light up signs (I shit you not!) looked extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed of their parents. Sure my kiddo and I were in the minority in regular everyday clothes but we didn't care. Maybe next tour we will dress up.
We knew we'd be waiting a while so we got a soda and red vines and we love the opening act so we watched as Vance Joy soon came out to play 6 songs. He has a few hits we all like to sing when they come on the radio. The energy in the crowd was already really positive and amazing so we were both on a high. Until I tried to get my daughter to take some selfies which she was having none of. We also realized Tay had left us cute little clear glow bracelets for when her show started. Next time I will bring our own vast amounts of glow in the dark stuff but I definitely won't ever dress up like a taco or walking lighted billboard, too much work for me. Note to concert goers: don't wave your huge ass glow stick in my face almost hitting me forcing me to bump my daughter which left her in a crummy mood later in the night.
Taylor was to go on most likely about an hour after Vance with all the stage prep and what not, so we trooped it to the crazy packed restroom and got the kiddo a T-shirt and hat (Thanks Grandpa!) The line for the merchandise was insane but we had just the right amount of time as Taylor played "Welcome to New York" we hightailed it back to our nose bleed seats. The screams were deafening and we danced right away along with everyone else. The bracelet lit up as every last light shut off, except the ones on her of course. Right away we were both almost in tears with pure joy and excitement. I have never in my life felt the type of energy that was in that packed stadium. (And I am never a person that uses the word energy.) She spoke to the crowd multiple times and tried to make you feel like you were a part of her world even if you were in the nose bleeds like we were. Sure there were the cheesy parts where people got bored. Like when she went on for a while as she played guitar or piano about boys and relationships. I had read a few cynical articles about things like the videos she plays at concerts of her friends saying why they love her being ridiculous. But hey, ya gotta have wardrobe changes so no judgement here. I was most shocked by how cool the effects and dancers were and how unbelievably gorgeous Taylor is. I am running out A.S.A.P to get my hair cut like hers.
My Bottom Line: Yes we turned our cell flashlights on and sang and danced all night. It was a blast and we were extremely exhausted by the end of the night. But ya know what? I would and hope to do it all over again in a few years. I certainly wouldn't mind going to every tour from now on. I promised my now five year old she can go to the next one. Em had been waiting many years to be able to do this and I will never regret going. I will be even more of a crazy Taylor Swift fan from now on. Yep even though I'm 30 the whole night made me feel 15 again and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.
0 comments:
Post a Comment