She played too long, the skits became tiresome, but last night I saw the future of the music industry, and it was HEARTWARMING and EXCITING!<\/p>\n
I got there during Kellie Pickler’s set.\u00c2\u00a0 I expected glitz.\u00c2\u00a0 But what I got was a crack band, and rather than an overemoting "American Idol" contestant, a woman who was thrilled to be there, thrilled to be performing to this audience of peers and soon to be peers.<\/p>\n
During the intermission this cauldron of estrogen typed text messages to the Verizon screens.\u00c2\u00a0 There were none of the salacious and snarky comments of the hipsters, just endless expressions of friendship and love for Taylor.<\/p>\n
About to go to the bathroom, I was confronted with Ms. Swift on the big screen.\u00c2\u00a0 Talking about being friendless in high school, but having something special.\u00c2\u00a0 She urged those in attendance not to feel bad if they didn’t fit in, if you were pursuing your dream, your time would come.<\/p>\n
And then I RAN out for my pee, figuring there would be more interstitial material before Taylor took the stage that I didn’t want to miss.\u00c2\u00a0 And I was confronted with a vast wasteland.\u00c2\u00a0 Barely a soul in the halls.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone was INSIDE the arena.\u00c2\u00a0 This wasn’t a perfunctory show, but an EXPERIENCE! They were bonding, they didn’t want to miss a moment.<\/p>\n
I was aghast at the dancers in the opening number.\u00c2\u00a0 Was this necessary?\u00c2\u00a0 Kellie Pickler had done without, she’d relied solely on the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Thank god, this was about it for bouncing bodies, the music took over.\u00c2\u00a0 There were endless costume changes, all this peripheral shit that I deemed superfluous, but was obviously the fantasy of a nineteen year old.\u00c2\u00a0 One with a bunch of hits who’d earned the right to do it HER way.\u00c2\u00a0 It was quite clearly her show.\u00c2\u00a0 No adults saying no, just the endless hopes and fantasies of a teenager.<\/p>\n
I’d played both albums incessantly in order to prepare.<\/p>\n
But no matter how many times I’d heard them, I was no match for the girls in the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 THEY SANG EACH AND EVERY WORD!\u00c2\u00a0 It was like a school exam, one that got you the date of a lifetime, one that gave you the keys to the kingdom.\u00c2\u00a0 They WANTED to know these songs, they were the story of their life.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve been going to shows for decades and I’ve NEVER EVER heard the audience sing along like this.\u00c2\u00a0 To say it put a smile on my face would not convey the unbridled thrill I got being there.\u00c2\u00a0 This was what music was supposed to be, not posing, not attitude, but JOY!<\/p>\n
Even the six year old behind me in a newly-purchased t-shirt was singing along.\u00c2\u00a0 They’d bought "Fearless" and played it in their bedrooms, when their friends were over, when they were depressed, when they were happy.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what music is…ACCOMPANIMENT!\u00c2\u00a0 And now you can take it along with you, on your iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 Music is EVERYWHERE!\u00c2\u00a0 And you HAD to go to this underpriced show (top ticket $59.50), it was a tribal rite.<\/p>\n
You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors<\/span> Do you remember high school?\u00c2\u00a0 Both the trepidation and the hope?\u00c2\u00a0 Wanting to date a senior but believing he has no idea you exist?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a story Taylor Swift told.\u00c2\u00a0 She had it right.\u00c2\u00a0 AND THE AUDIENCE KNEW IT!<\/p>\n ‘Cause when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you<\/span> You still want to believe them, no matter how old you are.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that attrition sets in, you want to have hope…\u00c2\u00a0 Listening to Taylor Swift’s music gives you hope.<\/p>\n Most of the hit crap is massaged by middle-aged people, giving the public what it thinks it wants.\u00c2\u00a0 But this filtered crap bears no resemblance to reality. But Taylor Swift’s music is direct from her to you.<\/p>\n Does it last?\u00c2\u00a0 Does it matter?<\/p>\n A decade ago girl power was represented by the Spice Girls, a manufactured act that neither wrote nor played, and it was dubious as to their singing abilities.\u00c2\u00a0 Taylor Swift is the OPPOSITE!\u00c2\u00a0 She’s the veritable BEATLES!\u00c2\u00a0 The fact that she writes her own material makes all the difference.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s an honesty that cannot be denied.\u00c2\u00a0 Her looks are secondary.\u00c2\u00a0 And when she actually picked a lead on her acoustic guitar you could see Guitar Center’s stock go up.\u00c2\u00a0 Youngsters model after their heroes.\u00c2\u00a0 If Taylor Swift can do it, I CAN TOO!<\/p>\n Instead of Mariah Carey clones, melisma-popping girls with their hands in the air singing bland crap, we’re going to have a generation of empowered women needing to state their truth, delivering something that starts in the head and the heart as opposed to the office of a plastic surgeon.\u00c2\u00a0 No one’s done as much for women’s music since JONI MITCHELL!<\/p>\n Highlights?\u00c2\u00a0 ALL THE HITS!<\/p>\n Singing "Teardrops On My Guitar" at the other end of the arena…\u00c2\u00a0 If you haven’t been in love with someone who hasn’t loved you, you’re not alive.\u00c2\u00a0 If only you could TELL THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 But you can’t.\u00c2\u00a0 The rejection would just be too painful, you’d be MORTIFIED!\u00c2\u00a0 So you’ve got this secret crush, that can go on for years.<\/p>\n "Hey Stephen", with its jaunty groove that forces your toes to tap and head to bob involuntarily.\u00c2\u00a0 The lyrics of obsession are just the cherry on top.<\/p>\n "Tim McGraw", introduced in a video by the man himself.<\/p>\n "Should Have Said No".\u00c2\u00a0 Why do people cheat and lie? They say that feminism has taken a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 That little girls want to dress like whores and trade on their sexuality.\u00c2\u00a0 But Taylor Swift sacrifices neither her femininity nor her dignity.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t have to play by a man’s rules, and you have the right to call out bad behavior.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s an ongoing theme in Taylor’s work, expressing hurt, pain, wanting to set wrongs right.\u00c2\u00a0 Fascinating in a culture where everybody’s supposed to be a winner, where you can’t show vulnerability, where you put on a smile and bury your feelings.<\/p>\n But obviously Taylor’s got it right.\u00c2\u00a0 This gig was SOLD OUT!\u00c2\u00a0 Even the UPPER DECK, high above the three rows of luxury boxes, was full.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s almost like viewing a show from the OUTSIDE!<\/p>\n There were no losers.\u00c2\u00a0 No moments when you went out for a pee and a pretzel.\u00c2\u00a0 But the true highlight was "White Horse".<\/p>\n Oftentimes during the show Taylor would just stand there, drinking up the applause, not like a pro, but someone reveling in having made it, basking in the acceptance, FINALLY!\u00c2\u00a0 And after one of these long pauses, launching back into patter, and Taylor spoke regularly, it was an ongoing conversation with the audience, she told the assembled multitude how great they were and said they deserved a special guest.\u00c2\u00a0 JOHN MAYER!<\/p>\n I was stunned.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s not country.\u00c2\u00a0 And he’s not female.<\/p>\n But Taylor Swift isn’t country either.\u00c2\u00a0 Occasionally a banjo was featured, but this was pure rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 More guitars than you see at a classic rock show, no tapes, no hard drives.\u00c2\u00a0 Top Forty is for drum machines, for altered voices, country’s for music.<\/p>\n There was a big roar.\u00c2\u00a0 But there wasn’t the love for the rendition of "Your Body Is A Wonderland" that I expected.\u00c2\u00a0 But then John switched from an acoustic to an electric, the same worn-out Fender that he uses to play those Stevie Ray Vaughan licks, and Taylor started picking out the notes on her acoustic…<\/p>\n That face of an angel comes out<\/span> This ain’t revenge rock.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t accusatory, rather the protagonist is disappointed, and is doing her best to display strength. Actually, this was Hollywood.\u00c2\u00a0 But almost none of the throng in attendance will achieve any fame.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ll have victories and disappointments.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ll go to school, get married, have jobs and children.\u00c2\u00a0 Hopefully they’ll avoid the diversion of drugs in the fast lane of life depicted in a media that’s full of sensationalism but absent much reality.<\/p>\n Life’s the same for everybody.\u00c2\u00a0 You start off scared, knowing nothing.\u00c2\u00a0 And by time you realize nobody knows anything, that the bullies and those screaming from the pulpit are full of shit, no smarter than you, it’s too late, your skin has sagged, you’re over the hill.\u00c2\u00a0 Money matters, but it’s not everything.\u00c2\u00a0 A smile on the face of a loved one, helping another…they can make you just as happy as the billionaire, if not happier.<\/p>\n But suddenly the "artists" were aligned with the billionaires.\u00c2\u00a0 It became about lifestyle, separating yourself from your fans.\u00c2\u00a0 But on her way back from performing in the rafters Taylor stopped and hugged fan after fan.\u00c2\u00a0 Because she knew what it meant to them.\u00c2\u00a0 And what they mean to her.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re in it together.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no show without an audience.\u00c2\u00a0 And an audience is drawn to flash once.\u00c2\u00a0 But to sustain a career, you’ve got to deliver more than a momentary hit, more than train-wreck value.<\/p>\n Taylor Swift has earned her headliner status.\u00c2\u00a0 And she delivered on it.\u00c2\u00a0 My complaints as to length and style are irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 She did it her way.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s all that matters in this life, having no regrets.<\/p>\n Romeo save me, they try to tell me how to feel<\/span> Wall Street told us they had the economy handled.\u00c2\u00a0 Clive Davis told us if we just did it his way music would not only survive, but be great.<\/p>\n But they were both full of shit.<\/p>\n As the Beatles once sang, you’ve got to think for yourself.<\/p>\n Taylor Swift heeded their advice.<\/p>\n And by hewing to her own line as opposed to someone else’s she’s inspiring a generation of young women.<\/p>\n And me too.<\/p>\n She made me a believer.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only in her, but music and the music business.\u00c2\u00a0 If someone as great as Taylor Swift can make it, think of all the great acts to come!<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" She played too long, the skits became tiresome, but last night I saw the future of the music industry, and it was HEARTWARMING and EXCITING! 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It’s the morning of your very first day<\/span><\/p>\n
You’re gonna believe them<\/span><\/p>\n
You should have said no<\/span>
You should have gone home<\/span>
You should have thought twice before you let it all go<\/span>
You should have known that word ’bout what you did with her’d, get back to me<\/span>
And I should have been there, in the back of your mind<\/span>
Shouldn’t be asking myself why<\/span>
You shouldn’t be begging for forgiveness at my feet<\/span>
You should have said no<\/span>
Baby and you might still have me<\/span><\/p>\n
Just when you need it to<\/span>
As I pace back and forth all this time<\/span>
‘Cause I honestly believed in you<\/span><\/p>\n
I’m not a princess<\/span>
This ain’t a fairy tale<\/span>
I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet<\/span>
Lead her up the stairwell<\/span>
This ain’t Hollywood<\/span>
This is a small town<\/span>
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down<\/span>
Now it’s too late for you and your white horse<\/span>
To come around<\/span><\/p>\n
This love is difficult, but it’s real<\/span>
Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess<\/span>
It’s a love story baby, just say yes<\/span><\/p>\n