Music Monday--Taylor Swift Speak Now Tour Review

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Last Wednesday, September 7th, I had the privilege of seeing Taylor Swift live in her Speak Now concert tour at the Tacoma Dome in Washington state.  If you have followed my blog for any period of time, you will know that I am a big Taylor Swift fan.  In fact, since the concert, I have been able to play little else on my car stereo.

My daughter and my niece (she is an adult) went with me to the concert.  We arrived early, and my niece bought my daughter a Taylor T-shirt and glow stick.  Waiting for Taylor was probably the hardest thing because she had two opening acts.

Forgive the quality of pictures.  We had fairly good seats, but I used my cell phone.  My niece took better pictures, but she hasn't posted them yet.

From the moment Taylor took the stage, I was enraptured.  During her opening song, I was so emotional.  I was trying to sing along like everyone else was, but I felt like I wanted to burst into tears.  I think that all the emotions just built up, and I was so excited to get the chance to see Taylor live!

By the time the second song came, I was singing along.  I was even screaming right along with everyone else.  I was amazed by the pyrotechnics that were used on stage.  I don't know if I would have wanted to be on the stage while those were going off, but it sure didn't phase Taylor.  She gave those songs everything she had, and her energy seemed limitless.  I loved her costumes, the dancers (ballet, tap, wow!), and her instrumental prowess.  It was just as good if not better than a Broadway or Las Vegas show.  The backdrops were out of this world, and her musicians were incredibly talented.

This was an interesting moment in the show.  See the glowing tree?  Taylor is on it, singing away.  At some point, people flocked in that direction, and I had no idea this was the point when she came into the audience. We stayed put because we never would have gotten close enough.  This tree did a slow rotation like a music box as Taylor sang several songs.

This was our view of the stage.  The screens certainly helped as I'm sure you can see.  She sang the majority of the songs from her current album, but she did sing some old standbys.

See that basket?  This was how she ended her program.  She sang Love Story while touring the arena in a suspended basket.  It was definitely our best view of her.

I realize that many of you are not Taylor Swift fans.  If you know anything about me, you will know that initially, I couldn't stand her.  I was first drawn to her song Teardrops on My Guitar, and she kind of grew on me.  I am a trained classical singer, and if I listen to her singing and critique it, I can't say it is anything fantastic.  But she is an unbelievable songwriter, and her energy makes up for everything.  And it is so rare to see someone who is so personable with her fans.

I also appreciate that she is such a positive role model.  So many young actresses/singers--Brittney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Hannah Montana--have gone down the wrong road.  They started out naive, and then they lost it.  Thankfully, Taylor has not gone that road.  She even rewrote a couple of her early songs to take out objectionable lyrics.  If you don't believe me, look it up. As long as she remains grounded, I will be a fan of hers for years to come.  It was so nice to go to a concert and not feel like I had to shield my daughter from any of the sights or songs.