Taylor Swift

The TSwift "Speak Now" Concert,

in Fort Lauderdale,

at the Bank Atlantic Center.

I can't even put into words our excitement. 

Yes, we were [both] super excited.

I mean, 

not only were we going to be in the same city as Taylor Swift, 

we were going to be in the same building; 

listening to her sing, 

and watching her dance, 

and staring at her, 

and taking photos of her! 

 The anticipation almost killed us. 

Parking. 

Scanning our tickets. 

Seeing all the jittery-happy fans. 

Finding our seats. 

Terminal 411. 

Row 6. 

Seats 13 and 14.

The atmosphere was great. 

Everyone was so excited. 

The band "Need to Breathe" opened for TSwift. 

They played well,

kind of a mix between country and rock.

Kate knew some of their songs, I had never heard of them before.

 

And then they were done playing. 

Everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats.

 Waiting to see Taylor Swift. 

Waiting to hear her sing.

Waiting to be blown away.

One group of teenage girls [go figure] kept making up cheers
[Give me a "T" --- "T!"]

and screaming at the top of their lungs - so much so - that the four elderly people 

sitting directly in front of them, got up and moved to the handicapped area. 

They were preteens and it was probably their first time without parents, 

so we just laughed it off. 

Kids these days. 

The lights went out. 

The stage was lit. 

and we joined the crowd in screaming as Taylor Swift made her entrance, 

floating up from below the stage - singing "Sparks Fly."

She was running and jumping and whipping her hair back and forth, 

really making the crowd go wild. 

Kate and I made guesses at what song she would start with. 

We were both wrong. 

She gave a brief intro welcoming us out and thanking us for coming. 

She said she couldn't think of a better way to spend her 

Friday night than with all her friends in south Florida.

She called us her friends. 

Her friends.

"Mine" 

At times her voice was drowned out by every-single-person in the crowd 

singing along.

Her intro to "Should've Said No" was my favorite.

It started with a single violin playing the melody and then Taylor joined in playing

the banjo - and then together it morphed into the intro of the song, 

 then the real band started and Taylor started singing. 

It was incredible.

"You should've said no, baby and you might still have me."

I'm pretty sure it was also during this time that she played "Our Song,"

but with me and my memory, you can never be too sure. 

"Our song is the way you laugh, 

the first date man, I didn't kiss her and I should have"

"Back to December" 

After each song I was guessing, 

"What's she going to sing next," 

and even after she started the instrumental intros, I still had no idea. 

I really liked her rendition of "Back to December" for this tour. 

She combined it with "Apologize" by One Republic and her own "You're not Sorry."

It was like a Glee mash up. 

"Mean"
This was Kate's favorite performance.
I agree - I thought it was good - minus the part where one of the
high voltage strobe lights was pointing directly at the two of us - blinding us with each flash.

"You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded
You, pickin' on the weaker man."

"Speak Now"
We switched from watching a Taylor Swift Concert to a Taylor Swift Broadway Show. 
Taylor sang slash acted out the song.
I've never been to a wedding before --- but this changed that. 

Everyone was caught way off guard when Taylor Swift
started walking off the stage and into the isles in the crowd.
What?!
We watched as herds of people moved [quickly] down from their seats
to be along the isle,
I felt bad - like she was some sort of zoo animal.
Kate wanted to jump off our fourth story balcony in an attempt to touch Swift,
but I talked some sense into her.
Now had it been Emma, Rupert, or Daniel - I would've pushed Kate out of my way to jump first.

She moved to the back of the arena and sat on a tree that had previously been hanging
from the ceiling.
Before the concert started Kate and I saw the tree and predicted that she was going to sit on it
and float above the crowd and sing.
We were half wrong.
She sat on it - but it didn't float back up towards the ceiling,
it did spin though,
so she stayed on the ground and sang
"Last Kiss" and "Fearless" with the ukelele.

She fought her way back to the stage through the devil's snare of people
and then sang "The Story of Us" and "Dear John."
Kate's first concert was here at the Bank Atlantic Center for John Mayor.
Ironic Right.
Look whose singing now, succa.
"The story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now."

"Enchanted"
Another sing slash act out song,
but they're fun to watch.
"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go."

"Haunted,"
the song I was waiting for all night.
Sofreakingood.
She got really into this one too;

running around the stage, head banging, laying on the ground, the whole hippogriff.

"Come on, come on, don't leave me like this

I thought I had you figured out

Can't breathe whenever you're gone

Can't turn back - now I'm haunted."

After Taylor disappeared under a haunted bell and then reappeared wearing a different outfit,

she sang "Long Live."

She told us she wrote the song for us, her fans. 

Whoa, 

that's basically like saying she wrote the song for me.

We cheered as she introduced her band. 

and then it was over. 

ENCORE!

Those girls behind me started screaming, 

"TAYLOR! TAYLOR! TAYLOR!" 

and the entire stadium joined in.

The curtains opened and Taylor said, 

"Have I ever told you the story of when I was 15?" 

and the crowd went w-i-l-d. 

Taylor Swift got up and moved towards a descending balcony piece. 

"No way, Kate - she's going to fly?!"

and the next thing we knew - she was singing "Love Story" and floating above everyone.

"We were both young when I first saw you,

I close my eyes 

and the flash back starts 

I'm standing there

on a balcony in summer air."

It was pretty spectacular. 

When she landed, she bowed with her band and the curtains started to close. 

the crowd yelled and screamed like never before.

"WHOO TAYLOR!"

"WE LOVE YOU!"

"AHHHHH!" 

 

What an incredible show. 

I was thoroughly impressed. 

If I wasn't a Taylor Swift fan before this, 

I most definitely am now.

 Of all the thousands of people attending the concert, 

we ran into the two people I knew were going, 

Kelly and Summer.

[They enjoyed the concert just as much as Kate and I]

Long Live.