TAYLOR SWIFT ~ AMERICA’S VIRGIN
(By Brett B.)
Taylor Swift
I have 3 kids. Yes, even people like me are allowed to breed unabated in America. Deal with it. I have 2 boys and a daughter. Love them all. May not always like them but I will always love them. They’re kids. It is their moral imperative to annoy, aggravate and piss off their parents. We did it to ours, now they do it to us. Hakuna matata.
I , like many fathers, am constantly being told that I do not show my daughter enough attention. That she feels like I don’t do things with her like I do the boys. Fine. We’re playing ZOMBIE BLOODBATH on the Wii. Grab a controller and join the farting contest already in progress. OK, not exactly what a 9 year old girl wants to spend her evening doing. I get it.
So, her birthday was last week. Turning 10. A big birthday. Going from single digits to double. Here’s my chance to look good to the kid. Coincidentally last week Taylor Swift was doing 2 sold out shows here in Jersey. Of course, both were sold out. How else would I be able to have to resort to StubHub and pay $400 for 3 $75 tickets?
Prudential Center, NJ
Now here is where we discuss my kid and her taste in music. If she had her way her iPod would be full of Lady GaGa, Justin Bieber, The Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana. Since I control the downloads in the house, her iPod loaded with stealth cuts from Blondie, The Go-Gos, The Detroit Cobras and Aretha Franklin. And Taylor Swift.
We get to the Prudential Center and the kid has no idea where we are or what is going on. It was a total surprise. Ten feet from the door I give her the tickets and watch her eyes pop out of their sockets and she begins to squeal like someone is deflating a balloon. Very cute and over the top. She is if anything dramatic. We go in and she then finds out that Daddy Cool got her VIP Box seats. All you can eat buffet. Full bar. Sundae station. The whole 9 yards. ‘Cuz that’s how Daddy Cool rolls. Plus, it was all for the kid.
At one point my wife leaned over to me and said, “Little out of your element here, huh?” Understatement of the evening. Taylor Swift’s audience is 90% screaming tweenage girls dressed like they are 21 and on spring break, 3% young teenage boys just beginning to grow hair in strange places with confused feelings for girls and 7% parents who got dragged into driving the other 93% of the crowd to the arena.
But the best part of the evening? Taylor Swift puts on one of the best concerts I have ever seen. I mean totally gives her audience the show it came to see. Songs with great hooks. A dazzling stage show. And a truly sincere enjoyment out of what she is doing. You cannot ask more from any performer.
Sure the songs are written by a starry-eyed 19 year old who still believes in Romeo & Juliet and writes songs about her first kiss.
But you know what? Those are the kinds of songs I want my little girl to hear.
Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager 