Okay, I know this is not a book related topic, but I had to share about the wonderful Summer evening my daughter and I had at the Taylor Swift concert recently!

The venue was a long drive from our city, so we knew we would want to get there EARLY!  The gates were to open at 5pm, but I didn't want to fight crowds just to park the darn car.  After a quick run to Target for snacks and a CD copy of the 1989 Album, we hit the road about 1pm.

As I told my Daughter, there would be a lot of "hurry up and wait" situations that day.  Sure enough, we got to the stadium about 3:15, and then waited in line to get to the gates.

We met a great group of teens in line.  Some of them had been at the first night's concert, so they gave us the scoop:  If we wanted to actually get the drawing my daughter made for Taylor to her, we needed to RUN to the back of the stadium to the Taylor Nation booth.  Once you get there, you wait an eternity (we waited about 1.5 hours) to take a photo with a cool background.  You then type in your email, and you get the photo sent to you.


Then, you politely ask if you can get your gift to Taylor.  They will take it (along with lots of other people's gifts) backstage so Taylor can see them.  I really don't know if Taylor Swift actually did see what we left there, but it was a fun thing to do. Hopefully she saw my daughter's drawing (she wrote a very sweet fan letter to Taylor on the back).



After that we got our pre-ordered merchandise (easiest, no waiting), and found our seats, way up in the stadium.

Being that it is a 50,000 seat venue, I opted for the less expensive tickets.  If we had really wanted to actually see Taylor's face, we would have had to have floor seats, which were going for $350 each!  I think we made the right choice.  By being up high we could appreciate the lights and take in the whole scene.  The venue was at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.  This is the home for the 49ers Football team.  It has an easy to navigate layout and even has a stadium app to pay for parking and merchandise, and order food.  For a small fee, you get your food orders delivered straight to your seat!  It sure beat waiting in line.

The opening acts were Shawn Mendes (a 17 year-old singer from Canada) and Vance Joy (who has the hit single "Riptide").   Shawn Mendes played with a simple guitar and then an electric guitar.  Vance Joy had a full band backing him up.  Both had lots of energy and seemed genuinely happy to be performing to such a huge audience.

Then the sun set and the main event started.  Every audience member got a small electronic wristband at their seat.  Once the show began, the wristbands all lit up!  Throughout the show they changed colors in time with the music and also reacted with your hand motions.  It was so beautiful to see 50,000 lights move and react with the music and it instantly made you part of the show.

The crowd was ecstatic as Taylor took the stage with "Welcome to New York"!  Throughout the show, there were lovely costumes, sets, lighting, dancers and surprises.  The girl group Little Mix came out to do a song with Taylor, and during "Style" Julia Roberts and Joan Baez strutted down the catwalk.  Julia seemed rather embarrassed by it all, but Joan got into it and you could tell she was having a great time!

This was a wonderful experience to share with my daughter.  I know some people don't like Taylor, but I think she sends a strong message to girls to cherish friendships and build other people up rather than tearing them down.  I really got a great feeling from the many enthusiastic fans who dressed up in costumes, made art for Taylor, made funny, original signs, and knew all the lyrics to every song (like my kid).  An added bonus was that most were helpful and polite to each other, too!

If you are a Taylor Swift fan, save up your money and go to the show!  you will not regret it.