August 2nd was a date that had been burned into my mind since January. No, it wasn't my birthday or anyone else's birthday that I had to remember. It wasn't a wedding date or my parent's anniversary. It was the day I thought I would meet Taylor Swift. There was no good reason why I thought I was going to meet her. I hadn't won meet-n-greet passes or somehow acquired pit passes. Nope, it was a crazy dream that I thought I could make come true on my own accord.
Taylor Swift, August 2nd at the Verizon Center in the nation's capital, Washington D.C. Now this wasn't my first time seeing T-Swift. I had the privilege of attending last year's sold out concert that was also in D.C. Last year's seats were "ok," if we are being generous with the word. The great thing about those seats was I didn't have to hold my glow-in-the-dark sign the whole concert. I didn't have to hold my sign because I was in section 400, row Z, meaning the wall was directly behind me. Yep, gotta love the nose bleeds. But this year was going to be different. My ticket stub did not say "Section 400" it didn't even say "Section 200." In huge bold letters, it read "Section 100 Row D." Goodbye nose bleeds, and hello Taylor.
I had been working at my internship all summer at an ABC news station affiliate in D.C.. On the day of the concert, I could not even handle how excited I was. Riding the metro into work, I kept thinking what if Taylor walks onto the metro right now? What the heck would I say if I could manage to say anything at all? I had to stop, I had to focus, I was going to my grown-up job to do things that were actually important to my future. After the longest five hours of my life, I bolted to the metro as I left my internship for the afternoon; everyone knew I was going to the concert that night so they let me out early.
I went home and got my gear. Yes, there was gear. My friend, Katie, and her two sisters and my roommate Mandy had gone all out for this concert. We had foam fingers with Christmas lights on them, signs with glow-in-the-dark paint on them plus more lights. Even our t-shirts glowed. Our mission was to have Taylor see us and invite us to the T-Party (after party) that only the craziest fans get to attend. Once we got to the Verizon Center, the place was filled with 13,000 "fearless" fans. This was going to be epic.
The opening acts had finished and the crowd went wild. For a solid 3 minutes non-stop the crowd started chanting, "Taylor, Taylor, Taylor!" Lights, cameras flashed and action, Taylor appeared on stage in her sparkly gold dress as she ran from side to side. Sparks literally flew halfway through her latest hit song, "Sparks Fly." The theatrics of this show honestly transformed a simple concert into a full musical with characters, wardrobe changes, set changes, pyrotechnics, dancers and acrobats. One thing you can be sure of when attending a Taylor Swift concert is that you get the most out of your money.
The concert never slowed down from song to song. One of my favorite performances was "Speak Now," and for those who don't know it's a song about speaking up at a wedding. Naturally, the scene was set and wedding bells rang as a bridezilla walked down the aisle. Taylor and her three backup singers lined up and danced to their choreographed 1950s doo-wop routine. After the song Taylor ran into the crowd. At this moment, I knew it was my one chance to meet her. I literally pummeled my way through 30 people and reached the railing of the seats. But alas I did not get to personally meet her. Unfortunately I was not at the concert where she laid down some Eminem lyrics, but it was still epic.
Song after song, scene after scene, the show literally blew my mind. Taylor's vocal abilities have improved since the last time I saw her, which is something I don't like to admit. Taylor is a great song writer, but does not have the strongest voice. At this concert, I didn't hear one sour note. The greatest thing about attending a Taylor Swift concert is that you can look to your right and look to your left and you feel like you have a connection with every single person in that arena. You know that every person out there is singing to someone. Someone who has done them wrong or put them down. Someone who has loved and lost or someone who is a devoted fan. That's what this concert meant to me and I think many others. So I didn't meet Taylor. I know, no happy ending with that. But you know what they say, "there's always next year."
