Taylor Swift is a Hit On and Off Stage
by Chris Welch
Yep, this kid is good.
Taylor Swift, that is.
Actually, she's 18 years old, but with that long, flowing,
Rapunzel-like blond hair, cowboy hat and wonderful personality, she
still seems like a kid at heart.
And, she also seemed like she was having the time of her life
Saturday night before a sold-out, record crowd of 10,000 people who
came to hear her, Kellie Pickler and Rodney Atkins in concert at the
Redstone Arsenal.
Swift interacted
often with the crowd. She had great chemistry with her band. And, she
must have thanked the crowd 10 times for coming to the show and
supporting her career.
But even so, her performance on stage may not have been the best of the night.
About two hours before the show, Swift hung out with about 45 fans during a meet-and-greet in
a building behind the massive stage. She hugged each one, posed for photos and signed
autographs, pretty routine stuff for these sort of things (although it
was much different than Pickler's, more on that in a bit).
But she also took time to talk with each one and thank them for
coming. It was making her managers/producers nervous, but no matter,
Swift was going to do what she wanted to do. She got down on one knee
to talk with the smaller kids and made them feel like a million bucks.
And, she also gave several of the lucky ones a bracelet right off her
arm.
That was the pre-show show. When she took the stage in a beautiful
pink and silver sequined dress, that sincerity and honesty played out
in front of the huge crowd. She opened with "I'm Only Me When I'm With
You" and followed that with the big hit, "Our Song."
"It's a great honor playing in the great state of Alabama," Swift
told the crowd. "Thank you for selling out the show at 10,000 people.
"I played last night in Montgomery and got a certificate from the
governor. Now, I'm a citizen of the great state of Alabama. When you
welcome somebody to the state, you really welcome them to the state."
She followed with "Stay Beautiful," the big hit, "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "The Outside."'
"I see your marriage proposal," she said, pointing to a guy in the
audience. "By the way, yes, I will. You just tell me when you're
available."
Bet that guy went home on top of the world, huh?
She followed with "A Place in the World" and then she did a duet
with Pickler, the first time the two had done that in concert even
though they'd been touring for over a year together. They're apparently
great friends and Swift played as Pickler sang Toby Keith's "Courtesy
of the Red, White and Blue." It was very appropriate since the concert
was on the military base and with Memorial Day Monday.
Swift continued with "Should've Said No", and during the song, it
was girlo y girlo between Swift and fiddle player Caitlin Evanson, who
was outstanding all night, on amplified drums/trash cans. Swift
continued with "Mary's Song," her first hit, "Tim McGraw" and came on
for her encore singing "Picture to Burn."
Pickler opened the show and also was very entertaining on stage. It
was a far cry from her meet-and-greet before the show, when she stiffly
met a few fans and acted like that was the last place she wanted to be.
She posed for pictures, but didn't sign autographs and didn't say much
at all to the fans (Kellie, take some lessons from Taylor).
Luckily, she turned the switch on when she went on stage and sang
hits like "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind," "Didn't You Know How
Much I Loved You," "Rocks Instead of Rice," "Don't You Know You're
Beautiful" and Dolly Parton's "Nine to Five."
"Dolly is my definition of an 'American Idol,'" Pickler said.
She did the moving hit song "I Wonder" about the mother she never
knew and performed a new one, "The Best Days of Your Life" that she and
Swift wrote together. She ended with her big hit "Red High Heels,"
which of course, she was wearing.
Atkins followed and also put on an entertaining show (he is reviewed by our intern Victoria).
