Taylor Swift concert July 2023

November 14, 2023

Taylor Swift Concert, Sunday July 23, 2023

We did the very long drive to Seattle (Tukwila) on Saturday and arrived after midnight. It was our first road trip with the Tesla – we were very impressed with the storage (we had half of the third row up, and even with that, between the area under the floor in the very back – which I call the sub-trunk – the hatchback area, and the front trunk – frunk – we had room for 5 carry on suitcases, a large tote bag with 5 beach towels, and 2-3 additional totes. So that was a pleasant surprise. We were less impressed with how long it took to charge, but it is what it is . . .

Julia, who had had a mild sore throat and cough on the drive, woke up around 6 on Sunday feeling pretty sick, and with a subjective but almost certain fever, so I found a grocery store to get some ibuprofen and Tylenol for her. (She said, “I really don’t want to miss the show, I drove all this way to see it.”). Then everyone else got up, the kids and I got breakfast and Jourdan went for a run. We all showered and got ready for the day, which was to be a big one — Mariners game and then Taylor Swift concert. While we were getting ready, Aubree came over (and brought us Puyallup raspberries!!). She was going to ride with us into Seattle, see a movie, and then meet us afterwards for the concert. We had to pack up our stuff because when we had gotten here last night, the room we had reserved was full so they put us in a different one for the night, with the plan to move into our real room the next night. But our real room wouldn’t be ready until late afternoon so we had to leave our stuff at the front desk, where we’d get it after the concert. So we packed our stuff and headed to the front desk, only to find out our room was actually ready. Back upstairs to drop our bags and then off. We drove to the light rail station and took forever to find parking, then finally got on the light rail. . . It was into the 4th inning when we made it to the game which was a bummer, but our seats were fantastic, 12th row behind the Mariner’s dugout. They played the Blue Jays, and it seemed that there were more Blue Jays fans than Mariners. The Blue Jays won, but it was a good game.

From the baseball game we got right in line for the concert — the doors opened just a few minutes after the game ended and moved pretty quickly, we were in our seats by 5:00, with Aubree joining us soon after. We got food, traded bracelets, and enjoyed the atmosphere. The first opening act, Gracie Abrams, took the stage at 6:30. We really enjoyed her, and the two young women about 4 rows in front of us who knew every word to every song she sang. (We learned via Wikipedia that Gracie is the daughter of JJ Abrams, and was born in 1999 — the same year I graduated college 😳.)

After Gracie performed, Julia, Aubree and I decided to see how long the merch line was. It looked not terrible so we got in it. We chatted with folks around us and traded some more bracelets, and about 15 minutes later we realized we were in a bathroom line, not a merch one. We had to use the bathroom anyway so stayed in line. Afterwards we went to the real merch line and it was insane. By that time we’d missed much of the second opening act, HAIM, so we just headed back to our seats. We heard the last 2 songs, then waited for the main event. Before it came out, the stadium did a wave. I have never seen over 70,000 people do the wave all at once, it was impressive.

Taylor Swift’s concert was everything we wanted. I have been a fan of hers since I heard Love Story sometime around 2009. Over the years, my admiration for her as a singer/songwriter, businesswoman, and celebrity using her platform for causes that are important to her has only grown. I haven’t been able to see her in concert before and I’ve been looking forward to this since the day last November when I left for work in the morning and instructed Jourdan that he had only one job for the day, to get us tickets. (And he did, in fact, spend most of the day in a Ticketmaster queue, but ultimately was successful). Our seats were near the very top of the stadium, which actually ended up being amazing because we could see the whole stage. We sang and danced for 3 and a half hours (except for sick Julia, who napped on Jourdan’s lap for about 20 minutes of the 1989 and folklore eras — she woke up just in time for Midnights, which is her favorite), and could have done it for 3 and a half more. Everything about it — the stage that moved up and down and was a screen, the dancers, the lights (both on the stage and in the crowd as they gave everyone a light up wrist band when we entered, then they flashed different colors at different times), the pyrotechnics, the choreography, the outfits, the music — was incredible.

When we were walking down the ramp after the show, the crowd spontaneously sang Love Story which felt magical. We followed thousands of other people, very slowly, to the light rail. It was after 1 am when we finally were able to board (the show had ended around 11:45), and around 3 when we got back to our hotel. But despite the huge crowd and long lines and cramped space, we encountered very few people who weren’t kind and positive and wanting to share such a great night together. Which I think is a tribute to Taylor Swift in its own way. I didn’t think it was possible for me to love and admire her more than I already did, but I was wrong. I’d see her again in a heartbeat.