Student sees Swift

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Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy of Brittney McEwen

Britney McEwen takes a selfie with Steven Tyler before the Taylor Swift concert in Nashville.

Homecoming is the same night as a concert by Taylor Swift and senior Britney McEwen got tickets to go see her in concert rather than going to her senior homecoming. The concert was on Sep. 26 and started at approximately 7:30 p.m. and lasted until 11:15 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

“[Taylor Swift] is my favorite. I’ve just always liked her music and she’s always been someone I’ve listened to,” McEwen said.

Taylor Swift used to sing country music, but in 2014 Taylor Swift decided to write a Pop Album instead. This decision earned Taylor some of her biggest hits. Some fans were glad she changed to pop while others disagreed as they were accustomed to hearing her sing country.

“I like her country stuff [songs], but I also like her pop stuff. But if I had to choose, it would probably be her country. My favorite song by her of all time is, ‘You Belong with Me.’ My favorite song right now is, ‘How You Get the Girl,’ which is in the 1989 album, but ‘Shake It Off’ is up there,” McEwen said.

When singers have concerts, they usually get sold out in seconds, and that was probably the same for Taylor Swift. Luckily, McEwen’s mother was able to get tickets for Britney, her sister Ellyn McEwen and herself.

“My mom ordered [the tickets] online and then they were given to us as a Christmas gift. We’ve gotten tickets before so I think we’re a part of her ‘fan club’ thing so when they went on sale, my mom bought them. You just had to be ready to get the tickets,” McEwen said. “I was excited because I get to go. We got them in our stockings (since they are small), and we always have Christmas together. So we opened them at the same time and since we went together last time, I just assumed we were going together again.”

At every concert, Taylor brings out a special guest to sing a song. In the past Swift has brought out a few musical guests and maybe one celebrity guests.

“Last time she brought out Luke Bryan. I assume she will bring out someone country since she is in Nashville and they like country music,” McEwen said.

Taylor Swift had a concert on Friday and Saturday. One of the guests on Friday was rock legend Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. McEwen was able to snap a photo with the star.

“We were shopping around Saturday afternoon and we stopped at this one road and decided to go to this used-bookstore. As we were walking out, we saw [Steven Tyler] standing there, looking at books with his family,” McEwen said. “So we left the bookstore and waited from him outside because we didn’t want to bother him while he was shopping. Once he came out, I walked up to him and asked if I could take a picture with him. He said, ‘Make it quick. I’m with my family.’”

Statistics show that Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour has been her largest audience yet to date. Numerous amounts of her concerts have gone sold out over the year. McEwen said that it was packed in the Arena but it was easy to get to their seats because they sat right on the edge. The guests for the concerts were Leona Lewis and Mick Jagger.  Despite having been to a Swift concert before, McEwen believed this experience to be different.

“It had a different atmosphere. This one seemed more mature and more adult like. The last one seemed more ‘teenager-ish.’ This time it was all good,” McEwen said. “They gave us wristbands that were synced with the songs and changed colors to it. We got to keep them and if you tap them, they change colors. There were a lot of lights and it was a lot of fun.”