Taylor Swift 1989 Tour

Georgia Dome

October 24, 2015

It finally happened, after being a Taylor Swift fan for almost ten years I finally got to see her in concert. Let me just say everything you have heard about Taylor Swift concerts are true. It wasn’t just a concert, it was a production.

I’m not going to drone on about how much I love Taylor Swift or how amazing she is, because you probably already know.

Shawn Mendez

We got to the Dome a little late so we missed a few of Shawn’s songs, but we caught most of his set. It’s crazy how young he is since he’s so talented! He’s literally the cutest thing standing up there on stage with his guitar. His smile was huge as everyone held up their phone lights and sang the words to his songs. Opening up for Taylor Swift is a big deal, and she made a great choice. He has talent, heart and a bright future ahead of himself.

Vance Joy

Vance is super talented and I was really excited to see him. His stage was pretty cool, I loved his light up name that was displayed behind him. His two singles Mess Is Mine and Riptide are amazing songs, but I was super excited to hear him sing Georgia (for obvious reasons). His music is just so chill and the way he sings always seems like he's making his voice go up and down, but in a melodic way that somehow works. He was also rocking some denim on denim I think, which was wonderful. 

Taylor Swift 

She opened the concert by welcoming us to New York.  Her outfits were perfection, disappearing every few songs for an outfit change. She had a gang of male dancers following her around during each song. They were obviously very talented, perhaps to slightly distract from her dancing shortcomings. Her stage had scene changes and the catwalk even rose up into the air for a few songs. It truly was a theatrical production and unlike any concert I’ve ever seen.

We need to talk about the light up bracelets. Talk about taking a concert to the next level, these bracelets lit up on cue for each of her songs, blinking, changing colors and showing just how many people were at that sold out concert. It was beautiful, a truly impressive display that made you feel like you were part of the concert.

She sang almost exclusively from her 1989 album with a few older songs thrown in here and there. I think the only ones not from her latest album were 15, Love Story, Trouble and We Are Never Getting Back Together. I’m not a huge fan of 15, but I will say it was beautiful watching her hover over crowd with just an acoustic guitar. She also put a fresh spin on Trouble and Never Getting Back Together. Her sound has changed, but she clearly wanted to bring some of her old favorites along with her and found a beautiful way to do it.

She has far too many songs to fit them all in one concert; she stuck mostly to 1989 because it is her ‘new sound.’ It’s different from all of her other albums, especially from her first few. It made sense though, her concert is a production and it needed that cohesive sound. One of my favorite songs she preformed was How You Get the Girl, and that’s probably one of my least favorite songs to listen to on her album. It was amazing though, her dress lit up and there were all these umbrellas and it just looked so cool.

One of the funniest things about her concert was when Taylor would take these long pauses and just look out into the crowd basking in the applause. She did it so often and her faces were just priceless. I seriously love watching Taylor Swift just exist, she has the best reactions. My friend Rachel and I would just look at each other and laugh.

My only complaint of the night, not that it’s even really a complaint, was her special guest. We were in Atlanta, a city filled with country music stars and rappers galore. There is a wealth of talent that calls Atlanta home that she could have called on to join her on stage. Our special guest was Tove Lo. Now I say it’s not really a complaint because I do like Tove Lo, I have her songs and some tour dates didn’t get any special guest! I really shouldn’t complain, but it just seems like such a wasted opportunity.

Overall, this was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. The large-scale production value just has no comparison. I’m used to watching bands and singer/songwriters and country artists. They don’t have choreographed dances, they don’t have outfit changes and they don’t have props. Not that one way is better than the other; it’s just different concert styles for different music genres. I had never really been to a big pop concert. It was truly something though; Taylor Swift has earned every bit of that success. She has that elusive intangible quality that can’t be learned. She’s Taylor Swift, what more can I say?

xx Kristen

I know you own her new album 1989, but here are my 5 favorite songs from it:

Wildest Dreams – Taylor Swift

New Romantics – Taylor Swift

Blank Space – Taylor Swift

I Know Places – Taylor Swift

Style – Taylor Swift

Tuesday Tunes

It’s been so long since I’ve done one of these that I feel like I need to make a 30-song playlist! So much new music has come out lately that it was hard to choose just 10 songs.

1.  On My Mind – Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding’s answer to Ed Sheeran’s Don’t is pretty amazing. I’m not taking sides here, I just really love this song.

2. Sober – Selena Gomez

A lot of Selena’s new songs are amazing; she killed her performance at the AMAs with Same Old Love. This is one of my favorites from her new album though.

3. Lay It All On Me (feat. Ed Sheeran) – Rudimental

I will always want more Ed Sheeran songs; thank goodness he keeps giving us gifts like this song while we wait for his third album.

4. Victorious – Panic! At the Disco

This is just such a fun song, Panic’s new music has been great so far and I can’t wait to hear more of it.

5. Broken Arrows – Avicii

Avicci might be my favorite DJ out there and it’s because of songs like this one.

6. Cake By the Ocean – DNCE

Wondering what happened to Joe Jonas? He formed a new band and released this awesome song. Who knows if his band will last, but this song is pretty awesome.

7. Hollow (feat. Big Sean) – Tori Kelly

Tori Kelly’s voice is just amazing; she deserves all of the fame and recognition in the world. This song showcases her talent beautifully and I am a sucker for pop songs with raps in them.

8. End of the World – A Great Big World

You’ve probably heard their song Say Something, but they have plenty of other amazing songs you should listen to as well!

9. Drowning Shadows – Sam Smith

Sam Smith rereleased his album with a couple of extra songs and this is my favorite of them. It’s haunting and really hits you in the heart.

10. Golden (feat. Sia) – Travie McCoy

I feel like not enough people have heard this song, it’s so catchy and Sia and Travie McCoy sound great together! Again, I have a thing for genre crossover songs.

What songs have you been listening to non-stop lately?

xx Kristen

Halsey Badlands Tour

Buckhead Theater

October 16, 2015

If you haven’t heard of Halsey yet, listen up. She’s pop/rock with a bit of edge; her rebellious words and catchy beats will have you hooked in no time. Her songs have been all over Spotify playlists and her tour sold out too fast for me to get tickets.

Luckily for me, StubHub exists.  It was my first time using the secondhand ticket site, but I got a ticket last minute to her show for just a little over face value. Since I bought this ticket about 30 minutes before the show started, I just ended up going alone. It was a really cool experience, although I do love sharing music with my friends, being alone has its own advantages.

Buckhead Theater is a small venue; it’s general admission with a stage and then two levels of standing room space. I liked how intimate it was, and even though I was toward the back on the upper level I still had a pretty great view of Halsey.

I will say I was SURROUNDED by teenagers and they all seemed to be dressed the exact same. I saw space buns, flannel and a lot of crop tops. The rest of the group was mostly parents accompanying said teenage daughters. It was kind of nice though, no drunken idiots pushing people, no super tall guys putting their girlfriends on their shoulders and everyone there knew the words to all of her songs.

The concert itself was full of color; I could barely get a decent picture with all of the lights swirling around. Her outfits were great, she looked stunning up on stage and she sounded more amazing than she looked. Her voice really is unique and you can tell how much she connects with her songs.

I honestly love small concerts like this one, you feel so much closer and so connected to the artist. I also love the feeling of being there when everything starts, when they are so grateful to their fans and are still so in love with what they are doing. It’s amazing to be part of the moment when it all begins. She could disappear in a few years, or she could be playing stadiums, you never know. That feeling of uncertainty, of standing on the cusp of someone’s career is strange. I think the future is bright for Halsey and I look forward to seeing her get bigger and bigger.

Her entire album is amazing; you should give Badlands a listen. You’ll fall in love with her lyrics, her voice and her sound.  Watch out for her when she comes to Atlanta again in December to open up for The Weekend!

xx Kristen

Hold Me Down – Halsey

New Americana – Halsey

Ghost – Halsey

Hurricane – Halsey

Colors – Halsey

Music Midtown Day 2

It's almost been a month since my last post and part one of Music Midtown, so that's pretty sad. I haven't been doing a very good job at time management the past few months, but hopefully this is the start of a very productive month. I know you've been on the edge of your seats waiting for day 2, so let's relive a concert that literally happened MONTHS ago. Enjoy. 

New Politics

It was a very hard decision to choose between X Ambassador and New Politics, but we chose New Politics in the end and it was the right choice. They were so unbelievably amazing! There wasn’t a big crowd so we got pretty close. The band members were Danish and then they had an American drummer. We got to hear them play West End Kids and Harlem and we were able to hear them sing Girl Crush as we were walking into Piedmont Park.

Their lead singer was so cool, he could break dance and he walked out into the crow, they held up his feet as he sang. They have this amazing energy and everyone we were with that didn’t know them loved them by the end of it! I just love that feeling when you’re watching a band that nobody really knows and you can feel that you’re witnessing the start of their career. You can say you were here when it all began, when they only drew hundreds of people to their concert. It’s crazy to see their smiles and see how proud they are and how happy they are that we chose to come early and watch them. I love moments like that. That’s what music is about, those moments that connect you and the artist. Those moments where we all feel as one, where we are all watching something amazing begin.

Alessia Cara

This up and coming artist already has her hit song Here on the radio, but she didn’t draw a huge crowd and I have no idea why. Alessia is so talented, I hadn’t really heard of her before that day, but I’m so glad my friends had. Her voice is really unique and the songs she writes are all very personal. She’s still so young, but her talent is undeniable. I really like her other song Seventeen and then she also did a great cover of Sweater Weather. You should check her out online if you haven’t heard of her.

Elle King

This girl gives no fucks and I love it. I’d really only heard a few songs by her, but she was great. Elle King's sound is a little folksy, but in a more pop way. She was just fun to watch, she kept talking about being drunk and she was barefoot and sweaty, but she was just living her best life and it was refreshing. Check out Exs and Ohs.

Panic! At the Disco

I love Panic! At the Disco, I have ever since I Write Sins Not Tragedy. I don’t have all of their CDs or anything, but I have at least one song from each album they’ve released. Let me just say they have come a LONG way since their emo days, the band itself is almost unrecognizable. It seemed like it took them a while to find their sound, but now that they have and it is amazing. I just really love the lead singer’s voice. They drew a pretty big crowd and sang most of their hits. They also covered a TON of classic rock songs including Bohemian Rhapsody. I think this really showcased their talents as musicians. They have definitely headed in the rock direction as of late and it’s really where they’ve begun to shine.

Random Bands

We heard a few songs from random bands throughout the day too, we didn’t really go to their sets, but we could hear them. We watched Hal and Oats from far away and heard You Make My Dreams Come True. We listened to Billy Idol as we sat under a tree and ate lunch, he played his hits White Wedding and Rebel Yell. We did a little walking around after Panic, tried to find our friends and such. We heard a bit of Vance Joy, who I love, but I’m seeing him open fro Taylor Swift next month so I knew I would see him again (this is how long ago I wrote this, TS was weeks ago now). We heard Lenny Kravitz sing American Woman as we walked toward the main stage. We basically chose to not see anyone else so we could get close for Sam Smith’s performance.

Sam Smith

Honesty Sam deserves his own post, he is one of my favorite artists and Saturday night was something I won’t soon forget. We got SO close to the stage. For as many concerts I’ve been to, I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to the artist, I just can’t afford those kind of seats, but at music festivals there are no seats!

Sam Smith loves Atlanta, he opened his tour here at the Fox back in January where I saw him for the first time. He couldn’t stop talking about what an amazing crowd we were and how much he loved us. Normally I would think this is artist bs because I assume they say this to every crowd they preform in front of, but I could see it in his eyes. His face lit up when he was saying these things to us, he truly loved us and we loved him back.

He sang all of his songs and he sang them with all his heart. It was beautiful, it was inspiring, it was perfect. He would walk over to our side of the stage and I could actually see into his eyes, that’s how close I was. His voice and talent are unmeasurable and truly unique. It hadn’t even been a full year since I had seen him last and yet it felt so different, so new.

Sam Smith’s songs tear you apart and then put you back together. They cut you deep and then they heal you. There’s nobody else like him out there. Sam truly puts all of himself out there when he preforms. When he walks off the stage, you know he gave all of himself to you and it’s beautiful.

xx Kristen 

West End Kids - New Politics

Harlem - New Politics

Yeah Yeah Yeah - New Politics

Everywhere I Go - New Politics 

Here - Alessia Clara 

Seventeen - Alessia Clara

Ex's and Oh's - Elle King  

This Is Gospel - Panic! At The Disco

Miss Jackson - Panic! At The Disco 

The Ballad of Mona Lisa - Panic! At The Disco

Hallelujah - Panic! At The Disco 

Victorious - Panic! At The Disco

I'm Not the Only One - Sam Smith

Lay Me Down - Sam Smith 

Like I Can - Sam Smith 

Leave Your Lover - Sam Smith 

Nirvana - Sam Smith 

Music Midtown Day 1

As if you didn’t already know, I love music. Festivals like Music Midtown where I can see multiple artists I love in an outdoor setting with my best friends are actually my heaven. This was my second Music Midtown and it was one of my favorite weekends of 2015! Here’s who I saw on the first day:

Hozier

I got there a little late on Friday because of work and life, but I made it to see most of Hozier and that is what matters most. He’s so beautiful, I don’t really know how to describe his sound. Most people write him off as some hipster, but he has some real talent. His sound is just cool, it’s like a rainy day in a coffee shop that serves beer too. He sang most of the songs on his debut album and then he covered Blackbird by the Beatles (beautiful) and Problem by Ariana and Iggy, probably for the poor souls that don’t know his original songs.

Elton John

My biggest complaint about Music Midtown is their horrible ability to schedule good artists at the same time! I really did want to see Drake and I heard he put on an amazing show, but when was I ever going to get another opportunity to see the legendary Elton John preform? I made the right decision.

Elton graced us with his big hits like Benny and the Jets, Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer and Your Song. We progressively got closer and closer to Elton as people started to leave to go see Drake, by the end of it I could actually see him sitting at his piano in his sparkly jacket. A really cool moment was when he sang Saturday Night’s Alright, which is something we use at UGA games, so my friends and I (all UGA alum) got really into chanting Saturday Saturday Saturday.

I’m so glad I saw Elton, he looked so happy to be there with us, he got up after every song and walked around grinning from ear to ear and bowing as the crowd erupted into applause. He apparently has a place in Atlanta, so he obviously really loves us, but you could just tell he loved being up there one stage. Side note, his guitarist is from Atlanta. He also said that this would probably be one of his last shows, he wanted to spend time with his grandchildren. I knew I made the right choice.

You know how when you watch a band play, there’s always that one song you’re waiting to hear? The entire night, you need to hear that one song and when you do, it’s the best feeling in the world. My song that night was Crocodile Rock. It might be a weird choice since Elton has so many absolutely amazing songs, but it was my song. When I was a kid that song would always come on the classic rock satiation I listened to with my dad and I LOVED it.  So it’s always been my favorite Elton John song, and I’ll be damned if the didn’t save it for the very last song. For a moment I honestly thought he might not play it, but then he came back on stage for his encore and gave me everything I had ever wanted. It was everything I hoped for, and Elton is a king. It’s a performance I won’t ever forget.

xx Kristen

Take Me To Church - Hozier
Jackie and Wilson - Hozier
Someone New - Hozier
Angel of Small Death and Codeine Scene - Hozier
Work Song - Hozier

Your Song - Elton John
Rocket Man - Eton John
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Saturday Night's Alright - Elton John
Tiny Dancer - Elton John 

Ed Sheeran Concert

I didn’t think it was possible to love Ed Sheeran more than I already did, but then I saw him live. Live music is always a unique experience, you could see the same artist five times and never see the same show or feel the same things. That’s what I love about seeing artists live, it’s like falling in love with them all over again.

An Ed Sheeran concert is like no other concert you will ever experience. It’s literally just Ed on stage with his guitar. There’s no band, no fancy dancers or crazy gimmicks, it’s just him and his music.

He uses this thing called a loop, he can record himself playing a note or singing a line and then it loops and becomes his background. He’s his own backup vocals and his own band. It’s crazy to see one man have so much control over his own sound. This does make the songs take a little but longer to get started since he has to set them up, but who’s really complaining about more Ed up on stage?

Ed’s show starts with adorable baby pictures and videos on his giant screen behind the stage. Little ginger Ed with his glasses, and then big Ed walks out and you can just feel that he’s living his dream.

That screen behind him was actually a huge part of his show. Like I said it’s just him up there, he’s not really running around or dancing or interacting with the nonexistent band members, so they made the screen do some really cool things. The screen had outlines of Ed, Lego men, his Thinking Out Loud video and some vivid colors. It really made his performances more dynamic and allowed you to focus on his voice.

I can’t even pick a favorite song that Ed Sheeran preformed, they were all so amazing. I honestly do love it when he raps though, so if I was forced to pick I might have to pick Take it Back. He just gets so into it, he looks so happy, he really loves the music he creates.

Ed Sheeran has so much talent in his body. I’ve never seen somebody understand music so completely, it’s just like breathing to him. Ed would be singing a song and then seamlessly transition into somebody else’s hit record. He so gets how beats and sounds and songs go together that he can deconstruct two songs and blend them together. He was singing You Need Me and then went straight into Drake’s “I was running through the six with my woes” and then finished his own song. It just shows how truly talented he is.

I need to take a second to go back, and talk about how wonderfully talented Ed’s opening act Christina Perri is. She’s so adorable, like the cutest. She was so happy and sweet and talented. She’s got some pretty big hits of her own, but seeing her live made me want more. She’s just so talented and her voice is incredibly powerful. Everyone needs to start giving her a second thought, she’s great.

We had some pretty great seats, Philips Arena is an amazing concert venue, it’s not too big so you feel fairly close to the artist no matter where you are. Sharing the experience with my friends is always one of my favorite parts of music, I love looking over at them singing along and feeling connected through music.

I will see Ed Sheeran any time he comes to my city, he’s one of the most talented musicians I have ever had the pleasure of seeing live and I know he’s going to continue to blow me away. So I leave you with one of my favorite Ed Sheeran lines, “They say I’m up and coming like I’m fucking in an elevator."

xx Kristen