Part 2: “I Had The Best Day With You Today” (The Concert)

Karma took us to the summit by allowing us to experience Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Kansas City Night 1 performance. No other performance compared and we couldn’t have possibly attended a better night!

We spent the five-hour trip from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, bonding and fan-girling over Taylor. We listened to the new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album that had just dropped the night before, read articles, watched videos, and speculated on what surprise songs she would play.

“I’m excited to hear her play “Wildest Dreams!” I said.

“That’s Chloe’s song!” Claire spoke up from the back seat.

“Really, I didn’t know that!”

“I love it!” Chloe said.

“Me, too!” I replied, “That was totally my song when it came out in 2015. I’d listen to it through my headphones while I was in focus mode, testing, at work. I’ve always loved it!”

“Has she played “Back to December, yet?” I asked. “I love that one, too. I remember the first time I ever heard it, she played it on the piano at an awards show when y’all were babies and it was just moving and incredible.”

“No, she hasn’t played that one, yet!” Chloe said.

“Did you know that’s supposed to be about Taylor Lautner?” Claire asked me.

“No, I didn’t know that, either. I always wonder who each song is supposed to be about,” I replied.

“They’re still really good friends, and he married a girl named Taylor and they’re all friends,” Chloe added.

“Aw, that’s adorable! I love that,” I replied.

“Yeah, Taylor Lautner was being interviewed about Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) being released and they asked if he was scared (because there are songs in that album about him) and he laughed and said ‘I feel safe, but I’m praying for John!’ and now there’s a TikTok of him on his knees like he’s praying!” Chloe explained, laughing.

“Then she’s got to play ‘Back to December’ tonight, in honor him! That’s my bet,” I said.

And on and on we went, dreaming and hoping to be lucky enough to attend the show ourselves. And then we did.

While many traditional concert reviews give a play-by-play of the setlist and physical aspects of the show, what’s more meaningful is the unique experience of each concert-goer, and the emotions the event evoked. That the story I want to share.

As soon as we got to our seats we took a few selfies to commemorate the moment, but due to the battery-draining escapade in Part 1: The Quest that led us to this moment, I had one opportunity, and quickly uploaded a photo to my Instagram story of us on the floor of the stadium with the caption, “Holy Shit! Against all odds we made it happen!” then my phone died.

The girls’ phones also started dying one by one as soon as the concert kicked off so while this allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in the performance, we were also disappointed that we wouldn’t have much photo documentation of the experience.

We waited a mere minutes for the main event, a large clock appeared on the Jumbotrons suspended over the stage counting down the minutes until showtime. We stared in awe around us, taking in the energy of the arena.

The girl seated in front of us was adorable, adorned in body glitter and jewels, and so full of smiles and excitement. She and I exchanged some brief pleasantries about our desire to leave our specified seats and go up to the MainStage for the full duration of the concert, but our conversation was cut short when there was a small commotion behind us.

“Those are Taylor’s parents!” one of the girls exclaimed as a group of people were being escorted to their seats, passing right behind us, close enough to reach out and touch. We didn’t, of course, but her mom was so gracious, smiling and happily accepting homemade sashes and friendship bracelets that concert-goers had made specifically for her as the group walked to their seats in the private box.

The bejeweled Swiftie and I shared another moment when we both wanted to get a better view of the janitor’s cart that Taylor supposedly hides in to get to the stage, so we gave each other knowing glances then “illegally” stepped up and stood on our foldable chairs while it was being wheeled out of the players tunnel and up the ramp. Claire and Chloe are both several inches taller than me so line of sight wasn’t a problem for them.

Not long after that, the crowd cheered and counted down in unison as the clock on the screen ticked down.

“5… 4… 3… 2… ONNNNNNNEEEE!”

As soon as she came onto the stage the crowd around us erupted and Claire and I burst into uncontrollable tears, streaming down our cheeks for through the first several songs. We laughed as we tried to scream-sing through sobs along with the upbeat bridge, “I DON’T WANNA KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU AND I…”

I didn’t even try to convince myself to get it together. So much had happened to get us here, I just felt every bit of it.

When Claire, my oldest, was just a little girl of 7 years-old in 2014, she desperately wanted to see the Red tour. Four years later, at the age of 11, she was sad when the Reputation tour began, knowing she would never get that chance again, but of course, she wanted to see that one, too. Now here she was at 16 seeing all of them! I had made that happen for her!

Even Chloe, my child most notorious for holding back emotion, started crying, and kept it up, throughout the Red era.

Taylor expressed early on in the show that her goal was for us to connect emotionally with the songs. I underestimated how much I already was.

This concert wasn’t just an immersive tour through her musical eras, it was a tour through the eras of my life that these songs were an unrealized soundtrack to.

These songs have been a part of my life for the past 15 years, starting with ‘Teardrops On My Guitar,’ which my best friend Rachel’s mom, Melanie (or Miss Mel, as we affectionately call her), had as her ringtone in 2007, the year my oldest was born. It played when she got a phone call when they came to visit me in the hospital after she was born, then on subsequent visits throughout the first year of my daughter’s life.

Taylor’s lyrics spoke to the core of some of my life’s events in real time, the painful moments, the significant moments. The melodies elicit memories of the highs and lows, of vulnerability, extreme happiness, power, weakness and resilience, and they take me back to the point in time that I was experiencing them.

I felt a power-surge when she performed, “Look What You Made Me Do,” remembering the life pivot I was experiencing when it came out and how much I loved it from the beginning. Even the songs that weren’t performed, such as “Teardrops” for example, affectionately haunted the background of each era.

Emotion radiated throughout the stadium, and emanated from Taylor herself. She paused occasionally between songs, just looking around the arena and taking it all in. There were short interludes in between every era allowing time for reflection. Some moments featured instrumental music playing with artistic imagery slowly moving across the grand screens, reminiscent of an immersive Van Gogh exhibit I had experienced with all of my daughters earlier in the year.

At one point, Taylor was singing Marjorie, a song about her grandmother, and I, blinking back tears thinking about my Nana, and I wondered how she was able to stay so composed. I leaned over and asked Chloe, “How is she not crying right now?”

Then she choked up ever so briefly on stage and I thought, “There it is. There’s the vulnerability.” and I smiled.

I was inspired by her attention to detail in the well-thought-through intentionality of every moment, every movement. The build up to her song ‘Tolerate It’ from her album Evermore, is a powerful example of this.

She stands alone on stage while calm piano chords play and painstakingly sets a table to perfection, only to climb up on the table during the song and start knocking things off the table while the man at the other end of the table shows absolutely no interest in her or what she’s doing.

My chest tightened around my heart thinking back to times in life when I’ve felt unseen, unappreciated, and worthless. Just like my experiences watching shows on OKC Broadway it was reiterated to me that witnessing the performance makes me love and appreciate the music in a way I couldn’t have otherwise.

Throughout the beautiful three-and-a-half-hour performance, we witnessed a same-sex couple gracefully dancing across the stage together, a beautiful red-head gliding through the role of Rebekah Harkness in “The Last Great American Dynasty,” and Taylor dive into the stage and swim the length of platform, then re-emerge in a new dress for the next era.

There were haunting melodies played by Taylor on a moss covered piano and powerful visual performances making you fall in love with each song.

Then, of course, the culminating event of the entire evening, was the moment when it turned into her official Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album release party!

She announced the Music Video premiere of her song “I Can See You,” which she explained was symbolic of her fans’ unwavering support In her endeavor to re-record, and therefore reclaim ownership over, all of her music. She recounted her inspiration behind the idea, which was solely hers, and revealed that fate had aligned, bringing together prominent movie stars to shoot the video in Liverpool. But what made this moment even more powerful was her announcement that she proudly directed this video herself, showcasing her multi-faceted talent and creative vision.

She broadcast the debut of the video on the Jumbotrons and we were stunned and thrilled to see that it featured Joey King, who recently starred in “Bullet Train” (one of Claire’s favorite movies right now), Presley Cash, a Missouri native who starred in the music video “Mean” along with King, and of course, Taylor Lautner, our favorite of Taylor’s exes.

The girls screamed so loudly my ears hurt, extreme excitement overtook their faces.

After all the fanfare and talk of him on the way in, we never expected him to actually be a part of the show, and we certainly never expected him to physically be there and come out on stage. But Taylor had another trick up her sleeve.

She playfully taunted us by telling us that at a premiere the actors were usually present.

I looked over at my girls who were screaming with each other and jumping up and down.

Then, one-by-one, Taylor had each of the actors come out on stage, starting with Presley Cash, who said to the crowd “Missouri its so good to be home! I love you all so much.”

My favorite was Joey King’s genuine and adorable reaction to the shock of thousands of people as she walked out onto the stage. She came out, started walking toward Taylor, then she looked around the stadium and her eyes widened. She looked at Taylor and mouthed “What the F*ck,” which was caught on the Jumbotron and broadcast for the stadium to see. We all laughed in response, understanding the magnitude of the moment.

Then, we waited in eager suspense for her to announce for her to announce if Taylor Lautner would really be there.

She played off of the suspense, saying something along the lines of her next guest not being a music video star, and people in the crowd looked around at one another, fists clenched in anticipation, cell phones recording (not ours, of course). Then she announced his name.

We all erupted!

First he came walking out pretty casually, just looking around, waving, taking it all in. Then out of nowhere he got up momentum and tumbled down the stage.

In all fairness, though, who among us hasn’t felt so emotionally compelled in an experience that you’ve done backflips across a stage in front of thousands of adoring fans?

“By the way, I didn’t plan the flip!” he said to her after he hugged her on stage. “We had so much fun making this video. Thank you for having all of us.”

“I respect you so much. Not for the singer you are or the songwriter you are, but truly for the human you are.” Lautner told Swift in a heartfelt moment that solidified Claire’s childhood crush on the “Jacob” star. I’ve joked with her that I didn’t name her Taylor so the poor girl never stood a chance.

After that we weren’t sure it could get better, but she surprised us again with a “from the vault” song off of her newly released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album.

Before she played she said, “If you all know this song I’ll be really impressed because it just came out last night.”

Then she started playing the opening chords to, “When Emma Falls In Love,” who, the internet speculates, could be about her longtime friend, Emma Stone.

We all turned to each other grinning, thrilled, because, we knew that song! We had listened to it driving to KC, our hopes high that we would get to experience this night. And somehow, we did!

Something that truly stood out throughout the night was Taylor’s confidence! Her commanding presence. It was inspiring. She doesn’t feign a false modesty or humility. She’s proud of the work that she does and she proudly displays it and gives herself credit for it, a trait that I hope other young girls, and women everywhere, also recognize and emulate when they do something truly noteworthy that makes them proud of themselves.

Claire took that energy and felt empowered enough to take a chance after the show. Throughout the evening Claire had witnessed the bejeweled Swiftie in front of us taking photos and videos. When the show was over and we were standing in deadlock on our way to the stairs, she asked the girl for a favor.

“Hey, I know I don’t know you but my phone died and if I gave you my number would you send me any photos and videos from the concert?”

“Oh my gosh, of course. Put your number in. Put it under ‘Swiftie, send photos.’”

Then, with a smile, she slipped her last three homemade friendship bracelets off of her wrist and placed them on our wrists one-by-one, evidently deeming us worthy as true Swifties.

We have photo and video memories from the concert because of this bold act and a Swiftie’s kind soul.

We’re grateful we weren’t able to find tickets ahead of time, leading to the right seats at the right time. We’re grateful we were wrong about Taylor’s speculated surprises.

Like so many things in life, you have a set of expectations, then life takes a detour, and gives you far more than you imagined, like this adventure summer with my girls, as an example.

This concert wasn’t just about music. It was about feeling nostalgic, empowered, and inspired.

“I Had The Best Day With You Today”

Sneak Peak from Part 3: “Are We Out Of The Woods Yet” (The Courageous Escapade)

Scaling Fences, hopping curbs, jaywalking; the rule-bending adventures continue in Part 3 as we attempt to exit the concert.

Back To Our Taylor Swift Era’s Adventure

The Four-Part Saga of Our Adventures at Taylor Swift’s Sold-Out Eras Tour!

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