In a sequence of home movie type clips, the audience shrieked and awed at the young Taylor projected onto the big screen above the stage at Gillette Stadium late in July. The concert brought, unexpectedly girls and boys of all ages, parents, grandparents and siblings. Girls engulfed in red, tried  to grab the attention of the young pop sensation from her post on stage, and confused pre-teens dressed in country attire, unknowingly to a strictly pop concert. However, all fans alike, seemed lost in the spectacle of such a show.

    As my best friend and I made our way to the seats I had begged my father for just before Christmas time in 2012, we noticed what appeared to be, in front of our row, a group of obnoxious children and their outdated mothers, and sitting next to us, what we assumed as a double date. We took our seats in awe of how close we were to the stage and began to listen into the conversation of the “double date” next to us. To our  surprise, we learned that the two boys sitting next to us were not on the assumed double date with the two girls next to them, but were at the concert together, as Swift fans. One boy scrolled his itunes songs demonstrating his adoration for Swift. It’s something about a concert like this, or a performance like this, that attracts so many different people.

    To start the night, the tour brought along a few opening acts, to stir the crowd. First out was a young country artist out of Massachusetts, Joel Crouse, demonstrating his song “If You Want Some”, which I had heard before on the radio. His song set the tone of the night with its line “It’s gonna be epic”, and it was. Following him was a 17-year-old who I had deemed a “Bieber wannabee” and poked fun at my friend who was excited to see him perform. To another surprise of mine, he was super energetic, and seemingly talented as he took a break from his hip-hop dancing to perform an acoustic cover of a known song. Finally, Ed Sheeran took the stage, giving an average performance of a few good songs, with a neat flare as he used a recording machine to perform one of his songs.

    Finally, Swift made her appearance on stage. The first noticeable aspect of her performances was the costume. In between every song she was rushing and reappearing in the next red outfit.  These outfits ranged from sweet and simple to elegant and glittery.

    “Her wardrobe was killer” said senior Jo Kelly, “ every outfit was better than the last”. It seemed to revolve around a central top piece she had originally worn and moved into a short dress, and into a long dress.

   Of course, the set list was unforgettable. Obviously Swift performed many of the songs from her Red album, as the crowd sang loudly along. Ed Sheeran joined her onstage for a cute performance of  “Everything Has Changed”.

    “Swift threw in some of her old classics, including “Mean” and “Our Song” said senior Shannon Whalen, “those were defintely two of my favorites”. While her older hits were crowd pleasers, her new songs didn’t seem to quiet the crowd.

    As this next school year hustles along, we can all relate to Taylor’s older song, “Never Grow Up” as the freshman begin their first year in high school, the sophomores try to get through “halfway done” , the juniors batten down for the next, quick two years and the class of 2014 looks back on the past 17 or 18 years trying to fathom how we are expected to start a totally new chapter in our lives within the next year.  Nevertheless, everyone can look back on childhood, and appreciate those golden years and wish it never passed.