Zac Brown vs. Taylor Swift

Okay, we went to the Zac Brown Concert a few weeks ago,  and it was so fun.  I know that Lady Gaga and Madonna-esque performers have their place and are enormously entertaining, but if you like "musician's music,"  Zac Brown is your band.  A lot of bands that have gotten as big as Zac Brown is now, (however, there are a lot of people including my best friend, Alissa, and our friend, Doug, who had never really sat down and listened to his music until recently) have a tendency to dial it in when they are touring.  It is more about the stage props than the music, sometimes. 

But let me back up.  Our friend, Doug, Brad and I went to the concert together.  Brad wanted to "tailgate"in the parking lot, and even asked me if I had a little grill.  I know, he really misses Dead Shows.  I wanted to go to my friend, Megan's parents' house - the Morgans.  Doug and Brad thought that I was taking them to some uptight Arlington party and they were fighting me on it.

Doug was doing his "passive-aggressive routine" that I am convinced all husbands must take a course in, before they get married, and he was all, "I don't care where we go.  It's totally up to you guys.  I'm just along for the ride.  Now, what time did you say the band was going on, Brad?"  He knew that would get Brad going.  Brad was wanting to go to the concert at 6 o'clock because we were in what Zac calls the "Georgia Pit".  It is a little section up front that surrounds the stage. It is standing room only, first come, first serve, but I am not one to sit in my seat, anyway.  My friends, that is the way to see a concert.  After dancing a while mid-crowd, I dropped my purse at Brad's feet, told him to "here, watch this" and made my way up to the front before he even knew what was happening. 

It was hilarious, too, because Brad was wanting to go early and do you know who was in the front row when I got there - that's right.  Old people like Brad who got there early and stood around for hours until the band came on.  They were downing their Boniva with their Ensure drink they smuggled in, and they were loving life.  And then here I come. "I'm sorry, but I am forty-one and I have never been in the front row of a concert before.  Do you mind?"  They were extremely accommodating, under the circumstances, and then the heat was taken off of me when a young drunk girl in her twenties, stumbled her way up there too, and began slapping her butt (and mine sometimes) while she danced wildly.  I flew under the radar at that point, and was able to stay in my front row spot for the duration of the concert.  Good Times.

Now, let's compare and contrast this with the Taylor Swift Concert.  Brad and I took our two eldest daughters, Hallie and Mills, as an end of the year present to congratulate them on their good report cards throughout the year.  It was a "surprise" and we took them to Cap City Diner beforehand and told them that their surprise was to get whatever they wanted on the "Big Cappers" portion of the kid's menu there.  Boy, were they disappointed.

Let's back up, we get out of our car and we are confronted by one of those Hummer limos with a grandma, a mother, and her two daughters who were all in matching outfits, complete with heels and makeup.  The youngest daughter was about four-years-old, the eldest around seven.  My entire family stood there with our mouths wide open as they exited the vehicle and then this Cap City employee, who was monitoring the parking situation goes, "Well, that's not something you see everyday."  LOVE IT.

So we tell the girls finally by making them close their eyes and hold out their hands and then Brad hands them their tickets.  My girls are not the high heel wearing, makeup savvy individuals of their counterparts. so it took several questions for them to understand that we were going to the Taylor Swift concert that night.  Some of the sample questions were, "Oh, fun, when is it?"  and "Do we still get to get a Big Cappers meal, or is that off the table now?"

At the end of the meal, I went to the restroom and two tween/teenage girls were bitching about their parents who were apparently taking THEM to the concert, as well.  As I was in a stall and they were "freshening up" their demonic make up, they had the conversation below.

"I just KNOW we are going to be late tonight, and this night is going to SUCK just like I knew it would.  Our parents are so STUPID.  They always screw EVERYTHING up," said the first little bitch.

"I know.  I hate them.  They suck.  Hey, did you try out today?" said second little bitch.

"Yea, so did Gretchen."

"Was she any good?"

"No, she sucks, but she got on the team because of her Dad, so..."

I was too slow to catch them because I have an enlarged prostate, and I tend to pee for hours, but I literally was ready to fly out of that stall and tear them a new one.  My intention was to ask them who bought their tickets, but I decided it was best to just badmouth them to the other woman who was exiting her stall and then use the whole experience as a lecture for my children.

"Let me tell you something,"  I told Hallie and Mills after I gave them an abbreviated version of the conversation I had just witnessed in the bathroom.  "If I EVER heard you two talk about anyone like that, especially ME, I would take you both home and you could sit in your rooms while your Dad and I enjoyed the concert.

"That's funny," Hallie said, "when I was in the bathroom, I caught up with the limo family, and the mother was trying to add more makeup on the eyelids of the four-year-old, when her older sister stopped her and said, "No!  You need purple, that color doesn't match your outfit! And then the Mom apologized and pulled out her purple stuff."  Hallie did the whole scenario in her "Valley Girl" accent she has mastered.  Soooo funny.  The little observer.  Love it.  I am screwing her up real good.  She is destined to a lifetime of eavesdropping and judgement, if I have done my job right, which apparently I have.

So, anyway, the concert was a blast.  It is so fun to watch your children enjoy something you enjoy, too.  Taylor Swift is a good musician, which I thoroughly appreciate and she is proficient at many instruments including the guitar, the banjo, the piano, and even the ukalele.  I loved the concert and the set design and performances were all very artistic and wholesome, which I was grateful for.

When we were discussing this very topic on the way home from the concert, Hallie said, "I like how it was more about the music, than the performance."  That's my gurl.  Soooo proud.  Great memory.  Thanks Brad.  It was all his idea and he even sang "Love Story" at the top of his lungs much to the girls' dismay.  He knew the words because Mills sang it on a loop with her new ipod two summers ago in the car all the way to Chicago and back.

By the way, I thought the best song was "Dear John" which is directed at John Mayer, another fav of mine, and is one of my "go to" songs this summer.  Go see Taylor.  She is absolutely worth it, even though she had two warm up bands, did not go on until 8:45pm, and the air conditioner apparently broke in Nationwide Arena mid-concert.  I'm not old.  I'm just sayin'.  Pic above at concert.