It was all about Taylor Swift. The SO's daughter is a massive Swifty. (That is to say her Swiftiness is massive, not herself. She's very petite.) Remarkably she was able to score two tickets to Taylor in Atlanta through legitimate online purchase from the execrable Ticketmaster auction some months ago. Atlanta is a 4+ hour drive from Savannah so the plan was to drive out on Friday, drop the two Swifties (SOs daughter and her friend) at Mercedes Stadium, get checked into the hotel and entertain ourselves for a few hours then pick the girls up post-concert and back to the hotel to sleep.
I really have no opinion on Taylor Swift. I am only familiar with one of her songs (Shake it Off) and that only because I randomly heard it once and it was bouncy and catchy and high-energy and seemed like a good choice for my running playlist. From what I have seen she is clearly a very talented and intelligent lady and there is simply no arguing with the overwhelming success she has. At a time when a musical artist is lucky to get a pittance in streaming revenue, she is making hundreds of millions.
A Taylor Swift concert is not just a concert, it is a Happening. In our case, the girls (early 20s) had VIP status (yeah, I know) so got early access. They had us drop them off at the stadium as soon as it was opened to them, three hours before the concert. That time was spent engaging with other Swifties -- they exchange bracelets and trinkets, it seems -- and getting prime access to "merch" (Taylor Swift branded merchandise). Swifties are unified in their utter devotion to Taylor and their comprehensive knowledge of her life and work so there is always lots to talk about.
They descend like an avalanche. The hotel district was swarming with them. The path to and from the stadium was like a Swifty parade. And it would be all weekend for the three shows.
Swifties are probably 95% female and, if I understand correctly, the bulk of 5% males are homosexuals. The females are from a very broad age range. Teens and twenties are the most common, but young girls who are accompanied by their moms are plentiful as are groups of thirtyish women having a girls trip. They have spent a good amount of time on their make-up -- colorful and sparkly -- and their clothes -- lots of glittery ensembles that are not outright provocative, but rather flirty. I was struck by the near complete absence of men. Would this have been different in the past? I wasn't paying attention to the fan bases of, say, Madonna or Britney Spears. But there is something that makes sense about it. The girls just want to dress up and have giggly fun and share enthusiasm with other girls. I detected no sort of negative activity going on at all, apart from spending four figures for tickets and a smaller fortune on "merch". They seem like a well-adjusted, high quality group of people.
My slightly creepy observation, however, is that this is a failure of millennial males. If I were forty years younger I would be following Taylor around the country. Fish in a barrel if you know what I mean.
Last word on Taylor: Here's a thread about the logistics of her tour. She stands to make close to half a billion dollars from this tour.
As for Atlanta the city, it's good enough but I saw nothing special. The downtown area seems nice, I note there is a university or two down there which gives it a young-ish vibe. The hotel district is nice also with some interesting shops and restaurants. I do suspect that it is another example of a "protected" area of high quality while the rest of the city struggles and degrades. As we walked from hotel to stadium to meet the girls and walk them back to the hotel I noticed the telltale bars on the windows, pawn shops, and graffiti that act as warning signs. But that's just impression, I could be very wrong. And like most big sites there are luxurious suburbs. Still, I saw no particular reason to spend any time in Atlanta.
There are better places for a four hour road trip from Savannah.
