New York! [part 3/5] ; Taylor Swift live in NYC!

*There's a LOT of pictures in this post, and it might take a while to load, so you might want to get your daily dose of cuteness and watch this cat named Maru on another tab and come back after you've finished watching it, and hopefully all of the pictures are done loading :) :)


The hotel was located about 5 minutes walk from Madison Square Garden, which was very convenient. Our hotel was at 31st Street, MSG at 34th Street.

Around 5.30 p.m. we walked to Hotel Pennsylvania, which was right in front of Madison Square Garden to .. meet up with these 2 girls I managed to sell the tickets to. Online. Through tumblr, not ebay.

My dad and brother aren't big fans of Taylor Swift (neither does Abu lol) so instead of wasting the tickets I might as well just sell it! Not like they didn't want to go, but I'd rather give it to someone who's a big fan of Taylor Swift, ya know? Sorry, dad!

The actual price of the ticket was around $94 (USD, not RM), and when I checked online people were selling it for like, $250 and above! For seats about the same value as mine. Crazy, man. But I decided to sell it for $100 each :P I'm not trying to choke anybody here, so I thought that was pretty reasonable.

We communicate through emails and iMessage on my iPod since I can't sms anyone while I was there.

It was so funny though because we obviously have never met each other and were trying to like, describe what you wear, what I wear or look like etc. She described herself and her friend being blonde etc. I guess to make it easier I could've just say 'I wear hijab' and a Muslim blah blah blah but I don't want to like, freak her out :P SILLY, I know. But you know how some people are.. terrorist and all. So I just said I'm wearing this red coat and plaid green umbrella. I thought that was pretty narrow-minded of me to think that she'll think badly of me but.. yeah.

She arrived at the hotel earlier than me so I texted her back saying that we 'Got lost ugh' but then thought that sounded way too close to 'get lost' ... :x Oops.

Anyway she turned out to be nice :) And pretty too! Her name's Ashley.
It was just a quick transaction, we said hi and I took out the tickets from my bag and they gave the money, I asked them are they going straight to the concert, they said no they're gonna find something to eat first. Then we separated.

It's already 6 p.m. and I guess we could go back to the hotel and come back later at around 6.30 p.m. since both of us were SO. SLEEPY. SO, SO VERY SLEEPY. Even in the cold. But it'll probably be just waste of time so we went to KMart instead. It's sort of like, Target or Walmart, I guess? But smaller.

It's just right beside the stadium and we saw this!


There were probably about 5 or 6 of this trucks around MSG.



Stopped by the merch booth. IT WAS AMAZING. These stuff aren't sold in Malaysia and you can buy it without the freaking expensive shipping cost. WOOOOHHH!! SO EXCITED AT THE TIME.

Anyway I bought a T-shirt (I already have 3 back home lulz), the Speak Now World Tour Live CD/DVD, a 2012 calendar.. yeah I think that's it.

Then queued a little bit just to take a picture with this background lulz. They took the picture for you (which turned out blurry wtf) then asked for your email.
Also, I looked like a creepy Teletubbies.

They only scanned our code like it was at a Tesco cashier counter and we hurried off to the entrance we're supposed to go in. It was around 7 p.m.


We could hear the SCREAMING from the crowd in the stadium and the feeling was just, indescribable. The best way to explain it is by my expression above ^

Seriously that was my face before going in like I didn't pose for the camera or anything.

Then, once we enter the venue


IT WAS MASSIVE. ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE. I've never been in a stadium that huge!
Me and Abu stood there in awe for a few seconds before we could move. Then once it sets in we fangirled and screaming along too :')


The opening band, Needtobreathe. They were awesome!! Totally rocked down the house.
After this picture was taken I had a little bit of tears in my eyes. I was just in total disbelief.





This time I wasn't even trying to get into T-Party because there were hardcore fans who's all light up like a Christmas tree trying to get noticed.





And then there's me :


I called it 'Statue of Liberty gone wrong'.
DID WE LOOK AWESOME OR WHAT!? :D :D

HAHAHAHHA the 'headpiece' I was wearing was made by Abu, because we were bored. I brought like 100 glowsticks, and Abu bought another 50. We were busy bending it and 'breaking' it to make it glow while waiting for the concert to start. I had an idea to like, wear it all over my body but that would take a lot of glow sticks and after a while both of us were tired already hahah. Not to mention VERY sleepy!


I was taking a picture of Abu and Ryan when Ashley, who sat beside me asked, "Do you want to be in the picture?" So she took the picture for us :)
And btw Ryan only stayed for 2 songs, then he went out and said to us, enjoy the concert okay? WTF. Could've given that ticket to someone else! TWO SONGS only. Probably gone clubbing to some random pub lol jk.


The lights were dimmed when needtobreathe performed, then it was back on, then it was dimmed again which sent the crowd into a frenzy because they thought the concert is about to start but then it was on again -_- It's always like that at concerts! False alarm. Ugh.

Oh yeah, Abu gave a few glow sticks to Ashley as well because she didn't bring anything sparkly (though I did notice she wore a shirt she made herself, with something... Fearless written on it or something like that). And he also gave it to this couple in front of us who brought their 2 cute little kids, about 5 or 6 years old with them. One boy and one girl. 1) Because we had too many and 2) I was too shy to say anything hur hur. But they were very thankful and the kids liked the glowsticks so yay. The dad, probably in early 30s, stood up and 'swaying' to the songs a lot compared to his kids who just sat and only sometimes stand up.

Which I THINK might be because he overheard me explaining to Ryan about T-Party because he said something like a lot of people with signs. So I said whoever stood out most or go crazy throughout the whole concert will get sort of like a meet & greet.

If he overheard that, he was probably trying to score some for his kids. MAYBE. Or maybe he was a really big fan of Taylor Swift, which is awesome as well lolol.


Ohey here's Ashley (the brunette one) and her friend, whose name I don't know heh :)


People were going BATSHIT CRAZY when this was onscreen.


THE CONCERT.

Once the concert starts every ounce of sleepiness - gone. I was jumping up and down and singing along to every word I know by heart. I asked Abu to take most of the pictures because I just want to enjoy the concert fully. I did record some of the performances but then again, there's already a CD/DVD of the full concert so I don't see the point of trying. What I do try to remember was that feeling, saying to myself this is the moment I'll never forget. Taylor Swift, in New York. Out of all states in the US I could've gone, (which I wouldn't mind going, at all) - it's The One.

By the 4th or 5th song I was pancit already LOL. Tired and sat down for a couple of songs, especially the slow ones.

SORRY FOR THE BLURRY PICTURES! Don't know what setting to put the camera in and was too excited and everything.

I guess I'll just write the setlist here. (Yes I Googled these because I was enjoying the concert too much to count/take note how many song she performed :P)

1) "Sparks Fly"
One of my favorite songs in the album! She was wearing this gold, sparkly dress - so Taylor. She started the concert for her Asia tour with Sparks Fly too, but this one she just rised slowly from below the stage, with the curtain parted out from the center. The one in Singapore was like, "DROP EVERYTHING NOW" with the curtain fell down at once with her already on the stage. Which I thought was way cooler but I guess the curtain in NY was too heavy to be 'dropped down' just like that.

I don't think I even made sense but anyway I remember singing this WAY off pitch but not like anybody cares :) :)




And at the end of the show there were some fireworks, which I thought was, automatic from the stage but it was actually people, hang high above the stage, holding sort of like a torch with fireworks emitting out from it :0





2) "Mine"
She continued to the second song without saying anything, and to be honest 'Mine' is one of my least favorite songs in the album. I LOVED it at first, but after a while, meh. But it was still awesome to sing along live!





She paused before singing the bridge and made this heart sign with her hands :')

Then after she ended the song, she just stood there, looking out into the crowds, smiling and sometimes with a shocked expression on her face. I think she did this at every concert and sometimes people say she just faked it, but I don't think so. Knowing how far she has come, from a small-town girl who was bullied at school because of her passion for music, to singing to a sold-out crowd in New York City. I'm a nobody but sometimes I feel so proud of how far she has come :')





She then said, "Welcome, to the last show, of the Speak Now World Tour!" which was greeted with deafening screaming and cheering from the crowd. She said the same thing, at the Singapore concert, replacing the 'last' in the sentence to 'first'. Which means I went to the first AND last show on the tour - and I'm not even from Singapore or the US. MWAH HAH HA.

Then she said something like choosing Madison Square Garden as the last stop on her tour, because of the awesome crowd etc etc. And also that there are millions of things you can do in New York, and that she's "glad every one of you chose to hang out with me tonight!" :) DUH, TAYLOR. AS IF THERE'S ANYTHING BETTER THAN BEING AT YOUR CONCERT, FOR FREE. TEEHEE.

Then she said, "All I wanna know is, are you ready?"
YES OF COURSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MY WHOLE LIFE I WAS BORN READY!!!

3) "The Story of Us"
Half-way through the song she said something like, "I want to see all of you JUMP!"
Which of course, I jumped up and down eventhough my feet was hurting REALLY bad after walking around all day.

Oh Taylor, the things I do for you. HAHAHAH. But without you I don't know what state I'd be in, so.. Oh Taylor, thank you.







~*~*~ wardrobe change~*~*

4) "Our Song"
She changed into a white dress similar to the one she wore in the 'Mean' music video and had a side braid as well. The way she came onstage was SO CUTE! One of the dancers sort of 'turned up' this switch, and then she POPPED OUT FROM UNDER THE STAGE. Sort of like a rabbit! It was just so, CUTE. And awesome.




The only song from her first album that she performed :( I was secretly rooting for her to perform Tim McGraw because that's in my top 5 favorite songs by her but, oh well. It was an upbeat song so everybody was dancing along and it was just fun :)

5) "Mean"
I remember her introducing the song by saying something like how nice every one of her fans are, to buy her album, to vote for her at award shows etc etc. Then of course, the opposite of nice is Mean.





There were a few dancers for this song, but not like I was paying attention to them :p


Nothing like being photobombed by a stranger at a Taylor Swift concert.

~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~

6) "Back to December" (contains elements of "Apologize" and "You're Not Sorry")
I love everything that was happening when she performed this song! First there was some sort of, 'snow' - which was idk, bubbles? coming down to everyone on floor seats. Then there's this curved bridge slowly came down, perched on top of the stage, with about 4 or 5 violinists stand on later. The lights were a soft cue of white, very romantic and all. Then Taylor, with a piano, rised above from the stage (yeah she came from below the stage often lol where else).




The dress she wore was so beautiful! LOVE IT. My favorite part was of course when she mixed 'Apologize' by One Republic and her song 'You're Not Sorry' into it. Especially when the lights changed to deep, blood red when the latter song was performed. AWESOME.



~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

7) "Better Than Revenge"
Same like Singapore, it started with the girl who 'supposedly' stole Taylor's boyfriend leaving a voicemail saying "Hey, it's me. Leave a message. Make it hot."

Uhm,.. yeah I don't know what to say about this. It was just a great song to sing along to! Not that I can relate because so far no bitch has stolen my boyfriend before..



HAHAHA this is me jumping up and down and singing along :'D

Then the song ended with her 2 guitar players sort of battle it out (with their guitar skills, not as in punching each other l o l) with Taylor of course going through another ;

~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

8) "Speak Now"
This song is not one of my favorites either but it's just a cute song c: Started with a 'bitchy' bride emerged from the center of the T stage, with her big puffy white wedding dress, then kinda like walked down the aisle towards the stairs where the groom and the priest await.






Then the song starts with Taylor singing how the groom should not be 'marrying the wrong girl.' The little dance Taylor and her 2 back-up dancers did was SO adorable!

The song ended with 'Let's runaway now....' and that's when she walked down to the crowds. It must be so fun for everyone on the floor seats where she passed by but for everyone else, idk it was just awkward -..- "Great those people get to touch her and see her upclose let's just wait here.." It wasn't a total silence though, like the song Speak Now was still playing in the background.

Eventually, she arrived at the back of the stadium, sitting beneath this huge, sparkly tree. Any song performed on this little stage was pretty much acoustic.



9) "Fearless" (contains elements of "Hey, Soul Sister" and "I'm Yours")
I love what she said before she performed this song, like 'being in love is fearless' or something like that. The song sounded awesome with just ukulele!




10) "Last Kiss"
ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS. She didn't perform this in Singapore so I was pretty stoked to hear this one live! I've seen the performance on Youtube where she just looked so, heartbroken when she performs this :( Damn you, Joe _|_




Everything about the performance was FLAWLESS.

11) "You Belong with Me"
I'd rather hear Tim McGraw than this one but I guess this is one of the songs that skyrockets her popularity and increased her fanbase, so. There were definitely more people singing along to this song than Last Kiss -..-



Then halfway through the song she went back to the main stage, also going through the crowds on the other side. As in she went to the right side of the stage when she came down, but then went to left side to go back to the mainstage. So it's fair, I guess.




12) "Dear John"
I have a love/hate relationship with this song. If you read my Singapore post - it was during that song that the girls behind me got chosen for T-Party, and I didn't. I was THISCLOSE. SO, SO CLOSE :(
But for this concert, the people in my area weren't singing along as loud to Dear John, mostly just standing up and swaying. So I, in the silence, just SCREAMED THE LYRICS to the song. Like OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD screaming, not in the correct tempo or pitch for the song. All of the people 2 rows in front me all turned their heads and looked at me HAHAHAH. And even then, I just continue SCREAMING "DEEEEEEEAAAAR JOOOOOOOOHHHN, I SEEEEEEEE IT ALL NOW THAT YOU'RE GONNNNNNNEEEEE"

Then me and Abu laughed so hard. Fun times, fun times :)
So I hated the song in Singapore, but loved it in New York. Wooot. And the background is still SO pretty!



JYEAAAHH GO TAYLOR!

Not to mention the fireworks after 'I'm shining like fireworks over your sad empty town' was literally A BLAST. The fireworks lasted for probably like 30 seconds.



13) "Who Says"
Taylor said something like, the tour won't be complete without performing with her best friend, who she has never performed with before. In my mind I thought OMG COLBIE CAILLAT!?!?!!! Because they wrote a song called Breathe together, and it's one of my favorites as well! But then "It just so happens, it just so happens.. that Selena is here!"




Selena to the Gomez. Well.. I'm not a big fan but they sang Who Says together, which is pretty much MY JAM. So the crowd was cheering so, so loud! Luckily it wasn't Justin Bieber. I would need my earplugs for that. But yep according to my friend Melinda, whose seat was way in front of me and can see the side of the stage, everyone in her section could see Justin Bieber was backstage.

PHEW LUCKY HE DIDN'T COME OUT. Well actually because Justin did perform at one of Taylor's concert before.

I may not love Selena as much but I totally adore their friendship!




~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

14) "Enchanted"
So the 'bitchy bride' earlier is now a beautiful ballerina twirling around and dancing onstage with other dancers, accompanied by a violin solo by Caitlin Evanson, who's in Taylor's band and also her best friend. It sounded so, so, so beautiful. I'd love to be able to play the violin but.. yeah dream on.




Taylor wore this beautiful long, sparkly dress and sounded exactly like in the album.




Also, right after this, my camera battery ran out. Oh well. The only thing left to do was taking mental pictures and enjoy the concert. Sometimes we try to turn it on and manage to take one or two pictures, then it died.

~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

15) "Haunted"
Just like Last Kiss, one of my favorite songs and she didn't perform this in Singapore. She had this huge bell and she supposedly hit it, gong style, but it was all just sound effect because there's someone inside. Again, she wore a red dress though different from the one she wore in Better Than Revenge. Prolly coz red represents anger.



~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

16) "Long Live"
She wore the dress for this song underneath the red dress, so it was just a quick change. This is THE song I couldn't listen to without feeling like crying. Because it just means so much to me. Plus it applies to Harry Potter as well. But surprisingly I didn't cry when she performed this. I also love when she sang "the crowds in stands went wild" and the crowd's screaming just got few decibels higher :)

Then the show sort of ended, because Long Live IS a perfect closing song but of course, she had an encore.

~*~*~wardrobe change~*~*~*

17) "Ours"
MY FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME. Sort of. Okay I admit I cried when this was performed. I can't even technically relate to it but the lyrics

Seems like there's always someone who disapproves
They'll judge it like they know about me and you
And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do
The jury's out, my choice is you.

for some reason, just hit me. To me it's about how I feel about Taylor, like whenever I tell someone that I love Taylor Swift, some people snickers and be like, 'lol ew she always whine about love and boys and not a good singer blah blah blah'. But what they don't know is because of Taylor Swift, I don't feel so alone, ya know? She's always there for me, more than anyone I know has ever been. I could have a debate about how she doesn't just write songs about love and boys, and that she's fantastic live, but I don't care. I don't need to explain anything to anyone.

The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours.

This sort of applies to what I went through to win this contest. I fought to win the contest and shove the other bitch aside to be here. That moment, me being at the concert, is mine. Ours. Like I don't care what happens after this, I'll always have this moment to look back and be happy. Nobody can take this away from me, ya know?

WELP THERE GOES MY EMO RANT.


18) "Fire and Rain"
She had another 'guest', James Taylor. She told a story about how when she was small and in the choir or something like that, she hated all of the songs they had to perform except one, James Taylor - Fire and Rain. And that her mom said, "That's funny, because you were named after him." Then Taylor said "The thing about playing at magical Madison Square Garden is, anything can happen." SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I can't remember.

But of course, James Taylor walked out and the crowd went absolutely nuts. Me, being from Malaysia where country music is pretty much non-existent, has never heard of James Taylor just clapped awkwardly.


Sorry, iPod camera = crappy quality!

19) "Fifteen"
Then James Taylor still stay there on the couch with Taylor singing Fifteen. AGAIN, I cried. I don't even know what's gotten into me!

'Cause when you're 15, somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them.

Nobody even told me that they love me and I believed them when I was 15 HAHAHAHA.
But it's probably because of these;

And when you're fifteen
Feeling like there nothing to figure out
Well count to ten, take it in
This is life before you know who you're gonna be

When all you wanted was to be wanted
Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

And when you're fifteen, don't forget to look before you fall
Ive found that time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be.

I'm in that point of my life, trying to decide what I want to be, who I'm supposed to be. I'm always worried about making the wrong choices, but hey that's part of life. I can try living with that.

BUT YES, I BAWLED MY EYES OUT whens she sang that song. Seriously. Tears were literally streaming down my face. But the thing is Abu didn't even notice it hahaha. See how good I am at pretending I'm okay and faking a smile!?!! Lol jk.

20) "Love Story"

In the beginning of the song she got on this, floating platform? I don't even know what to call it but yesh she got on it and it was so cool! My seat was too far at the back but when she was right in front of me I was jumping up and down and screaming like a mad person so she would see me. I think she did. I hope. HEH.






And then comes the confetti, signaling the concert is coming to an end.
All of the dancers came out first, formed a line and waved, and bowed to the crowd. Then the band/musicians, and then came Taylor, Selena and James Taylor. All of them in a long line, and bowed together.

Then the curtains closed.



It took me a moment to digest everything in, I just saw Taylor Swift, live in concert. At Madison Square Garden.

Mind = blown.
Life = complete.


We then tried to get as near to the stage as possible to take a few pictures :P




On the way out they opened a merch stand nearby and I actually queued to buy another tshirt for my friend, but they ran out of stock so I just bought this magazine about her.

It was raining and SO, SO cold outside! Me and Melinda tried to meet up after the concert, but it was hard considering I don't have a phone with me and my iPod needs WiFi to send any message. So I was hopping from one public phone to another because some doesn't work. Ended up just going back to the hotel and received a message from Melinda, saying she doesn't have anywhere to go but then everything's solved so.. yeah.

All the sleepiness came back at once and I slept like a baby.

I didn't suffer from post-concert depression few days after that, but blogging about this just makes me HEARTBROKEN T___T


COMPARISON:


Taylor Swift Speak Now tour in SINGAPORE :



Taylor Swift Speak Now tour in NEW YORK CITY :





SINGAPORE :



NEW YORK :



You can see there were more stuff going on and the stage was prettier and grand-er than the simple one in Singapore. Probably because of budget and practicality issue, they couldn't flew everything like the bridge, the bells etc halfway across the world!




And yes, I am nothing but really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really

thankful and grateful and blessed to be able to see Taylor Swift twice, in the same year, both for free :) I am the luckiest girl in the world! Well, in Malaysia at least. I went for both the opening and closing show for the Speak Now tour, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the world who did that eheh.

OKAY LASTLY; somebody on formspring asked for me what Taylor Swift merchandises I own, so here they are. I'M NOT trying to show off :(



Err, yeah. Whatever everybody has an obsession!! :P :P And yep the picture on the left, near to the perfume box was signed by Taylor herself :')
I don't even care if I get make fun of because of these, at least my love for Taylor Swift got me somewhere in life - namely New York. If I wasn't such a big fan I wouldn't bother entering the contest and definitely won't get this once in a lifetime chance.
So make fun of me, make fun of Taylor Swift all you want because ~*~*someday I'll be living in a big ol' city New York City and all you're ever gonna be is Mean~*~*~

Any question, hit up my formspring!



HUZZAH THANK YOU TO WHOEVER READ THE WHOLE THING
THIS TOOK ME HOURS TO WRITE SOMEBODY HUG ME
LET ME TAKE A BREAK AND GO EAT SOME CHOCOLATE NOW BYE.