Taylor Swift and Daughter's Who Grow Up

My daughter has been anticipating attending a concert for more than a year.  Her brother went to one and she was promised tickets for a concert when she saw one she liked.  She knew what she was waiting for - when Taylor Swift announced a date for Louisville in July 2011 she said, "That's it."  So I dutifully was at the keyboard some morning in March, I think, at 10:00 a.m. and ordered tickets.  Come the day of the concert and Miss Swift was forced to postpone due to illness.  Concert rescheduled - on the night of a Middle School Girls basketball game - the one thing that could deter my daughter from her date with destiny.  So we sold the tickets.  Turns out Swift would be in Lexington on October 29 AND the basketball team would participate in a tournament on that same day.  Drama.  Would the games end early enough to allow us to make it to the concert?  Joy!  Which is to say, yes.
So to Rupp Arena with 16,000 other fans (largely teenage and younger girls and their parents).  I was thrilled to see Eliza that happy.  And it seemed like a nice atmosphere - this will be a nice evening for the kids I thought.  Well, and for me to it turns out.  Taylor Swift is not simply some confection created by a record label somewhere.  Based on what I saw - she's the real thing.  I've been a passive fan all along - I don't find much fault with  her music, actually like a good bit of it and am much impressed by the fact that she writes these songs.  I was already convinced she was a prodigiously talented artist.  What I was not prepared for was the level of competence of the performer.  Not a veteran of a ton of concerts, but have seen more than a few including several by my own personal favorite, Bruce Springsteen.  Taylor Swift began the show by walking down the long ramp to the front of the elaborate stage and stood in the spotlight and immediately owned the room.  She is no opera singer, but do not believe the naysayers, her voice is fine and she wields it with precision.  The songs featured choreographed dance numbers, some pyrotechnics here and there, a short set performed at the back of the arena on the floor seated under a rotating tree, and wonderful energy along with a strong connection with her audience.  Stunning command of the room.  And all of 21 years old.
And the songs.  Swift took the stage at 8:30 and played till 10:50.  She played many songs I knew, a few I didn't (but my daughter certainly did) and she pulled off the remarkable feat of playing all that time and left you thinking, hey she didn't do...(Tim McGraw, Teardrops On My Guitar, White Horse and more).  To be so young and to have such a full catalog of what I will argue are not only passable, but in most instances very good songs is really beyond imagination.
High point of the evening.  In the quiet section of the show she sang a song I did not know called "Never Grow Up".
Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized that everything I have
Is someday going to be gone
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple
Dylan?  Not so much.  But nicely crafted pop song with a surprisingly self aware reflection on the passage of time?  Yes.  And try having your 13 year old daughter sing it in the seat next to you and put her head on your shoulder.  Geez, am I crying at a Taylor Swift concert.  Maybe.  Misty anyway.
Great show.  Taylor Swift.  I'm a fan.