Who would have thought that a musical concert could be seen on the Richter scale, which is used to measure earthquakes! But it was the same recently at a concert in California by the reigning pop diva, Taylor Swift.
He literally created a seismic impact, performing in front of a dizzying crowd of over 100,000 fans at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The ‘Swifties’ (Taylor fans, for those uninitiated in fandom terminology) let their feet speak their approval of the high octane/octave participation.
Such Taylor-mania returned to a similar frenzy that followed the Beatles even when they were unable to do a global tour. Michael Jackson aka MJ will remain a legend and a GOAT (Greats of all times). He did this by performing 82 concerts in 35 countries on five continents. Rightfully called the King of Pop, who went viral when there was no Internet and Instagram!
Elvis Presley with his golden voice, good looks and a gyrating pelvis also had a cult following. Madonna also gives off an adrenaline-high in her concerts. And there’s Beyoncé as competition.
With an amazing legacy like this, Taylor went from being a teenager singing country songs to reaching a musical stratosphere. She is the Queen of Pop, bar none. Swifties would vociferously agree.
He is the only living artist to simultaneously have four albums in the Billboard Top 10 since Herb Alpert in 1966. He has many firsts and impressive statistics to back up his musical prowess.
Such is his weight in music that some California newspapers have made a QR for hiring music reporters to fully facilitate all Taylor lore and trivia. To detail some trivia here, Taylor, unlike most, does not suffer from Triskaidekaphobia.
Rihanna like Taylor is a songwriter and singer with charisma and Beyoncé (Bey to her fans) whose musical genius has attracted the likes of Michelle Obama and other celebs is a sizzling favorite. Taylor Swift also has many A-list Hollywood actors attracted to her melodies.
He has a younger fan base of Gen Z where Dads are obliged to chaperone their wards. Mark Zuckerberg recently brought his young girls to a Taylor Swift concert in California with a sweet tweet: “Life of a girl Dad”, a sentiment shared by many reluctant or happy paterfamilias.
But a larger millennial fan base is also happy for Taylor Swift because they see her as an aspirational role model, a self-made woman with business savvy. The Eras Tour could gross over $1.4 billion.
Closer to home in Bharat, this kind of crazy fandom and earned income is strictly for celluloid stars or cricketing heroes. But celluloid doesn’t test you like a live concert. Taylor has an uncanny ability to connect with fans through lyrics that seem to mirror their feelings and this immersive experience of his electrifying live concerts ends up capturing them.
The songstress has such a magnetic pull that fanatic-fans are zipping across cities and continents to attend Swift’s Eras global tour concerts that began on March 23 and will end in November 2024. With sold-out concerts, approx. sky-high airline tickets and hotel accommodation worth a king’s ransom and Swift merchandise to boot, the cash registers ringing loudly.
A proverb in the Bible in Ecclesiastes says, “The race is not for the swift, nor the battle for the strong… Taylor Swift sure is quick to bring her music around the world that has captivated her fans and this epic which follows there is no element of chance.
With his singing talent and savvy marketing, it’s time for him to sweep fans off their feet. Mostly, they talk with their feet. That’s a meaningless act!
