The Cavendish Beach Music Festival: Taylor Swift

I believe the true mark of an artist is not what they can do when they have all the resources available but what they can do when they have limited ones.

That being said, Taylor was given ample margin to work with at the Festival, but she was still one performer among many. Let me cast your fears aside, it was a great concert and I don’t think people would hesitate to invite the Fearless One again.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the site was the huge bulk on the stage. It was covered up but any Swiftie worth its salt can recognize the Fearless stage even beneath a canvas. There’s no curtain this time, no big reveal.

Fast forward nine hours and fifteen minutes and the stage hands are clearing up the stage and setting up Tay’s white microphones. All of Taylor’s microphones and stands are white except for one red mike she uses during Forever and Always.

Crowd is going crazy. Screen goes black. People go wild. Taylor Swift logo comes on. People go crazier. The Fearless Tour intro video starts. The Agency walks out and takes their places. People are now hysterical.

You Belong With Me starts playing and Taylor appears atop the stage. The screams are deafening. There’s not a voice that doesn’t sing along with her. Strangely enough, I was able to hear her better on an outside venue. I think the sound of the fans screaming doesn’t bounce off the walls.

She immediately goes into Our Song and I notice something. The main screen is showing a sparkly backdrop. That works in a Fearless concert when she’s got two extra screens to the sides devoted to her but not on this one where there’s only one. People on the back want to see the Fearless One.

I need not worry because Taylor, who’s not a stranger to country festivals at all, has noticed it first and without missing a beat, dances casually to the side to a stage hand tells him something and points to the screen. As she dances back to the stage in one fluid motion, guitar and all, she’s back on the screen. Fans in the back should be grateful that nothing really escapes her eye.

Taylor stops to talk to the crowd. It’s a speech I already know. But I fail to find any falseness in her voice. You can either believe she’s a hearty sentimental that falls in love with the crowd or an excellent actress. Either way, she’s a great entertainer and I choose to think there’s emotion behind those words with every performance.

The Fearless One goes through her catalog of hits. The set list tonight was shortened. She still played Tell Me Why and she couldn’t skip Fearless. She did do Forever and Always with the video and chairs. The crowd loved it when she threw the chair. But there was no on stage costume change or dance crew tonight. Still there was enough shades of the Fearless Tour for it to be above any festival performance.

She skipped That’s The Way I Loved You, which is another favorite of mine to see live. You’re Not Sorry was also cut out, since she had no piano or dancers.

She did say something I’ve never heard her say before. Before she performed Today Was A Fairytale she said that she understands why some guys might be intimidated because she writes songs, but that when guys are good to her she writes nice songs about them. Then she went into Today Was A Fairytale. Just thought you’d like to know.

There was no Hey Stephen though. Taylor didn’t go into the crowd. Without assigned seating and nothing barring the crowd but the stage it was impossible. Keith Urban actually did that without a hitch since there was breathing room, but I can see how much of a security risk it was tonight with 35,000 people in attendance.

She performed excellent acoustic versions of Fifteen, Tim McGraw and White Horse which remains my favorite song to hear live from her.

Should’ve Said No took me off guard because I was expecting Picture To Burn. She did bring the drums for her battle with Caitlin Evanson. However there was no rain machine. Given the amount of rain before her performance she almost could’ve done the big finale with natural rain if she had performed earlier. It was a good performance, but I’ve seen her rise in the rain with her clenched fist in victory. It’s a way to say, all through these heartbreaks I survived and was made stronger. Not the same effect, but still a good performance.

She says goodbye quickly and bolts… it’s a tease and everybody knows it. A few moments in the dark with everybody chanting “Tay-lor!” and Amos J. Heller appears alone in the stage. He then does the old warming up the crowd act directing their screams. He’s a clown and everybody loves it. The Agency returns to the stage.

Taylor performs Picture To Burn as her encore. The crowd loves it. She says her goodbyes. It’s final this time and the crowd knows it.

Shortcomings? Well, here’s the deal. This is not a Fearless concert. Taylor brought in as many shades of the Fearless Tour as she could but on an outside venue she had limited options and I truly believe she did as good as she could considering her circumstances. Performance wise, she was excellent and she demonstrated she could hold a note during Forever and Always.

She did perform Love Story. How could she not? It’s her magnum opus, a song she wrote alone. She had no dancers and no lavish costumes here, we had a straight up performance that was great on its own.

The crowd was unbelievably large and leaving must have been an incredible ordeal. I had picked my lodging close by and could’ve just walked out but I chose to stay to see if I caught a glimpse of anybody. No such luck.

A big shoutout to 13SparksFly13 from Taylor Connect. Glad to meet you at the concert! Also to the girl who was her first concert ever, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name. Another to shoutout to the girl that picked up that guitar pick that I failed to catch from Caitlin (I couldn’t drop my iPhone while taking a pic). Well played. Hope it means more to you than it would’ve meant to me.

Was it a great performance? Yes. Could it have been better? No, are you kidding me? Taylor can’t hijack an entire festival. She has to work with what the festival had available. It was an over the top crowd. The capacity was at its very peak and it showed.

To Taylor Swift and each and every member of the Agency, thank you for reminding me of what it was to be Fearless again. I am eternally grateful that I went to a Fearless concert back in May 21st, and I am glad I saw your performance at the Cavendish Festival on July 10th.

Now get back to the studio and finish up that third album, ok?

The next headliner at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival is Lady Antebellum.

(Source: TheSwiftAgency.com)