#taylor rave

[silkchifffon]

So uhhhh, who wants to go to this with me and see how long my old ass can stay.

[iwatcheditbegin]

There’s Taylor swift night at a local club debating on going

[jessmenace]

Taylor Rave @ Avalon Hollywood 04/08/23

themed "raves" have been all the rage this past year - with the success of Shrek Rave, Broadway Rave, 90s Rave, etc... and the creators of the Taylor Swift-themed raves traveling the country are just one of the many to join the lineup.

so when my best friend's younger sister invited me to check out their LA stop, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. both of us have been huge Taylor fans since day 1 (I actually caught the Fearless tour with her back in 2009)!

honestly? the concept - genius. Taylor has a HUGE discography (including hella electronic remixes already) which makes it easy for any corporate DJ to mix without much thought. but despite that, the DJs in question actually did create a lot of the remixes played that night themselves! including some deep. ass. cuts. I was pretty impressed with the depth of their Taylor knowledge. for two men in their late 20's, they played out shit like Picture to Burn (OG fans only!) to Paris (bonus track!); an Avicii/Taylor mashup to a Red remix in "the style of Fred Again" (their words, not mine.. but still pretty impressive in concept).

(the DJs were also genius in picking Tay Tay, knowing the audience it's bound to attract. this was proven when I saw them play out All Too Well 10 minute version and spent all of those 10 mins flirting with the 5 giggling, cute blonde girls they brought into the DJ booth lmfao.)

all in all, the night felt like a 3.5 hourlong (!!) night of a huge karaoke party with the girls and the gays, all covered in glitter and scream/crying Taylor's best lyrics from debut to Midnights at the top of our lungs. Avalon, with its carpeted interior and juvenile balloons, kind of made it feel lowkey like a convention mixer and less like a rave... but that's kind of what I expect from a Taylor Swift themed event anyways. it was a shit ton of fun, for what it is. Overall, the night was: 9/10! ♥

[mrsreinhart]

[lili2424]

Obsessed, they look amazing lol

[kingkatsuki]

You know how people trade bracelets at raves— imagine meeting Bakugou at his first rave and he’s so awkward and out of place, but he’s trying to relax enough to enjoy himself. And you meet him at the bar and start dancing with him as he feels himself finally starting to relax.

And you notice that he doesn’t have any bracelets on, so you take his hand in yours and you slide one of yours onto his wrist.

[starflesh-moth]

i wanna preface this by saying i’m not a gatekeeper

i actually love that the swifties are getting into kandi culture

however

every time somebody points at my kandi and asks “omg are you a swiftie?!?”

i die a little on the inside

[kandiwinged]

non friendly reminder that Kandi is not "Taylor and swifty culture". it has been a thing since the 90s or sooner, it is a REALLY BIG PART of RAVER CULTURE and it has a name and an actual history behind it, as well as literal MANNERS. be fucking for real

I could talk about the part Kandi takes on raver culture and the ravers code for HOURS please just. dont ignore its actual history

[13eyond13]

nothing more cringe than coaxing and half-forcing someone to go to the movies with you because you're talking up how good the last one in the series was and then they finally agree to go and then it ends up being over two hours long and also kinda the worst 😬

[sydneysageivashkov]

jackieshauna + the locked tomb

or: too many words. how about these: one flesh, one end, bitch.

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

A month ago I had the passing thought that I didn't like Taylor Swift when I was younger because I was behind her eras and it was a really casual observation then but every day I find new ways it's true

[satelliterayne]

eddie diaz is a secret swiftie and he has a playlist full of songs that make him think of buck and he cries every time he hears Best Day bc it makes him think of chris growing up and whenever he posts on instagram (literally once every three months) he uses taylor swift lyrics that he keeps in a note on his phone as the captions (he doesn’t know how to lock the note so it’s labeled “grocery shopping”) and when he and buck fight/argue he tries to see how often he can sneak a taylor swift lyric into the conversation. buck surprises him with a set of all her cd’s for christmas one year and tickets to the eras tour. (yes eddie still uses cd’s he insists they sound better) chris loves listening to his dad serenade buck in the kitchen with taylor swift when they think he’s asleep. after the All Too Well (taylor’s version) (the 10 minute version) is dropped the entire family refuses to watch any jake gyllenhall movies. eddie saw the headlines about taylor swift and joe alwyn breaking up and made buck text taylor kelly to see if she could confirm if it was true.

buck is an edm fan and a huge raver bc the beep boop noises help his adhd. he’s PR’d like 7 times listening to subtronics in the gym. he and chris make kandi together and when chris hands him a “rave dad” kandi he cries. he drags eddie to a lowkey rave and they take chris to another smaller one before they’re convinced to take a week off and take chris to lost lands once he turns 13. eddie volunteers his time as a medic to festivals in LA while buck runs off and makes tons of friends. buck wears mesh tops and body glitter while eddie wears a dj shirt with shorts (“why are the inseams on these like 3 inches buck?” “you have to be a little bit slutty it’s a rave!!”) chris loves being on bucks shoulders to see the stage and with most festivals being accessible and chris being cute they oftentimes make their way to the rail and can headbang together. chris falls in love with the scene and surprises his dad and his buck with a 60 minute set of taylor swift remixes for their anniversary after they get him equipment one year for his birthday.

Idk man sometimes i think and this is what happens

[sometimeswritingsometimesdying]

when taylor swift said “splintered back in winter” and “the tragic fabric of our dreaming” and “the glint in my eye traced the depths of your sigh” and “rusting my sparkling summer” and “bygones will be bygone eras” and “the tears fell in synchronicity with the score” and “our field of dreams, engulfed in fire” and “beauty is a beast that roars”!!!!!!

[greensparty]

My Concert History: Foo Fighters UPDATED

Periodically I do a rundown of my concert history of seeing a particular artist. In 2018, I did my concert history of Foo Fighters, but since then I actually need to update the list. Timing couldn't be better with their show at Fenway Park tomorrow, which I'll be at...and have to update this list again! Here now is the update concert history since that 2018 history was published:

- WBCN River Rave 6/8/1997 @ Great Woods (Mansfield, MA)

I didn’t catch any of Foo Fighters’ shows in 1995-96, but I wasn’t going to miss out when The Colour and the Shape was released. Taylor Hawkins had just joined the band, and it was a few months before Pat Smear left the band. The WBCN River Rave also featured Matthew Sweet, Morphine, Fiona Apple, Porno for Pyros, Primus, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Moby just to name a few. Their set was mostly the songs off the first 2 albums. One of the highlights of the festival!

- HMV Records 11/1/1999 @ HMV (New York, NY)

Me meeting Dave Grohl at their HMV in-store

Chris Shiflett had just joined the band. When There is Nothing Left to Lose was released, they did promotional blitz in NYC that included an in-store appearance at HMV. My ex-GF and I traveled down from MA to NYC for this. The band performed for about 40 min. mostly off the new album. Then the band signed copies of the new album and I got to meet them (read all about it here).

- WBCN Xmas Rave 12/1/1999 @ Orpheum Theater (Boston, MA)

Only a month after I got to meet the band, I saw them at the WBCN Xmas Rave, which also featured At the Drive-In and Ben Harper. They played about 13 songs, mostly hits and new album. Great show!

- 4/2/2000 @ Mullins Center (Amherst, MA)

They co-headlined a tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers (my first time seeing RHCP) with opening act Muse. Drove out to UMass Amherst to see this show. It was really cool to see the Foo Fighters in a much bigger venue, a preview of some of the arenas I’d see them in later. RHCP drummer Chad Smith came out and joined them on a second drum kit for “My Hero”.

- 7/3/2003 @ Hammerstein Ballroom (New York, NY)

Even though the band in retrospect isn’t a fan of their 2002 album One By One, its one of my favorites. Promoting the album, the band played 2 shows at Hammerstein with openers My Morning Jacket and Pete Yorn. They did quite a bit of the One By One album and during “Everlong”, a fan apparently proposed during that song!?! 

- Fuse TV Special 6/14/2005 @ Fuse TV studios (New York, NY)

Technically this is not a concert I saw, but I’ll explain why it made the list. I was working at the music video cable TV channel Fuse in 2005 just as the double album In Your Honor had been released. The band was doing a promotional blitz in NYC and stopped by Fuse to do a live performance 7th Avenue Drop show. I tried to go down to see them, but even as an employee and knowing so many people, I wasn’t able to go to the studio due to the capacity limit. But my friend who was working there, managed to get Dave Grohl’s guitar pick for me! Hence it being listed here even though it wasn't an official show I saw.

- 10/14/2005 @ Continental Airlines Arena (Rutherford, NJ)

My girlfriend (who became my wife) and two friends made the trek to NJ to see this co-headlining tour with Weezer and opening act Hot Hot Heat. This was a fantastic show, but the big highlight of the night was when they brought out special guest Roger Taylor of Queen, who played drums on the cover of “Tie Your Mother Down”, which Taylor Hawkins sang on. So much for “Never Meet Your Idols”! 

- 8/21/2006 @ Beacon Theater (New York, NY)

In 2006 they went on an intimate acoustic tour of theaters. I went to the Beacon Theater show with Frank Black (of The Pixies) opening. Further musicians they brought on this tour included Rami Jaffee (who became an official member in 2017), Petra Haden, Drew Hester and returning Foo Fighter Pat Smear, who officially returned as a member in 2010. It was almost like an episode of Storytellers as Dave Grohl talked about some of the songs and their meaning. Very special show!

- 2/19/2008 @ Madison Square Garden (New York, NY)

After the release of Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, the band began playing much larger venues. At this MSG show, Serj Tankian (of System of a Down) and Against Me! opened. Some of the additional musicians who played the 2006 acoustic tour came out for an acoustic section of the show that included the very first Triangle solo in MSG history from their percussionist. 

- 11/13/2011 @ Madison Square Garden (New York, NY)

By the time of 2011′s album Wasting Light, Pat Smear was back as an official band member. For their NYC show at MSG, the openers were The Joy Formidable and Social Distortion. They brought out a few special guests: Bob Mould of Husker Du played on “Dear Rosemary” and “Breakdown” (the Tom Petty song); and Joan Jett came out and did her song “Bad Reputation” with the band. The band also did Pink Floyd’s “In the Flesh”.

- 7/19/2015 @ Fenway Park (Boston, MA)

Obligatory concert selfie of me and my friend Tim with Foo Fighters behind us!

After the 2014 album and HBO series Sonic Highways, I hoped Boston would be an upcoming episode / recording. While on tour to promote the album, just a few weeks earlier, Dave Grohl broke his leg onstage, so for the remainder of the tour he performed on a throne. Even if he was sitting the whole time, it was one hell of a show (read my concert review here). Openers were Royal Blood and Dropkick Murphys. Highlights of the show included Grohl’s surgeon Dr. Lew Schon, who came out and sang The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with the band; a brief cover of The Cars’ “Let’s Go��; a cover of Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure”, and Godsmack’s Sully Erna joining for Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”. 

7/21/2018 @ Fenway Park (Boston, MA)

my friend Ron, Wally the Green Monster and me at Fenway Park

Taylor Hawkins onstage with Foo Fighters

My second time seeing them at Fenway Park, but this show was very special because I won a contest and got tickets to the show and got to stay at the nearby Verb Hotel and also earlier in the weekend I got to see Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett doing a solo show at City Winery. I wish I could have this experience more often to get to see a musician in a small intimate setting and then see them rock out in a stadium with a band (read my concert review here). My buddy Ron came up and we had a great time! Openers included Boston's The Monsieurs (who I interviewed earlier in the month) and UK's The Struts. Highlights of this show included a cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" with Taylor Hawkins singing along with The Struts singer Luke Spiller, the band doing a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" musically while singing Van Halen's "Jump" along with producer Greg Kurstin on piano, and Grohl's daughter Violet (12 at the time) on back-up vocals. Looking back it was one of the best Taylor Hawkins' performances as he also did a drum solo.

Boston Calling 5/23/2023 @ Harvard Athletic Complex (Boston, MA)

Foo Fighters on stage

me in my happy place: watching Foo Fighters

I attended Day of the 2023 Boston Calling festival (read my review here). Foo Fighters' headlined that night of the festival. This was a little over a year after the passing of Taylor Hawkins and only a week after they announced new drummer Josh Freese. Much of this show was about the band breaking in Josh but remembering Taylor. They paid tribute to Taylor with Dave singing “Cold Day in the Sun” (which Taylor sang) and to my surprise they performed “Aurora” because it was Taylor’s favorite Foo Fighter song (I haven’t seen them do that song live since 2003). For “Shame, Shame”, Dave introduced his 17 year-old daughter Violet. The highlight of the night (that got national attention from numerous news and music outlets) was Taylor’s 17 year-old son Shane guest drumming on “This is a Call”. 

Me just hanging out with Mr. Chris Shiflett in 2018

In addition to all of these shows I recounted, I also saw Dave Grohl with Them Crooked Vultures in 2009, Taylor Hawkins with the Coattail Riders in 2006 and 2010, and Chris Shiflett in 2018.

After I see tomorrow's show I'll have to update this concert history!

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

I'm sorry. what the fUCK DO YOU MEAN "THE SWIFTIES REINVENTED KANDI BRACELET CULTURE"

[jopzer]

like the OBVIOUS parallels of jackie and jamie / shauna and roy are so tasty and delicious but i think drawing lines between jackie and roy is really fun for me personally. sometimes you are a team captain who sucks shit at their job. sometimes its because you have no emotional control sometimes you can be a bit of a diva it happens to all of us