Sofi Stadium Joined In During “Shake It Off” While Literally Moving Under The Feet Of Concert Goers

This happened more than once during the three and a half hour performance

As I stood in my seat in the 500 section of the stadium, the ground began to move under me, as soon as the concert started with Taylors set.

If I was at a normal football game, I would have thought there was an earthquake happening but it was just the thousands of concert goers dancing & jumping up and down that caused this giant structure to move.

Let’s start off with the most common question: Is it worth it to spend the money on tickets? I would like to say it was worth it because I feel like she is a seasoned performer who knows how to fill a space so you don’t feel like you are so far away in the space. Front row or last row, she performs to the whole venue.

From her energy, stunning visuals & dynamic performances, you won’t be left feeling empty at the end of the night.

But with that being said, I will mention that concerts can get rather pricey from the tickets, parking, costumes (if you decide to dress up), food, merchandise and any other expenses that come up. So I just want you to keep that in mind if you are planning a concert trip.

I attended the August 9th performance at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

She had two opening acts that lasted about 1.5 hours between the two. Gayle and Haim both sounded great in the stadium from what I could hear.

I will have to look up their music on my own time because I unfortunately did not get the chance to really see them perform for the fact that I was standing in a merch line for 2.5 hours. Which is one of my main negatives from the night.

I got there around 4:30pm and it still didn’t feel like it was enough time. So keep that in mind if you have a lot of things you want to do before a performance.

The other negative that I expected was the price of parking ($94 for parking at The Forum) & it took an hour to get out of the parking lot after the concert. I was not surprised by this but it is something to keep in mind if you are thinking of attending an event and parking.

I will also say I would probably do it again for the convenience of where we parked and that it was only a short walk across the street to the stadium. But it was a high parking price in my opinion. This might be something that the venue might want to look at and bring the price down?

Something that I absolutely loved was seeing everyone dressed up and different costumes. I am sad that I didn’t take any photos of people walking by but a quick Instagram look under a Taylor Swift Concert hashtag will show you selfies and fun costumes.

My sister and I turned my shirt into a game. I wanted to see if there were any other variations/same shirt that I was wearing which was a black mesh shirt with stars all over it. We counted 38 different people that we spotted just in the section/level we were on during the course of the concert. I loved it! Obviously we all loved this style or we wouldn’t have worn it.

I also loved and collected several friendship bracelets that people made, shared & traded with each other. I did not make any bracelets but with the suggestion and help of my sister, I made some stickers and handed those out.

Let’s just say this outright- Taylor Swift & her teams stamina to perform this show for 3.5 hours is incredibly impressive. There were so many moving parts, dance combinations and energy. I was just tired from dancing and singing in my seat let alone what they were doing onstage.

She sings wonderfully and was very personable onstage. Even pausing when her mic stopped working and making some funny faces. You can see the amount of professionalism that is involved with this tour. She clearly is working with people who are top notch in their respected fields.

I am sure you heard about this already but Taylor received a screaming standing ovation of about 5–8 minutes (I didn’t time it) mid-show. She looked shocked and very thankful for the moment onstage shared between her and the large audience.

She made faces, mouthed many thanks, rested on her piano looking out and walked around the stage. I think it was a solid standing ovation and I am thankful that she let the crowd celebrate her and being in the space. It was a fun experience to be in the stadium for those moments.

Pro-tip: bring earplugs of some sort, no matter your age, for the roar of the crowd and the volume levels of the music. It was so incredibly loud! I could feel it in my chest. The sound was filling the space and even beyond.

I have to mention all of the amazing set pieces, projections, lighting design, pyrotechnics, costume design & dancers were spot on! The show was visually stunning from beginning to end and it “fit” each of the eras that she was singing about during the course of the concert.

I know the technical side of the performance deserves more space in this article but I will just say that they all created a wonderful show.

I was constantly in awe of the overall production value of the concert. I also loved the light up wristbands that every audience member had that would coordinate with the songs in the stadium while blinking and changing colors.

This reminded me of all the K-Pop concerts that I have attended with the light sticks that they use. It was really nice to see a similar thing at Taylor’s concert. It also gives you a perspective of how many people were actually in that stadium. I think more artists should put something like this in place. It helps connect everyone in the venue.

I can’t even imagine the feeling that Taylor and her team gets while on that big of a stage! It has to feel like a dream!

She did make the announcement of the release date for the re-recorded version of her album 1989. The stadium roared!

I think it is safe to say that most fans are eagerly waiting for October to roll around to get their copy of this re-record.

If you are unaware of what this means it is for the ownership of her music by re-recording all of her past albums.

Here are a couple of tips & things to remember for a concert day: 1. Bring earplugs! 2. Expect longer lines for merch, food, bathrooms and parking lots 3. Make sure you have memory on your phone for pictures & videos if you want to capture any 4. But with that being said, put the phone away and take in the concert. You don’t want to stare at the concert though your phone screen when you are there in person 5. Bring an extra small reusable bag for merch 6. Disposable cameras can be a fun addition 7. Bring a small manual hand fan in case it is really hot 8. Bring a cover-up/jacket if you get cold easily 9. Remember to HAVE FUN!

I want to give a huge shoutout to all the Crew, Production team, SoFi team, Security, Dancers, Musicians, Performers, Drivers, Tour Photographer, Stadium Volunteers, Parking Attendants, Taylor herself & anyone else I haven’t mentioned that are involved on this tour. I know there are so many moving parts to make an experience like this come to life. Thank you for all of your hard work and talents! It was a wonderful night!!

Even if you are not a Taylor Swift fan I think it is a hard stretch to say that you can’t agree that she is a strong performer. She puts on a full blow production and also employs a huge number of people to work on her tours.

I have seen Taylor twice now. Once in 2011 & now in 2023 and I would love to see her again in the future. Maybe next time from the pit covering the concert as press? Taylors team, let me know!

I know I am posting this article a bit later than I expected but I still wanted to share. I think this concert meant a lot not just to Taylor but to her fans.

I was in line with one girl who had recently lost someone in her life and she was using Taylors music to help her through that process. I talked to a few people who traveled from out of state & locals were just as excited about the experience that the night was to bring.

Music connects people and it can really impact lives. I think Taylor’s Concert was the perfect example of that.

Let’s drop some socials below: Taylor Swift- YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE Gayle- INSTAGRAM Haim- INSTAGRAM Sofi Stadium- INSTAGRAM | LINKTREE

Thanks for stopping by! As always, be kind to yourself and others!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You can find more of my work at this link.

If you are interested in joining Medium as a member, consider using my link down below. This will allow you to view and read as many articles as you would like and it helps me a whole bunch!

[All the images shared are all original works of myself, Kasandra Faith Photography/Kassy Menke unless otherwise stated. The images in this article were taken on a cellphone. Please do not share, copy or use without reaching out to me first and gaining permission to do so. Thanks so much!]