In an interesting article I found here about a phenomenon I have been reading about this past week, it seems a good number of Swifties (the cute little moniker super Taylor Swift fans have taken to calling themselves) are suffering post-concert amnesia. Many of these fans find it hard to recall the Taylor Swift concert they just saw.
In the article referenced above, Dr. Michelle Phillips, senior lecturer in music psychology (who knew there was such a thing as music psychology?) at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, told the BBC that this amnesia is actually relatively normal. It seems if one is so excited at an event, thrown in among thousands of other equally excited fans all experiencing high stimulation, then one can “encode” certain parts of the event…but not others.
Yes, we have an amazing organ up there in our old noggins, but it works in mysterious ways sometimes.
But reading about this phenom seemingly plaguing The Era Tour goers more than most (I really have never actually heard about people forgetting a concert they just attended unless those people were under the influence of some other stimulant…wink wink), I think Dr. Phillips could consider two other causes for Swiftie amnesia.
One just might be that possibly Taylor Swift fans don’t go to concerts all too often, or when they do, they don’t attend ones as big and brash as the current Swift show. Let’s face it, this ain’t the 70s here, folks; you don’t have the likes of a Pink Floyd or a David Bowie, etc., putting on great big effect-laden spectacles anymore. Stagecraft has all but died in modern concert show business, save for maybe what U2 might get into in Vegas for their residency. Got to give old T.S. her due, her shows might just be that mind blowing.
Or, and despite how big and brash an Eras Tour show might be viewed through our watered-down standards, a Taylor Swift concert might just be like most of what we digest these days of our modern culture…pretty much forgettable the minute it ends.
Get your tickets now for what you might soon forget!
