Taylor Swift & My Girl
Taylor Swift & My Girl backstage meet & greet in “Loft ’89”

This weekend, the Blue Moon made an appearance and somehow collided with the stars in our vicinity.

My 10-year old daughter and I found out a few days before the show that we would have the opportunity to attend the Taylor Swift concert in Vancouver! It was totally unexpected, but one of those things that can happen when you work with record labels in the world of radio. I was told there would be a “Meet and Greet”. Ooooh. Tears popped into my eyes, because that’s all it takes. To think of my girl having the experience of meeting a pop culture icon, talented singing sensation, role model, actor and philanthropist, Taylor Swift.

1989 Tour Guitar Picks

Once at BC Place, we got directions to find our Meet & Greet and connected with friends and co-workers. It was a bit of a treasure hunt to pass through all of the gates to find “Loft ’89” — where we would meet Taylor Swift!! They told us to make ourselves at home and have a bite to eat. EAT!? All of a sudden, this 40-something mom melted. We waited, took a couple of photos around the room and pinched ourselves. It was fancy. And totally rockstar — there was no question that something memorable was about to happen.

After what seemed like hours, but more like 20 minutes went by…In sails a very tall, smiling, absolutely glowing…Taylor Swift. Our Universal record rep Liz, introduced the genuine 25-year-old popstar to each of the eight groups that were waiting to meet her. Taylor greeted everyone with a hug, had a little chat, signed a poster and an official photographer took our photos with her (no cameras allowed). My daughter, Jade and I were last in the cue, and it was worth the wait. I said nothing interesting, haha. I had lost it. My girl smiled vividly and chatted with Taylor Swift. She handed her a letter from her cousin who is a major “Swifty” and we had our photos taken. Wow.

Taylor thanked everyone for supporting her, the 1989 album, playing her songs on the radio and for coming to see her show. Then she surprised us by sending us off for a backstage tour with her Mom (Andrea Swift). No camera’s allowed backstage either, but I was itching to capture the rows of guitars, video control board, dressing rooms and the essence of the 1989 World Tour from behind the scenes.

Her mom — was clearly her mom. She knew everything about what her daughter lives and breathes…the tour, the music, the passion for connecting with her fans. It was surreal to be standing backstage hearing about how this mother had wanted her daughter to ride horses when she was a kid. But her daughter wanted to sing and make music. So, there we all were. Standing in a gigantic arena with hundreds of people working around the clock to put on a massive show that will span 31 cities before it wraps up — All because a 12-year old girl named Taylor visited Nashville with her parents 13 years ago and became inspired to create music she loved.

Mel Z & Shawn Mendes

The evening got more and more surreal as we spent the show in a luxury suite, where we were treated to a surprise visit from Shawn Mendes. He’s all of 16-years old (his 17th birthday is Aug 8th) and so talented. After some selfies, we went back to enjoy the rest of the 2-hour show with Taylor Swift holding 45-thousand fans in the palm of her hand, sharing some inspirational words between songs, dazzling us with incredible costumes, lights, fireworks and powerful music that you loved before — but became endeared to in a whole new way.

Besides Vance Joy singing some of my favourite songs, guess who else was there? My 12-year old self. I almost forgot about that girl who wanted to be a “rockstar”, live in New York City, put on big high heels (haha) and to inspire with music.

To inspire with music….Taylor Swift has achieved it — for all of us — and shares it with us on her tours, through social media and in her music. Now that’s unforgettable.

Mel Z – Middays 10am – 2pm on Ocean 98.5, looking forward to the next Blue Moon.

Check out Mel Z’s Instagram for more videos and photos from this incredible night: