Jordan Parker
Before she was the highlight of Football Sunday or selling out stadiums worldwide, a young, aspiring country artist named Taylor Swift visited Halifax.
She came to the Metro Centre (now Scotiabank Centre) on September 10th, 2007, as part of a package with Rodney Atkins. They opened for country superstar Brad Paisley, who was on his Bonfires & Amplifiers tour, which featured hit hits “Whiskey Lullaby” and “Mud On The Tires.”
The 17-year-old Swift – for her part – was bringing attention to her own brand new music, as she released her debut self-titled album the year prior. She would perform a cover of Grammy-winning Eminem song “Lose Yourself”, as well as her own songs.
Her seven-song set saw her do “Our Song”, “Permanent Marker”, “Teardrops On My Guitar”, “Should’ve Said No”, “Tim McGraw” and finally, her break-up anthem “Picture To Burn.”
The audience – at first skeptical and anxious to see Paisley – warmed up to Swift quickly and were soon completely enthralled with her stage presence and rapport.
Paisley’s tour saw them hit Harbour Station in Saint John, N.B. the next day, and they traveled all across the country to Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Calgary and Vancouver. Now, Swift has become an international icon, touring all over the world.
Scenes of Taylor in Halifax made it into her music video, I’m Only Me When I’m With You. The video concludes with her looking out from the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site.
Swift’s Eras tour next sees her in Portugal, Spain, France, the U.K., and she has five dates in Toronto in a row this November, and three in Vancouver in December. She has never made it back to Halifax.
A music icon, Swift has 14 Grammy Awards, 11 studio albums, four re-recorded albums, and her “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film grossed $267.1-million last year. Her latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” was released April 19th, 2024, and became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day.
Local Swifties would no doubt be delighted if Taylor one day returned to Halifax.
