Calling attention to a national political and cultural touchstone of the times, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey is urging the city to proclaim July 28 and 29 as Taylor Swift Weekend to coincide with her performances at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“As you may know all too well, Taylor Swift is a music industry icon and an advocate for change,” Dorsey said, citing the singer-songwriter’s turn toward liberal activism since 2018, and describing her as “a once-in-a-generation talent who has captivated people like a fireworks show.”
Most recently, Swift used her platform to urge fellow Tennesseeans to get to the polls early and vote in special elections.
Memphis Rep. Justin Pearson, recently expelled from the state house for allegedly violating rules of decorum while protesting lawmakers' refusal to pass gun safety laws, is running for his seat in a special election after being reinstated. The Democrat faces challenger Jeff Johnston.
In a 2020 Variety interview, Swift said her disappointment over the 2018 midterm election results in her home state inspired her song “Only the Young,” which accompanied her concert documentary film Miss Americana.
“I saw a lot of young people’s hopes dashed,” Swift says in the interview. “And I found that to be particularly tragic, because young people are the people who feel the worst effects of gun violence, and student loans and trying to figure out how to start their lives and how to pay their bills, and climate change, and are we going to war—all these horrific situations that we find ourselves facing right now.”
A global superstar, Swift maintains a home in Nashville as well as in New York, Los Angeles and Rhode Island.
Dorsey accompanied his introduction to the Taylor Swift Weekend idea with a speech infused with the pop star’s lyrical references and citing the influence of “the Taylor Swift lobby” with his legislative staff, “four passionate Swifties in my office to whom I committed to be fearless before August slips away into a moment of time.”
Despite being seemingly carried away during the speech, Dorsey later told The Standard the reference “was an inside joke” and “rest assured there is no ‘Big Taylor.’”
That said, Taylor Swift’s record-breaking “Eras” tour is having a big impact on local economies, boosting hotel bookings in places like Seattle and Philadelphia, the latter stop earning the notice of the region’s Federal Reserve Bank.
Tickets for Swift’s Bay Area dates first went on sale last November, and the shock of initial demand caused a massive meltdown at Ticketmaster.
State governors are now wooing Swift. So are newly ascendant liberal political leaders in Thailand.
Dorsey did, in fact, refer to the economic aspects of the Swift phenomenon in his wistful, whimsical introductory speech, which is definitely worth a watch.
“Although the concert will take place in our south, there is an invisible string tying Levi's Stadium to San Francisco,” Dorsey riffed during roll call. “As the supervisor representing a district known for many tourist destinations, I know places that will welcome the foot traffic and business.
“Colleagues, let’s not make this a cruel summer but one where sparks fly, and we can be in a state of grace.”