On tour with Taylor Swift

It is just four hours before Taylor Swift is due to hit the stage in Evansville, Indiana for the big kick-off of her Fearless tour, and she is in a panic.

Taylor Swift: I'm burning ‘cause there is wax in my eye!

But moments later, she's back, crisis averted.

Taylor Swift: Hey, did you see me get attacked by the candle?

Candle frenzy aside, the mood is so low-key backstage, it feels more like a slumber party then the evening of a major tour kickoff.

Taylor Swift: Amazing, Amazing.

And Taylor is positively normal.

Taylor Swift: OMG. OMG. Mac sent us all this body paint.  Alright, it's now 4'o'clock. We're about  three hours from my first show on my headline tour and I'm so excited. Um, this is actually happening and I can't wait.

Then at 7 o'clock, it's time: the 52-show “Fearless” tour is under way. Taylor gathers the group for one last pep-talk.

Taylor Swift: You guys are my brothers and my sisters, and I just want to thank you for that. And I couldn't, I couldn't love you more. And we're going to go out and there and be fearless. What are we going to be?

Group: Fearless!

Taylor Swift: When I hear that high-pitched sound of all those people screaming together, it's like, I want to get on stage right now. It's the most amazing feeling. It's one of the craziest feelings to be on stage and know that you were sitting on your bedroom floor when that song came to be and now there's an arena full of people singing it.

Andrea Swift: What an amazing show, OMG! So proud of you honey. So good. I wish you could have seen the expressions of people’s faces when they saw the water coming down.

Taylor Swift: Where they like what?

Andrea Swift: It was like, "Oh, no, she didn't!!"

Taylor Swift: Is that what they were saying? (laughs)

Andrea Swift: Yeah.

Taylor Swift: The crowd was freakin’ crazy.

She has pulled it off. Her first show is a smash. But incredibly, she is still tweaking, still perfecting.

Taylor Swift: I still have a bunch of notes for lighting and stuff. I have a lot of notes for lighting and stuff.

After all, there are 51 more shows to go.

Taylor Swift: My favorite on-the-road pit stop? Subway or Jimmy John's sandwiches. Aw, I want a sandwich right now.

Taylor Swift: I am in, um, can you help me out with that?

Andrea Swift: In Alexandria, Virginia.

Taylor Swift: Exactly.

Taylor Swift: We started out the day in Kansas and then we flew to Virginia. Then we got another plane and we're going to Chicago. And then tomorrow, we fly back to Nashville. Then the next day, we fly to South Carolina, then Jacksonville, then Biloxi, then London. Say that four times fast!

Taylor Swift: We are almost in London. We're about to land. London is awesome.

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@taylorswift13: About to play Charleston, SC. ...Crazy

@taylorswift13: post-beach, pre-show nap. Biloxi Mississippi!

@taylorswift13: About to play Charleston, SC....

@taylorswift13: The plane jerked up in the air, then back down...Hi Spokane.

@taylorswift13: Sitting in my dressing room at Staples Center in LA (EEEEE!!!).

@taylorswift13: The car just arrived to take us to the airport. Taped to the seat in front of me is a sign: "Taylor, don't forget your retainer. Dad". Nice.

Taylor Swift: I'm playing the Staples Center in LA. I wanted to have something special for the audience and so, enter John Mayer.

There's a whole lot more road time in store for Taylor. She's got dozens more shows to go. But that's OK; this 19-year-old has proved that she is indeed fearless.

Hoda Kotb: Close your eyes.  Ten years from now, you're 29.  How do you see-- what's-- what's happening in your life?

Taylor Swift: I could have kids.  I could be married.  I could be single.  I could-- I could live in Nashville, or I could live in L.A., or I could live in the Bahamas.  I don't know.

Hoda Kotb: You got a lot of-- a lot of choices?

Taylor Swift: If you would have told me four years ago that I'd be sitting here, you know, putting together this huge tour and winning album of the year, I wouldn't have believed you.  And to think ten years from now, that's such a long time.  And I'm just open to whatever it brings.

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