Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina
Santa Barbara Talks; Lily Dallow Goes to KTLA; Talks Taylor Swift Concert with Jade Martinez-Pogue
Journalists Jade Martinez-Pogue and Lily Dallow talk their epic Taylor Swift concert in Amsterdam. After spending hours online waiting to order tickets, the two lucked out and scored near front-row seats, for less than $250 each, a fraction of what Taylor tickets cost in the U.S. Hear about their amazing journey, along with friend Phoebe, through Europe, including their hostel stays. Also, Lily announces her new job, as digital content director at KTLA in Los Angeles. Check out this hilarious and entertaining podcast with two of journalism's brightest young stars. Josh Molina is a journalist who focuses conversations on housing, education, transportation, business and culture. Please hit subscribe on YouTube and visit www.santabarbaratalks.com for more content
- Duration:
- 1h 4m
- Broadcast on:
- 08 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
- Welcome to Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. It's such a pleasure today to be here with two of my former colleagues, and we got a lot to talk about. Jade Martinez-Bogue and Lily Dallow, and we got big news to talk about, and we're gonna talk about their big trip to see Taylor Swift. And I have a bunch of questions about this, because Jade, I wanna apologize right off the bat. I used to tell you, shake it off with Taylor Swift's best song. - Yeah. - But since my daughter and I started listening to Taylor Swift, all because of you as a transition from Olivia Rodrigo to Taylor Swift, we're on to Sabrina Carpenter now, by the way. - Okay. - I have a more complete view of Taylor Swift's sort of portfolio of music, so. She's got like three or four against hearts. No, I'm kidding, I won't stop the show that way. We're gonna talk about that, and I know all the Swiftie fans out there, which is basically everybody is gonna be interested in this. But Lily, Jade, welcome to the show. How are you doing? - Yeah, thanks for having us. - Yeah, thank you. - Yeah, we haven't worked together in a while, so it's fun catching up. Lily, I wanna start with you. I heard some news over Fiesta. The word on the street is, you've got a big change coming up, so can you talk about that, please? - Yeah, absolutely, it's surreal. It doesn't really, it doesn't feel 100% real yet, but this is my last week up at TV Hill. I'll be moving down to LA by the end of this month and starting at KTLA as a digital content producer. So it's similar to the position I started in at KYT, back when Jade and I were just, you know, frolicking around up on TV all together. And, but it's a huge, it's a huge jump, big transition, I'm super nervous. One thing that I'm really excited about, that's a little shallow, but just I think it's super cool is they have a helicopter. - Wow. - It's gonna be my life's mission to get done on that thing someday. - So KTLA, I mean, this is a big market. I think Alice Angeles is like the second biggest market in the country. - Yeah, behind New York. And, you know, as a California person, I grew up watching KTLA and back like hellfish men and like a student Ahan doing sports and just the whole crew of people like in the morning to 10 o'clock at night news. So this is cool. I think that's awesome to go to work for KTLA. What are some of the things you think are gonna be different in that big market compared to Santa Barbara County? - Well, so to start, KYT, you know, I'm the digital content director there. And the digital team is like basically three people. And one of those, like one person on that team isn't really, it's kind of we all, it's a trivia system in a way. So it's made up of me, the assignment desk, which was Jade's old position. And then there's a third person that kind of does both digital and assignment stuff. And they work on a night side slash weekend schedule. So it's kind of, we have like all the times covered, but everybody kind of like sometimes I'll do assignment desk things such as, you know, helping schedule stories, helping find stories, helping vetting stories, like telling reporters to get to certain place for breaking news. And then they'll help me with digital, which is writing stories and breaking the news online and social media and all that. And so while I have like absolutely nothing bad to say about my experience at KYT, it's been lovely. And I adore my team and, you know, the experience is why I am where I am now. I'm so excited at KTLA, they have like a legit digital team of digital journalists. And I think it's about six to eight people. And so rather than just being, you know, my own digital person with the help of them, definitely don't want to discredit that. I'll be like one of, you know, of a digital team and there'll be other people that are on the same page in terms of, you know, like just being passionate for digital journalism because working in a broadcast station, you know, it's like digital is first to everything, but broadcast is, you know, obviously the main point. And I mean, also at KTLA, but there they have an established team and they have like their own director. And, you know, I'm just really excited to be, I haven't said the word team enough. - Now, I know you a little bit from working together. Were you nervous? That's a big market going through the interview process. Can you just talk a little bit about that, just as a young person who's switching jobs? I mean, that's got to be terrifying a little bit, that whole process. - Yeah. Definitely it was, it's been strange because of how bittersweet it is. Like, like I said, I really have nothing bad to say about KYT, it's just, you know, it's just a career move. And I have, I mean, this is my hometown and I, you know, this place has kind of become like another legitimate home for me. And I love that everybody that I work with. But through the interviews with KTLA, the people that work there remind me a lot of the people at KYT. And so that's been making it feel a little less scary for me, especially because they do have a lot of people from KYT. And then we have some people from there. So I feel like a little bit more comfortable and that people-wise and then like job duty-wise, I've done everything that this role requires. So I felt very confident going into the interview process. My old, the old me, old KYT digital content director works at KTLA and he was super helpful in this whole process. I think he really did a lot of, you know, the back work with putting in a good word and all that. So it's definitely important to know some people. And then, yeah, I mean, I've written like hundreds of breaking news stories. I mean, Jade has too. And I know, I really know my way around the digital world. So I think that I'm confident in that. The thing that I'm the most scared about is I never imagined myself living in LA. I've always wanted to move to a big city, but I always kind of imagined I'd be going back to the East Coast where my family's from. And, you know, that's just kind of the cities that I always imagined. But when this opportunity came up, it's too good to, you know, to push a side. And it's also not too far from here. And I won't have to act like any crazy new weather patterns. And, you know, I think it'll be a good, a good, I mean, there's definitely worse places to learn to be a real adult than Los Angeles. So, yeah. And are you going to be living in LA proper? Or have you decided yet? Like, where? - Yeah, I'm going to be moving into Century City. I don't really know anything about it. But I've heard that it's a really great place and it's central, not too far from the beach, not too far from Hollywood, which is where KTLA is. Which that's been a weird thing to say. It's like, yeah, I'm going to be working in Hollywood. - Yeah, so, and I have a friend that lives in Century City and she was the one that was looking for a roommate and I went to elementary school with her and our families all know each other. So, yeah, I got really lucky with that. - Wow, well, that's so cool. I'm so happy for you that you have this opportunity and I know you're going to kill it there and just do amazing things. And before I get to Jade, 'cause I want to check in with you on your career, what's going on in New York, I do want to say that it's been a pleasure working with you. The few stories that we did at Newshawk and you are a fantastic writer. I've told you that privately. I've said that publicly. And I hope you continue to keep writing. I know you were talking about like a master's program and you were talking about pursuing that and so I hope you can, I know you'll be writing in this job but I hope you continue your passionate long form of writing 'cause the stuff you have on the Newshawk side and just in different places is just really well done. - Yeah, I think I'll be definitely staying in touch with the Montecito Journal as well. So, I'll keep some claws dug in over here, definitely. And then I'm also taking some screenwriting classes on the side just as a little hobby. - Cool, cool and we'll be able to see your name on the KHL website. - Yeah. - Oh, okay. Car crashes, you know? - Oh yeah, I'll be working like the action hours, like during the night and on the weekend. So I'm sure I'll be getting some crazy headlines. - All right, that's amazing. Good luck with that. Jade Martinez-Pogue, as everyone knows, all my audience started at Newshawk and then you went to KYT and abandoned me. No, I'm kidding. I had a greater opportunity and that's how you got to know Lily and you guys did tremendous work there and you became good friends and we're gonna talk about your trip in a second. And now you're in New York working for Law360. Last time we talked, it was a check-in and you were going through some union sort of action and all of that. How are things going for you? Can you update the audience on where things stand with you? - Yeah, so I'm still at Law360 still covering the same beats which is murders and acquisitions, private equity, sports embedding, capital markets, still in the union fight. It's been, see I started at Law360 at the end of October 2022 and we started bargaining either that November or December. And so we're still in that process. I don't know when it's gonna end. I thought it was gonna be over last year and then I thought it was gonna be over in the spring. But we're still doing that. But it's good, you know, not always the most interesting content to write about but I have been able to write about some like pretty big national stories, which is cool. It's always been like my goal to write for a national news organization and cover stories that like everyone knows. So yeah, not as nearly as exciting as Lily's career right now, but it's good. - Like up in there. - Well, I'm sure the next show we'll be doing, you know, we'll be talking about something, you know, amazing that you're excited about. But actually, kickball, right? What's going on? You're talking some kickball league, let's talk about that, that sounds so cool. - Yeah, so one thing about my current job is that it's fully remote and I have maybe like six or seven people on my team but we're all over the country and we meet only once a week on Fridays for like 10, 15 minutes. So moving to the East Coast, not knowing anybody, it was really difficult to make friends. So in the spring, I signed up for a kickball league and it's through this nonprofit organization called Volo. So you pay for the season, but some of the proceeds that the league gets go to funding underfunded youth children's, youth children, sports programming, like at under budget schools. So it's doing good for the community. - But I've met just a bunch of people through it. There's some older adults on our team, but the majority of us are similar, like in my age range. And I was a little bit nervous signing up by myself, not knowing anybody, but it turns out that most of the people on my team didn't know anybody either. And so now every Tuesday night we go out, we play under the lights. You know, you get to see the Manhattan skyline in the back. And it's just been really fun to get out there and play sports, be active, but also make friends. - And when you kick the ball, where do you end? Where are you trying to kick it? - I usually try and go for like shorter kicks because whenever I try and like actually kick it far to the outfield, people just catch it right away. And then I get out. But one thing that I didn't know about kickball from like playing it back in elementary school is that we're allowed to throw the ball at people to get them out. Like you don't have to just tag the base or whatever. So you can just throw it at people, which is kind of crazy for me. But it just adds like that much more excitement to the game. - I want to play and I want to choose who I play with if I get to throw the ball at them, that sounds good. Have you been like pegged on the feet by somebody throwing you out at one of the bases, like knocked off? - I haven't, but I've definitely taken a few falls and like people have run into me and you know, I don't know if people think it's a contact sport, but it can be. - Well, that's so cool. That's great. Well, you know, you're doing great work at Law 360 and doing national stories and stories that I could never even begin to, you know, help you or understand or process. 'Cause wow, with the three things you said you covered, I spent four hours trying to understand, you know, just those... - Yeah, I had to definitely did a lot of googling when I applied for the position. I was like, what the heck is private equity? I have no idea. - I've mastered the art of reading the staff report and getting, you know, three quotes for a story. And you know, you're over there writing about, you know, the betting markets and gambling sports. So, great job. But let's shift gears. 'Cause you two were very active on social media and I had heard a little bit, you mentioned it to me. Was it Amsterdam? Did you go to Amsterdam or to watch Taylor Swift? Okay, so let's just start. Like, why would you go all the way to Amsterdam to watch Taylor Swift when she's doing three nights at SoFi Stadium or five nights, six nights, whatever. She had this big tour. Take me back to the beginning. How did this happen? How did this sort of spontaneous combustion of, let's go to Amsterdam to watch Taylor Swift. How did you conceive this? - Well, I'll have it be known that I tried to get to get to the U.S. I was not, you know, not for lack of trying. I just couldn't. And I got really sad about it. I was like, I can't miss this is like, even if she goes on tour in the future, you know, there's never gonna be anything that covers her whole discography from, you know, start to finish. And so after all the, when they announced the European tours shows, I just signed up for a bunch of the pre-sells. So it wasn't like, oh, let's go to Amsterdam for this. You know, I signed up for London, I signed up for Paris. I think Italy, Germany, and Amsterdam was just the one that I got a pre-sell code and woke up at 2 a.m. to wait in the queue, get the tickets. And it's just the one that ended up working out. But the crazy thing is, we're talking about this, like the whole trip, the amount that we paid for, you know, a week long Europe trip, seeing the errors tour is probably the same as if we had gotten, you know, nose bleeds out for one night at SoFi Stadium. Like it was insane. - So you went into the queue 'cause I know a lot of, not a lot, I know a few people who talked about when they tried to buy tickets, they're just like, cycled, cycled. And then all of a sudden, the system broke or there were no tickets or was sold out but frustrating, 'cause they're, you know, the people I talk to, they're buying tickets for their daughters, right? And so like, they're like, oh, my daughter's gonna be so bad, me kind of thing. So that's what you experienced, but then you decided maybe somewhere else it oversees, it's gonna be easier. Is that like? - Yeah, and I think when the American, you know, she did the American leg first, that's when the whole ticket master crashed. And so I think when I signed up for that, I didn't really know how it worked. Like I didn't know that you had to sign up for pre-sale for specific shows. I thought it was just, yeah, 'cause, you know, when I bought concert tickets before, I'll search the artist and then I'll choose the show and the location and it's all in one spot. But you had to choose, like, if I wanted to go night one in LA, I'd have to sign up for night one in LA. If I wanted to go to night one in Arizona, you have to sign up for that show specifically. And I didn't know that. It was only signed up for one. And obviously that lessens the chances of actually getting tickets. And so I think by the time the European tickets opened up, like I just knew, you know, I had a lot more of understanding of how the whole thing worked. And I did wait in the queue for like two or three hours. I was texting Lily the whole time. I was just saying, from my perspective, it was just, like, Jada texted me maybe, like, within a week before, I think you waited in the queue and you were just, it was just out of the blue, like, "Hey, like, if I get tickets to sea tales "with Namjami, you'll come with me in like a year." I was like, "Yeah, of course, sure, why not." It's the year out, like, you know, "Yeah, I love that idea." And then you were like, "Okay, I'm gonna try "get tickets next week." I was like, "All right." And then I was, I woke up and I just, like, the string of texts, it was like, I got to live through it all. (laughing) And real time, it was like, "Okay, I'm in the queue. "Okay, I'm waiting. "Oh my God, I think it crashed. "We know, we're good. "Okay, I'm second in line. "Oh my God, I'm in. "Okay, guys, I'm in. "I got the tickets, I got the tickets." And then I was just like, that stuff, it was so good. It was just like a play-by-play, it was great. And then, so it was us and Phoebe, and yeah, I couldn't believe that you got up so early. That was like, it takes a lot, it takes a lot of grit. (laughing) - And I got the time conversion wrong, because obviously this was all in Amsterdam time. It's actually like woke up like an hour before. I needed two too, and I was just sitting there, like 1, 2 a.m. on my couch, waiting. - So, but there was something, right, where you didn't know where the seats were, or can you talk about that? - Yeah, so the website was all in Dutch, because it was a ticket master Netherlands. And I had talked with Phoebe and Lily, like ahead of time, I was like, what are we willing to pay? You know, what's our price range for this? And so we paid-- - There was $10,000. Anything for Taylor. (laughing) - Literally, that was the case we were gonna show in the US. (laughing) But, you know, so we figured it out, and I didn't, like it wasn't sitting there converting every single ticket option, because they were in euros, but I had like a vague sense of how much it would be. And I was trying to find three tickets together. Like, I didn't care what section. I think we all agreed, like we could be in the very top row and the back to the side. Like, it's fine, we just wanted to go. And that only, I finally got three together. I tried so many different options and I couldn't get three together. And then I did. I found three that were within our price range. And so both, you have like five, seven minutes to put the tickets in your cart, check out and everything. Then so I did that. - Like tickets, like you see 'em disappear like in front of your eye. Like you'll select some, and then you'll go to check out, like, oh, sorry, somebody, like too slow. - Okay. - And they always tell you to like put in your credit card information and everything ahead of time. So when you get to check out, it's just all there, which I did for the US Ticketmaster. But I had to, I had the tickets in my cart. And this is Ticketmaster Netherlands. So I had to make a whole new account and to enter the credit card information again. Oh, why they're just sitting there and the clock is ticking. And but that was very high stress. But we got the tickets and I Google translated the email afterwards. And it said like standing, like front standing right or something. And so we knew we got floor tickets, but even then we looked at the map of the arena and we thought we were gonna be like way in the fact of the floor. Like. - It was like general admission and there were no like rows or seats or anything. It just had the section number. And it said like standing. And so the floor, like, you know, the entire floor of the arena is open. And the stage, there's like a stage at the end. And then it comes down the middle is like stage in the middle comes all the way down the end. So like she just she's an athlete run our track stars. She goes up and down the track show. And we thought that we were gonna be like the farthest from the stage, like standing, you know, in front of all these or behind all these Swifties. But we were like popped, really, this is awesome. Like, that's the kind of thing where if you're, you know, like super, like, if you get general admission and you're like a die-hard fan, there's people that will go and like camp out to make sure that when you get in, you're up close. But yeah, we were expecting to be back. - 'Cause we only got there like what two hours before the doors opened. So we weren't, we didn't care, you know, we're like, we'd kind of rather be in the back. So we're not squished and like- - Yeah, we're like completely beautiful. - Or not early, but like, you know, be some of- - Make our way out. - Yeah. - Yeah. - But yeah, so we didn't even, like we didn't camp out. We got there two hours before we were able to get our merch and everything while we were waiting in line. Climb over the barricade. Lily held down the floor in line. We went to go get the merch 'cause there was a tent outside the arena, which was really nice. And I think it helped like cut back on, you know, wait times and stuff. But she started moving while we were in line. And so I got like, luckily they let me back in and I didn't have to go to the very end of the line, but I'm in my like little sparkly dress and pink cowgirl boots just hurtling over the rail to get back to Lily. - The beautiful thing about Amsterdam is everyone there is so nice, like everyone is so nice. And yeah, I was standing in line and everybody's in such a happy mood, you know, like there's really no like, no bad vibes. It was great. And as soon as the crowd started moving, I was like, oh my God, they get over here. They're, we're getting inside. And then I was like, so nervous looking around like trying to see, 'cause at that point, like behind us in line had started filling up, like couldn't even see the end of it. I was like, oh my God, they're gonna have to weave their way all the way through here. And then all of a sudden I heard giggling and I looked and it was, Shayna Phoebe in a garden was like helping them get over. They're like, is this your friend? I was like, yeah, thank you. They got over here. But one of the coolest things, so we, when we got there a couple hours early, we walked into the general mission to the end of that line, which was like a lot thicker than the other one. And we thought that was our ticket. And when we showed the guy our ticket, he was like, oh no, you're in this one. We were like, what? And it was the small, like we thought that it was a VIP line 'cause it was smaller and it was like interesting. But then as soon, it took a long time for it, like, you know, to open and for us to get in, but it was so smooth. Once it like, once our gate opened and we were inside, there was like no line for the concessions, no line for the bathroom. They were still organized with it. They had people come in and waves. So that way like, it wasn't just all open at once and a blood bath to get to your seat and get drinks and whatnot. It was like very chill. And then when we got inside, I mean, you can take it from there and they directed us where to go. - Yeah, we just started walking in and like all three of our like jaws were just to the floor the whole time, we were walking in and just like, 'cause we knew we were gonna be general admission. So we knew we were gonna be on the floor, but we had no idea we would be this close. And like at this point, we still got in fairly early. Like there wasn't a huge crowd there. Like we gotta choose which spot we wanted to stand in. We gotta sit down and like, it was just. - We thought that, so when we first walked in, we were walking right into the back corner that we thought we were gonna be standing in, but then our ticket said standing right. And so the section that we thought we were gonna be in was just general admission and we saw a sign on the right that said like standing right go this way. And so we just started walking and like a single file line on this railing all the way like up to the front. - We were just like, what's happening? And we get up and we're literally like 15 feet away from the stage and just absolutely freaking out. Like I don't think either of us made a full sentence for 10 minutes. (laughing) - And I think we thought we were in the wrong spot. We were like, oh, no one caught us. Like how they let us in here. - Yeah, no, we were so close. And the other like one really cool thing that I wanted to point out about this whole process, you know, getting to the concert before even talking about the concert. So was, I mean, obviously, you know, the big, one of the biggest news stories that's come of this is how Tiba Swift has like flipped every city that she goes to like, you know, car and meet booms and the city just goes crazy forever. Like everybody celebrates her week. So when we went to Amsterdam, we flew in and out of London and we took the train to Amsterdam. - For the views. - For the views. We were like, oh, yeah, let's take the train. It's gonna be such, you know, it's underwater. Like, in London though, 'cause she had just been there. And that's when she did that giant, you know, the huge one where she had trucks come out on stage. You know, they still had all of this merch in the like gift shops. Like it would be normal, you know, London, England, souvenir stuff. And then just Taylor Swift sections, like in every single gift shop. It was crazy. And then everywhere you go, like you're gonna see at least every day probably 50 people wearing her merch. It was unbelievable. And when we were on the train on our way to Amsterdam, the girl sitting next to me, I started talking to her 'cause she was reading a book I had read. And then she's from Australia and she was going to the same exact concert as us. And she in like, we started talking about how she was basically there for the same reasons 'cause she couldn't get tickets. You know, like when she wanted to and then her sister wanted to go to this one and all this and that. And then we ended up being on the same train, like the next train that we had. And the four of us, me, Jade, Phoebe and this girl from Australia all set and it just happened that our assigned seating was one of those tables. And we were like playing card games, talking about Taylor Swift. And then when we got into Amsterdam, it was like every mode of transportation that we got on, there were more and more girls, like our kind of demographic, you know? And I was like, I see what's happening here. And then on the like the little train ride in Amsterdam once we got there to get closer to our hostel, it was just like everybody on the train was talking about the concert. And then we got into the hostel room and all the girls in there were there for the same concert. It was just a complete takeover. And then when we were walking to the concert, there were just girls and sparkly dresses everywhere. It was like such a happy sight. - It was, yeah, it was such a real to see that. Like, you know, she has a huge fan base, like a huge audience, but to see even like a day or two after the concert on every block, like you'll see someone wearing the same sweatshirt as you or the shirt, you'll see their glasses on their face. Like it was crazy. - Yeah, we had it all the way back to the stage. - Yeah. - So can you tell me the moment she comes on stage and you, you know, you see her, she's out there, it's now real, she's actually gonna make it and perform in front of you. I'm assuming she'd looked at only U2, U3, you know. - It was a private concert. (laughing) - But, you know, so you were already blown away by your seats, but now she's finally here. Take the moment when she comes on stage. - I think the thing about the Aries tour is the opening of it. Just it does a such good job in itself of building the anticipation. Like she has this visual on the screen that's like a big clock that starts counting down. I think it started at like two minutes. - Yeah, it wasn't like too long. It was a perfect enough. And also paramour, like paramour open. - Yeah. - Oh my God, unbelievable voice. She was a powerhouse, it was so fun to watch her. And like, yeah, that was, like I cannot imagine a better opener for her concert like that. Yeah. - So you have the countdown? - Yeah, good. - Yeah, when they count down after, you know, it did the whole audio thing. It's been a long time coming. And just like all of this, like I had that memorized, but it's fine. But then all her dancers start coming out and they have these like huge, I don't know, like fabric cloth things that they're waving with the air. And it looks like giant clam shells and they're smoke flowing from the stage. And it's just a spectacle in itself before she even, before she even gets on stage. And then she comes out from like underground in the middle. And I think it truly hit me. It's like, wow, there are hundreds of thousands of people like watching one person, like seeing her on stage just made her so much more human to me. I don't know, like, 'cause I was just like, wow, like she is a person. She's right there, like it was crazy. - And so what was her first song she sang? What did she open with? - Miss Americana? - Yeah, I think so. - Or slash Curl Summer. - Yeah, Curl Summer. I was gonna say Curl Summer, but I, you're the expert. - I think like that. Yeah. - So what is she like to perform? I mean, obviously she's the biggest star on the planet and she's a billionaire and everyone knows who she is. She has haters, of course, you know, and anyone who criticizes her publicly on social media, the Swifties go and take them down. But what is she like as a performer? Has she got a powerful voice? Is it more her charisma? Is it all of it? What were you thinking when you're actually seen your hero, your heroine on stage? Like what kind of a performer is she? - Do you want to go? - Yeah, sure. I was blown away by the production. It was like just unbelievable. Like the sets were crazy. At one point she brought a legitimate cottage on stage. They rolled it out a whole cottage. And yeah, like the design was amazing. The dancers were wonderful. So I had seen her, I think twice when I was young. She was like my first big concert I ever went to. And I remember-- - That LA? - Yeah, yeah, and LA. And I remember the biggest thing back then during like the speak now and read tours was how often she changed costumes, like then how quickly she did it too. And now it's like not just costumes, but it's the entire arena like changes. And also they have it with me right here. But as you're walking in, they hand you these little wristbands and it's like LED lights and everybody in the arena gets one of these and their program to the entire concert. So you're part of the set. Like song, you know, it's different colors and they all, and then different sections light up at different times. And it's all like collaborative in a way. Like you feel like you're a part of the show. And her specifically, I mean, she's just like such a powerful presence, obviously. And you can just, it just like ripples off of her. And her performing is made like she's an athlete. Like that is just crazy. The amount of steps she walks, like her dancing and her singing. And my favorite was probably when she came out with a guitar and she was skipping. It was like the second album in the whole show, fearless. And it was just like, it was just so fun. And everything that she wears is sparkly and like, and it's not, I don't know. It just, it felt like just a show. Like it wasn't just a concert, it was a whole like, I felt like I was almost watching a Broadway show. It was like the storytelling and just feeling like you're a part of something that huge. Like you felt included. - How many people were there? Was it 100,000 or how many, do you know how many people were? - It was like 60, something like that. - You were saying Jay? - I think another thing that was really cool about it is that, you know, 'cause she's been singing her music that she brought when she was like 17, 18 years old. And so for each album, each era, she would act like she would in that era. Like when it was fearless and you know, she's singing you along with me. She was playing kind of like the high schoolers, got a crush kind of, you know, just very light and airy and during the reputation album, which was more angry and vengeful, she puts on that persona. So it's very cool to see just the transition between all of that. - Yeah. - So what was your favorite song? Like, I'm sure each, I guess you can't ask that to like, Swiftie Maniac, right? Every song is your favorite song, but was there a song or a moment where you're like, this, I could die now. This moment is the greatest, like Jay, did you have a favorite song or favorite moment she did? - I think my favorite was the fearless set. She did three songs. And I think that's just the most nostalgic for me. Dude, I've been a fan of her for a long time, but like, that's what I remember listening to. Like, you know, in fourth grade and going through all those like growing up emotions. So I think that one was my favorite just because it was like, you know, just hearing it in person from this person who like sings the songs that got me through so much growing up. - In fourth grade, yeah, definitely. - Yeah, in fourth grade, heartbreak. (laughing) - Yeah, that one that has a special place in my heart too. I think mostly because I was filming a lot just because I couldn't believe like, how close we were at it. I was like, you go live off this forever. And I have this video when she's singing fearless. And she does, this is like one of her big things is just putting up the heart sign. And in the video, when she puts it up, it was like, everybody behind her does the same thing. And it was just the, it's a crazy, I'll show it to you after Josh. But that video, like, that's probably my favorite one that I got from the whole concert. And then I loved and chanted that she, that was the one song that she did from speaking out. And then one of my all-time favorites was style. And that was really fun to watch. But as I was watching the videos, 'cause like, a lot of times when people take concert videos, you know, they don't really go back and watch them. I'll watch them. And her voice, like, she, the mic, like, the mic was on. She was singing. And yeah, it's just, it was so lively. - She doesn't use auto tune. I'm sorry, I don't wanna offend anyone. Some artists do, right? They're when they sing 'cause they're moving around so much. And like, it's hard to sing well when you're, you know, like Lily said, being an athlete on stage. - Yeah. I think what was crazy too is that, so she has like the best view of the crowd. You know, she's above everyone. She can see it. And so if she saw people that needed water, or I don't know if they were ever like alter patients, but she'd be like, in between lyrics of song, she'd be like, shake it off over there. Like, just into the songs and like calling to get people help or, you know, whatever they needed. So like, you can tell that she, it wasn't just, you know, playing on the background. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So I made a list of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. I'm assuming she's saying karma. She's saying karma. - Yeah. - Okay. - Yeah. - I wouldn't want to do that. - I wouldn't want to do it. - I wouldn't want to do it. - The very last song. - These are songs I discovered like years later. Anti-hero, she had to have sang that, right? Cruel summer, did she sing Willow? - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. So it was good. And blank space, shake it off. We're never getting back together. All her hits, she sang, right? And so, Jade, you're more of a Swiftie than Lily, right? Like Lily loves Taylor, maybe like all the person would, you know, but you're kind of an obsessed. What's the deal? - Whoa, whoa, whoa. (laughing) - So you're like a crazy person, right, Jade? (laughing) - What's the deal with you and Taylor Swift, Jade? Can you kind of help us understand you know, I have my people as artists, you know, while I'm obsessed with it. What is it about her that you're so into? - Ask me to get vulnerable, Josh. (laughing) No, I think it's, what I've always said is that, you know, I think her first album came out in like '06 or '08 or something. And so at that point, if it was '06, I was eight. If it was '08, I was 10. You know, I was very a young kid. And with each album, you can tell she's growing up. Like in her first albums, she's singing about like teenage love or teenage, like there's a song called 'A Place in this World' just like this girl trying to find a place in the world. And as she grew, I feel like we kind of grew up at the same time as her albums got more mature, the problems in my lives are becoming more mature. And it just always felt like she had a song relating to something in my life that I was going through. And I'm like, I love music. I love lyrics specifically. Like even if it's not my favorite genre, if a song has good lyrics, like I will listen to it. I like it. And so I think she just like, her music always gave me something to relate to. And it evolved as I was evolving. I do think like her older stuff's a lot better than her newer stuff, you know, I'm not crazy. But I do, yeah, I think it's just-- - It's like that with almost every artist, you know? It's hard to be. - And it's just been like an outlet. - Yeah, it's an outlet, yeah. Do you imagine your Taylor Swift? Like in the shower when you look in the mirror? Like you used to, of course, right? When you were younger. No, that's not you. - I would like, I would choreograph, I would love to choreograph and dance this when I was younger. So I would like to do that. - And he was like, how do I, how do I become one of those dancers up there? - Literally, yeah. Now that was going through my mind the whole time. What do I need to do in life to be one of her backup dancers? Probably learn how to dance, but it's like that's why. - That might be one of the steps, yeah. - And Lili, what about you? What is it about Taylor Swift that is so, you know, makes you such a big fan? - Yeah, a lot of what Jade was saying, like, you know, in middle school and high school, like that teen angst kind of, like having something to relate to. And I also like, I sang like my whole life and I love music that I can sing along to and like, that I can learn and then just sing it on my own. And a lot of those were Taylor Swift songs. Another huge part of it for me was my mom loved her. And so that was like a big bonding thing for us. And then same with my cousins when I saw her. The second time was when I went with my cousins in Massachusetts, we saw her at Foxborough. And I think, like, there's a lot of, you know, great songs out there to like belt it out too. But if you're at a party and love story comes on or you belong with me, I am screaming that so loudly. And like to be in a community where everybody's doing it and it's just so euphoric, it like, you know, that's a high like. - Does she put her mic out for songs and just let the audience sing it? She could probably do that with every song 'cause everyone in the audience knows every word. - She could do that with it. Even the, so one of the other like exciting parts about these concerts is she does surprise songs and they're always different and it's, she does a mashup. And the one that she did for hours were two songs that she had never, were both of them she hadn't sung before. Was it just one of them? - One of them. - But like they were both kind of unreleased or whatever. And everyone knew every single word. It was, it blew my mind. And like there was one point she came out on stage and she got changed into a different outfit and this little girl that was sitting next to us was like, she's wearing the blue one. Like everybody knows everything that she got. It was just amazing. But what was your question again? - I don't know. (all laughing) - Which never happens, by the way. (all laughing) - Oh, yeah, something about, yeah. You know, her songs, yeah. I'll look back. I'll cut this out. No, I won't. 'Cause it's funny, it's funny. Okay. (laughing) So are we fully like past Olivia Rodrigo era? I know Jade was a fan. Like helped me understand what like people in your demographic. Olivia's what, old news. She never, she did it or she's still there. Taylor's in her own stratosphere. Where do you two stand on her music? - I think like Olivia Rodrigo is still very, very huge. She's doing a world tour right now also. I think it's, I feel a little bit, not even different audiences. Like it's a lot of the, like Taylor Swift shares a fan base with people who like Olivia Rodrigo too. I think it just, it takes years and years for someone to get to the level that Taylor Swift is at. You know, like she wasn't as big as she is now when she was Olivia Rodrigo's age, you know? And so I think they're just kind of on two different playing fields. But I think Olivia Rodrigo is still a huge star. Like she has an insane voice. I do think she, okay. - Taylor Swift was one of her biggest influences. Like she's a songwriter, like Taylor and yeah. - Yeah, I think she has a slightly younger audience. Like her music is a little younger, but like it's still good. I still love it, you know? But yeah. - Yeah, I think literally I was just asking you what made you such a big Swiftie? I think that was the original question. Love story would come on at a party or. - Oh yeah, I'd just start singing. - Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, mostly the community of it. And yeah, I know I answered that part. It was before I started talking about the surprise songs. There was another part I was going to make, but. - It's your mom. - Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Oh, like when she started like re-recording all of her songs. And like, I feel like that was like the second coming Taylor Swift because she, you know, everybody got to relive all of all of those songs. And I feel like it was that time and Olivia Rodrigo was kind of emerging. And I feel like this has kind of opened up a new era of pop. I think I saw like the New York Times or some. Some publication had a story that I saw an instagram about it, but like it was like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo. And now there's like Supreme and Carpenter, Chapel Rohn, Charlie XCX, like all these like powerhouse, you know, like new emerging pop artists that are, you know, that are women and songwriters, storytellers. It's like, you know, it's, it's really mainstream right now. And I think it's such a special thing. I, I remember I saw clip once of Taylor Swift giving a graduation speech, I think at NYU something. And she said, she's like, don't be afraid to be cringy. And I thought that that was such a solid quote because like, you know, if you're not, if you can't be scared of the content that you're making and putting it out there, like if you love it and people relate to it, like that's going to drive your success. You can't not put the stuff out there that you love to do because you're scared that it's going to be cringy. And I feel like Taylor Swift's successes, you know, just proves that. Yeah, you have to take risks. And, you know, if she had never taken all those risks, she wouldn't be where she is now. So you guys spend a week together in Europe. And so I'm assuming you're the best of buddies. But can you just talk a little bit? I mean, was it fun every second? Did you, sometimes people go on vacation, traveling, you know, logistics? There's conflict. You had a third person involved. What was the rest of your trip like? Was it a blast? Did you sightseeing? How'd it go? I think it was crazy because before the trip, I hadn't seen Lily and literally over a year, like in person, you know. Yeah, since I moved. So I didn't, at least for me, I definitely had some anxieties because I'd never really gone on a vacation without my family before. Like I've never done a girls trip. I've gone on vacation with Garrett. But, you know, that's different. And so I had a little anxiety. Like, are we all going to get along? You know, what if we want to do different things? But I think overall it went really well. It's hard to fight or get upset when you're literally in Europe. You can see Taylor Swift, you know? It was super smooth. I think everybody was really compatible. And what was nice was we were all on the same page about everything. Like, we didn't have any, like there were no conflicts really ever. It was night and day because the last time I did a Europe trip after I graduated from college, I was also anxious before this trip because of this last one that I had gone on. I went on like a long 40 day one and I went with a girl that I was friends with at college and her friend from high school. And this time I was going with Jade, my friend from work and her friend from college. And so the last time that I went, the girls I went with, there were tons of fights. It was like, this trip was night and day from that one. And I going into it, I was really nervous about the dynamic and, you know, because it was super similar to, I mean, I knew Phoebe a little bit better than I knew the other girl going into that trip, which helped. But I saw, you know, we didn't like, we're not friends apart from through Jade. And it was just super lucky that, you know, we all got along very well. And we also, we didn't have any, like, we didn't plan ourselves out too, too much in advance. And I think that that was huge. There were things that we knew we wanted to see, like in London and. And each day we kind of were just like, OK, we could do this in this today. And, you know, figured it out day by day rather than like rushing to get to some tour or whatever. I think each tour that we took, we would just walk up and be like, this one looks good. You just want to do this one? Yeah. And I think that caused me a little of the anxiety going in because I'm a planner. Like I love planning things. And then, you know, I'm just, but I'm just one person on the vacation, you know. And so you have to be more, go with the flow. And I think it worked out so much better because it allowed us to just stumble upon places and find things that we wouldn't have found if we had planned our trip, you know, to the entirety. And yeah. So I think that spontaneity just, it really helped. And it was, it was so fun. Did you stay at hotels or how did you do your lodging? We stayed at hostels. So I think the first, our hostel in London, we had an all girls dorm. But what there was 10 of us, the tenor. Yeah. So that was kind of a lot. Lily and I, she was on the bottom bunk and I was on the top bunk. So that was nice. We got to like, you know, if I had to go down to the bathroom, I'd just be waking her up. Yeah. No, I have to be super, so I wouldn't even budge. But that place is also nice because they had curtains, like for your little bunk. The second place didn't, but it was only eight, I think, the second one or six. Yeah, it was a lot smaller. But the first one in London was very much like a travel, a travel hostel. Like, whenever we went in there, most of the time we were need to be quiet because there was somebody sleeping. Like, I think people that would just stay there in between flights, kind of, whereas in Amsterdam, that one was more of a social, like, you know, people are there to meet people, go to the concert. The other super fun thing about the timing of being there was, because England, or when we were in Amsterdam, Amsterdam was playing in the, what was it, the Euro Cup? Yeah. So we got to be there the night that they'd be, I forget Turkey. Turkey, so we were there the night that they'd be Turkey to go to the semifinals, I think. There's a big game. Yeah, it was a huge game. And that was really exciting to be there to experience that, like, you know, just because the soccer culture over there is crazy. And also, we weren't in England for any of the games, but, um, like the energy was awesome. And this is a totally rude question. So it's not the first or last read question I've asked you to, so, um, how much money did you blow on this event? Like, I mean, is it like, did you go into big debt or because I think it's the cheaper? I mean, how much more do you think? Over your, okay. I think it was a nice cause like we got the tickets last July. And so there was that chunk. And then we bought our 220. Yeah. That's so good. Oh my goodness. We're tailors lift. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but then yeah. So we booked our tickets at one point. We booked our flights at one point a couple of months later. We booked our one of our hostels a couple of months after that we booked another hostel. So it wasn't this like huge sum of money all at one. Which I think was really nice. Um, but I also think like we all kind of talked about how we expected to spend a lot more once we were there. Like, I gave myself a budget and I was a couple of like $100 under it. Um, I don't know how. How many other slift shirts did you buy? Anything. Um, wait. I only bought this sweatshirt, but I did my like bill from the merchandise tent. It was quite large, but I bought shirts for my sisters and then like I got lilies when I was there. She paid me back, but you know, um, but no, I didn't go crazy. That was good. Your sister's jealous. Yeah, we FaceTimed them at one point just to show. Yeah. Um, they were, they were super jealous, but super excited. I sent, you know, my sister, she has a phone. She like 13. So I was sending her like our outfits and some of the videos. And it was just really cool to be able to like share that, um, like hobby or, you know, experience with her too. Was there anything that was a let down with the concert, a disappointment, anything that did not go as you had anticipated or hoped or it was just a perfect experience? It was better than we thought. Yeah. Getting home was a little bit stressful, but even still, I think it was a lot better than it could have been, um, we had to take public transit home. And because everything and like they were so organized, like they were only letting wages of people into the train station at once. Yeah. Like waiting to get to the station and these are a lot taller than Jade and I. So she was the one that was like reporting to the reporters of like what was going on. Yeah. I couldn't see anything. I think, yeah, Jade, now we had taken our cowgirl boots off. Like we were just ready to let the crowd take us. But, uh, and I thought like it was stressful because you didn't know how long you were going to be waiting. Just like, you know, shoulder to shoulder with people, but it wasn't. I think it must have taken us like under an hour to get back. Yeah, it seemed a lot worse when we were there. But like when we got through, we're like, oh, wait, like that actually wasn't bad. Yeah. So was there any reference to Travis, Kelsey during the show? You were there. Yeah, really has the best video. I was like hoping, you know, she makes headlines often, but I was like, I want our show to be good. You know, like I want to have been at one of the good shows. And in the next morning, there are just so many headlines about like Travis being there and how he like pumped up the crowd when he was walking out. So we were front standing right. And so she came out on the right side. Like when she left, she walked out the right side. And when we were starting to walk out, like I heard we heard the crowd that sits up to the right that looks down that way, start to like get all riled up. And I was like, let's go and we went over and I just held my phone up tall. And I was trying to get a video and see what was going on. Because we figured that it was like Travis or something. And then afterwards, I looked at my phone and it was like a half a second clip. And you could just see him with his arm around her and he was going like this, like getting the crowd all amped up. It was really, it was really cool. Yeah. What do you two stand? Do you approve of this relationship? Is this going to be the one for her? Are we going to have an awesome breakup album in a couple of years? I love it. Oh, yeah. Thank you. You do you approve? Are you watching football? Happy. Are you watching the biggest Kansas City fan? You know, yeah, I just love football. So, so you, uh, was the, the show at the beginning of your trip and or how did it light up in the week? You were there kind of in the like towards the end, but from the middle. Well, we had like two days after like a, yeah. Cause it shows on. Yeah, I think like two. The show was on Friday and we left on like Monday night. Well, we left. Yeah, like Monday morning and then Monday night. Yeah. Um, so on the tail end of the trip. So are there any big sites you saw? Any other big tourist destination places that you went that you want to share? Yeah, we saw it. Oh, he saw a bucking in Palace, the London. I think Ben, um, Oh, Greenwich, we saw the, the beginning of time. The time starts, um, the London Bridge, the tower, the number one bridge. Number one bridge. We were laughing because the first night we got there, we didn't realize how close we were to London Bridge. And we were talking about like we got there like 10 or something at night. And we were eating dinner and talking about other things we want to see. And I looked at my maps, I was like, London Bridge is like right there. And so afterwards, we just walked down and we were cracking up because in giant letters, like on the right side of the bridge, it just says number one bridge. Yeah. And we like walked all the way down and back and we're like, all right. Check that one off the list. Um, and then in Amsterdam, we went on a boat tour through the canals. Oh, I'm glad about the city, which is nice. We saw the Anne bring house and, um, uh, yeah. So I think Amsterdam, we did a lot more, just kind of like wandering the streets. Um, London, we had like those specific sites that we wanted to see. Uh, but Amsterdam was a lot of like trying restaurants and walking around parks and stuff like that. Oh, yeah, our hostel is right on Vandal Park. So dude would walk through there last morning. So when's the next trip? Are you going to do this again or? Yeah. Lily. I'm calling tours not over yet. Yeah. I've been on the Facebook pages. Yeah. You first take it. Yeah. Where do you think Taylor's? Sorry, guys. You've already been looking for tickets. Well, she's coming back to the US for like six shows or something. And so there's Facebook pages where people are reselling them. But I think like I'm too easy to scam. So I don't think I can actually buy some bullet on that. Yeah, I'm a security threat. It clicks on links. It's it is the only fault she has. She's a perfect sweet angel, but she's a massive security. So just to wrap up, has Taylor Swift peeped? Do you think that she's reached the apex of her? Like she as high as Madonna has ever been and Michael Jackson and Lady got like this. We've seen the best of her from here. It's just going to be like reunion tours for the rest of her career. What do you think I would be scared of her if she if she hasn't peachy? Yeah, I do think like even talk, I was like, I don't know how she can go on tour again for new albums or whatever. But like, I don't know how you ever are going to top the arrows to her, where you literally play, you know, and have a dedicated set to each album that you've ever had. How long was it like three and a half hours? Just her set was like three and a half hours and then Paramore was like 30, 45 minutes, yeah, it was a long time. Well, that's, that's pretty amazing. I don't know that I'll ever see Taylor Swift, but, you know, I'll see her in like 20 years or something when the tickets are more affordable and she's going to Santa Barbara. She's playing at the he does a second era score. The next time I go to see a lot of smarts that you two are going to do a podcast with me and interview me. So I can tell you about my tears of happiness. So anyway, this has been great. I really appreciate you two making time to talk about your amazing trip and seeing Taylor Swift and, you know, just seeing the much fun you had and all the joy and being able to reunite see each other for the first time of the year. That's just so cool. And also, you know, hearing about your careers and latest stuff. Lily, just, you know, going to go on and do the next thing and just, you know, do great things in LA too. So thank you so much for your. It's going to go pro for kickball. Yes, I'm in the Olympics. People's not Olympic event. Yeah, so, yes. All right, Jade Martinez, Pope, Lily Dello. Thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. And I'm sure we'll, we'll talk soon. Take care. Thanks. Thank you.