Taylor Swift documents her 'FREAKING cold' Idaho Falls concert in newest album - East Idaho News
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Taylor Swift documents her ‘FREAKING cold’ Idaho Falls concert in newest album

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Ask Taylor Swift what she knows about Idaho Falls, and chances are she’ll tell you that it’s “FREAKING cold.”

At least, that’s how she described her visit in 2006 when she stopped in eastern Idaho as a young, up-and-coming country singer.

Of course Swift is now a megastar and her newest album is setting all sorts of records. Billboard reports that Lover, released less than a week ago, has already become the top-selling album of 2019 with sales approaching 500,000 units after one day.

RELATED | Taylor Swift donates thousands to Idaho Falls family in need

Four different booklets in special editions of the album, available exclusively at Target, contain reproductions of Swift’s handwritten journals documenting her musical journey from ages 13 to 27. Kayla Watson, a local Swift fan, and other Swifties noticed one particular entry dated Nov. 29, 2006, in the third booklet.

“Hey, so I just got in from Idaho Falls. I did a sold out show in Ogden, UT 2 nights ago and then another in Idaho Falls last night. It was snowing in both places and FREAKING cold. MAN it was cold,” Swift writes.

(That week, temperatures ranged between 6 below and 45 degrees in Idaho Falls, according to Weather Underground.)

The singer goes on to document how she and her crew drove to the Salt Lake City Airport in a “huge van” for a flight to St. Louis, but bad weather canceled the show.

“SO we hopped on a flight to Vegas, and were supposed to have a 4 hour layover, but we found a flight that was just about to leave for Nashville, and it was barely full so we ran and caught that one and here I am in my own comfy bed.”

taylor swift journal
Photos of Taylor Swift’s journal entry about her Idaho Falls visit in 2006. | Courtesy Kayla Watson

Hailey Tew was at the concert and emailed EastIdahoNews.com about the experience.

“It was amazing! I loved her then and I love her now! She stood on stage without a band and played her guitar. 90 percent of the crowd stayed seated throughout the whole thing. Tickets were $25 a piece. After the concert, she waited out in the foyer for everyone to come through to take pictures with her and sign autographs!” Tew recalls.

The New York Times declared Swift’s diary entries are “a must-read companion to ‘Lover,'” with one writer saying her earliest writing “is in many ways the most impactful for me, because it leaves you feeling as if things could not have ever turned out any differently than they have.”

In 2003, Swift wrote about her first day of eighth grade in Wyomissing, Penn.

“I think my teacher’s gonna give me a spotlight solo in chorus! This year could be fun. I don’t care what people think of me now because I won’t let them bring me down.”

Another entry, when she was 13, says, “I guess I’m just not good enough for people my own age. OR maybe I’m not bad enough?” The next year, she gives a big “I <3 SCHOOL!” — but only on the day of the talent show, where Swift writes that she “got a standing ovation and everything.”

An internet search revealed very little information about Swift’s 2006 Idaho Falls show, but we’re interested in hearing more about it if you were there. Where was the concert? What songs did she sing? Did you take any photos? And were you freezing?

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