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In just a few days, Taylor Swift is bringing a staggering pop production to Tampa for three sold-out nights at Raymond James Stadium, the likes of which few musicians can pull off.
But this isn’t the first time Tay-Tay has brought the biggest pop concert tour in the world to her fans in Tampa Bay.
The area was a haven for a rising teen singer who wowed a small crowd at the old St. Pete Pier and lit up the stage at the Strawberry Festival in Plant City. Swift, now 33, later brought stunning productions to Tampa that made headlines worldwide, from the time she trotted out guest star Idina Menzel dressed in a full Queen Elsa getup to what became a pivotal moment in the Netflix documentary “Miss Americana,” when she addressed her sexual assault trial and found her voice in the political arena.
Step back with us and relive some of Taylor’s greatest hits in Tampa Bay.
2006: An unknown at the St. Pete Pier
Jim Everson isn’t entirely sure why he asked for a photo with the tall, blond singer from Nashville, he told Times staff writer Jay Cridlin in 2016. Few knew her in 2006. Yet something told Everson to snap a photo with the curly-haired 16-year-old inside St. Petersburg’s since-demolished Pier. It’s a rare image from the long-forgotten Tampa Bay debut of Taylor Swift.
It was the Fourth of July, and St. Petersburg had partnered with radio conglomerate Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia). Swift had just released her first single, “Tim McGraw,” which then sat at No. 60 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs
chart. Swift was the second-billed act, behind country singer Jeff Bates.
She was accompanied by a fiddler and a guitarist. Set lists from that era contain only a few songs, including “Our Song” and “Permanent Marker,” according to Cridlin’s reporting.
After the gig, those in attendance said she talked to everyone who wanted to meet her and signed as much stuff as they asked.
“She was super nice,” Everson said. “She was just talking to me. I was sitting down. I talked to her mom and dad. I wasn’t in there very long. ... Now I look back and I’m like, Oh my god, look at her now!”