At this point in her extreme cultural domination, it seems absurd to bother uttering the word country in the same sentence as Taylor Swift. Though the 21-year-old singer-songwriter makes a few nods onstage to the genre that gave her fame, it was clear from the beginning that her sights reach much further. Despite the occasional guitar twang and the wavy blond hair, Swift's songs have always been unabashed pop. Add a few instrumental or synth flourishes, and they could have easily fallen under different radio-genre formats.
And for this tour, she has abandoned the hard-line country trappings even in her choice of supporting act. When she hits the BankAtlantic Center this weekend for a two-night stand, the opening set will come courtesy of Needtobreathe, an act that hails from Nashville but aims unabashedly for stadium-size power-pop-rock.
