Taylor Swift will humiliate you in song

My personal list of things not to do at Stagecoach includes: 1) Ask the barbecue tent if they have anything vegan. 2) Crack General-Sherman-burns-Atlanta jokes. 3) Tell anyone, "You know, Japanese trucks are just more reliable and a better value for my hard-earned Euro."

Add to that a fourth: Don't break Taylor Swift's heart. (I know, I was totally planning to before...) She introduced "Should've Said No" with a warning: "This song is about a guy who cheated on me, but he shouldn't have because I write songs," and dove right into the sprightly castigation of loutish dudes. She's far from the most virtuosic singer on the bill this weekend (as Randy Jackson might have said, "Dawg, that was a bit pitchy for me"), but her more esoteric charms outweighed that quibble. She's a feisty little firecracker onstage, bashing floor toms and bounding across the stage with the confidence of someone who's done this for decades. I can't really get behind any song, even tangentially, about Tim McGraw, such as in her single "Tim McGraw," but I believe her when she sings that Mr. Faith Hill will forever remind her of an old love (Aerosmith's "Hole In My Soul" has a similarly unwelcome resonance for me). That guitarist with the Eddie Van Halen mock-ax sells it even further into grandiose pop territory, which is where she seems most comfortable.

She's always quick to remind the audience that she co-writes all of her tunes, which I hope inspires her adoring packs of tween girls to pick up a guitar and do the same. After all, they'll soon need the outlet to say things such as "Deep down I'm a nice person, but if you break my heart or hurt my feelings or mess with my friends..." before kicking off her single "Picture to Burn." The world always needs more men-are-craven-dogs songs, and thankfully, Taylor Swift has a lot left in her.

-- August Brown

Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images