What explains the post-concert ‘amnesia’ of Taylor Swift fans – 6/1/2023 – Equilibrium

You’ve paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket and braved the pouring rain to see your favorite artist perform on what should have been an unforgettable night.

But three hours and over 40 songs later, you get home and realize you can’t remember a thing.

It seems almost unbelievable, but many Taylor Swift fans claim to suffer from “post-show amnesia”.

Psychologists say that emotions and time may be behind the phenomenon.

From out-of-body experiences to entering a dream state, Swift fans – or Swifties, as they prefer to be known – have taken to social media in recent days to reveal their guilt over failing to remember key moments from the Ages.

Amnesia can be quite a serious symptom, referring to the loss of memories, experiences and information.

‘The time flies’

But Michelle Phillips, senior lecturer in music psychology at the Royal Northern College of Music, says the idea of ​​post-concert amnesia isn’t as frightening as it sounds.

Rarely will it be the case that fans have absolutely no memories of being at a concert.

“In fact, it’s likely to be one of the things they remember for the rest of their lives,” says Dr. Phillips.

“They simply encode some aspects of the event into memory and not others.”

So whether you tend to focus more on your favorite artist’s dance moves or just enjoy being at a show with your loved ones, people pay attention to what’s important to them — and they encode memories of those things, rather than the music.

The old adage “time flies when you’re having fun” is an easy way to think about the idea of ​​post-show amnesia.

According with the doctor. Phillips, when fans are excited and so immersed in a moment, they can feel as if “time has suddenly passed” and they haven’t been able to properly process everything they’ve just seen, heard and felt.

Gone are the days when musicians performed on an empty stage with just their microphones and an instrument.

These days, fans are treated to mind-blowing spectacles complete with strobe lights, massive props and more costume changes than you can keep track of – so it’s no surprise that you won’t remember everything you experienced after you’ve processed so much.

Anushka Sri watched Suga from Korean K-pop BTS perform in Los Angeles on May 11.

She says that most of the shows she goes to have “elements of surprise all the time”, as well as intense light movements and fireworks that she thinks “kind of cause memory loss”.

Anushka feels that she could tell friends about “a moment or two” from the concert, but cannot remember the entire set because “it’s just foggy”.

Helen Prior, a senior lecturer at the University of Hull, is interested to see if some of the memories and emotions Taylor Swift fans have forgotten can be recalled when they hear her songs later.

Whether it’s listening to your first wedding song or repeatedly playing your breakup anthem, music is an art form that has the power to transform you back to a certain time in your life.

So, for Swifties worried they’ve forgotten parts of the show, listening to the set list again might bring back all those memories.

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