Comedian Paul Scheer initially expected to find a sea of reluctant dads at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Inglewood, California, back in 2023. He envisioned men begrudgingly accompanying their daughters, merely fulfilling a parental duty.
(Audio commentary by the reporter is available with this article.)
“I arrived expecting to find grumpy fathers, muttering ‘I don’t like Taylor Swift,’” Scheer, 50, recounted. “But by the second interview, I realized I was completely wrong.” Chatting with 50 dads in the SoFi Stadium parking lot, Scheer, a Swift fan and father himself, uncovered a touching display of dedication. He later compiled these interviews into a short documentary called ‘Swiftie Dads,’ which he shared on YouTube.
Many of these fathers had journeyed for hours, some just to soak in the concert atmosphere from outside the venue. Others had bravely navigated the infamous online ticket battles and emerged victorious. A common sight was dads proudly sporting themed outfits and friendship bracelets. As Scheer observed, their primary motivation was clear: they simply “wanted to connect with their kids.”
(Images: Two stills from Paul Scheer’s documentary “Swiftie Dads,” showing him interviewing enthusiastic fathers at the concert.)
While research indicates that mothers still shoulder the bulk of unpaid childcare and household chores in heterosexual relationships, Gen X and millennial fathers are becoming increasingly involved in their children’s lives compared to previous generations. This engagement extends enthusiastically into pop music, with many dads not just tolerating, but genuinely embracing their kids’ musical passions.
Far from Scheer’s California findings, Dave McCarthy, 56, from Worcester, Massachusetts, perfectly exemplifies this trend. He donned a gold sequined bow tie and matching blazer, paired with his favorite Red Sox visor, to join his 21-year-old daughter, Kate, at a Taylor Swift concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
His dazzling outfit was a heartfelt nod to Swift’s “Fearless” album, which he and Kate first cherished together when she was a four-year-old, singing along to “You Belong With Me” in their living room.
At the concert, McCarthy passionately sang along to Swift’s biggest hits, jumping with excitement and enthusiastically yelling “I’m feeling 22” at just the right moment. Kate explained that after years of listening to Swift’s music together, the lyrics had simply “seeped into his brain.”
“His enthusiasm is truly inspiring,” Kate shared. “It makes me feel even better about being a devoted Swiftie, knowing he’s not judgmental or annoyed. He’s right there with me, completely immersed in the experience.”
(Image: Dave McCarthy, wearing his gold sequin jacket and Red Sox visor, alongside his daughter Kate, dressed in purple with the number 13 on her hand, a tribute to Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” era.)
McCarthy’s younger daughter is a country music enthusiast, leading him to happily attend concerts for artists like Zach Bryan (“He was low-key fire,” McCarthy noted) and Morgan Wallen (“He was mid”).
“You only get one shot to experience this with your kids,” McCarthy reflected. “Since they were born, my life has revolved around what they’re doing. I’m doing it right alongside them, and I’ve cherished every single moment.”
Liz McCarthy, Dave’s wife, expressed immense gratitude for his approach to fatherhood. “I remember taking Kate to a One Direction concert when she was small, and the father next to us read a newspaper through the entire show,” she recalled. “Looking at Dave now, he’s at these concerts, fully embracing it – sometimes, I think, even more than the girls!”
While fathers bonding over music isn’t entirely new, and mothers, aunts, uncles, and other caregivers have been instrumental in taking young fans to shows for generations, there’s a unique aspect to this current trend.
Pop music, especially artists with massive teen and youth followings, is often stereotyped as a feminine domain, where heterosexual men might feel out of place. (For instance, Taylor Swift’s audience is over 70 percent female, and a recent Billboard survey revealed that 80 percent of K-pop listeners in the U.S. are female.)
However, today’s fathers are not just imposing their own musical tastes; they are engaging in a genuine, two-way exchange, allowing their children’s preferences to shape their own. By attending these concerts and delving into music with themes of girlhood, some men are developing a deeper empathy and understanding of their daughters’ worlds.
Augustine Sedgewick, a historian and author of “Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power,” points out that fathers actively participating in leisure with their children became more common after World War II. He also attributes the recent rise of social media to blurring generational music gaps, making it easier for parents to stay current with their children’s trends.
“Enjoying singing and dancing should never be considered inherently feminine or childish,” Dr. Sedgewick asserted. “Perhaps dads and kids sharing music can be a powerful way to challenge the often artificial and inaccurate gendered labels we too frequently attach to music, art, and culture.”
This enthusiastic immersion in children’s pop culture isn’t exclusive to “Swiftie dads.”
At the 2025 U.S. Open, even tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, 38, openly performed the “Soda Pop” dance from the animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters” on court to celebrate his daughter Tara’s eighth birthday.
(Image: Tennis player Novak Djokovic doing the “Soda Pop” dance on court at the 2025 U.S. Open.)
“She’s going to give me a rating tomorrow because she taught me the dance,” Djokovic later told reporters, explaining, “We practice various choreographies together at home, and this is one of her favorites.”
In a similar vein, Ryan Senegal, 44, from Manteca, California, has seen “KPop Demon Hunters” with his 9-year-old daughter, Sabine, countless times. The film’s soundtrack is a constant in their car, and for Halloween, Senegal even got matching “KPop Demon Hunters” costumes. Sabine dressed as the pop star Zoe, while he transformed into the demon Mystery Saja (purple wig included) and, on another occasion, the giant blue cat-like character, Derpy.
Senegal shared that his own father’s struggle with addiction and absence during his childhood profoundly influenced his parenting style. “That experience shaped me as a parent,” he stated. “I truly don’t care if I embarrass myself. People might call it ‘cringe,’ but my daughter loves it, and that’s all that matters to me.”
(Image: Ryan Senegal and his daughter Sabine in coordinating “KPop Demon Hunters” Halloween costumes, Sabine as Zoe and Ryan as Mystery Saja.)
Anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of “Father Time,” posits that these shared experiences offer physiological advantages for both parents and children.
“The act of caring naturally generates more caring, creating a reciprocal loop,” Dr. Hrdy explained. “This intimacy directly impacts your endocrine system. Elevated oxytocin levels, for instance, make you more inclined to bond, and can even contribute to a longer lifespan.”
In another touching example, for his daughter’s 15th birthday, Christian Lopez, 51, from Carmel, Indiana, spent an entire day at last year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago with his wife, Leslie Lupton, and their daughters, Zadie, 15, and Darien, 12, eagerly awaiting Olivia Rodrigo’s performance. As the pop star began “Pretty Isn’t Pretty,” her emotional ballad about body image and beauty pressures, the audience, including Lopez, was moved to tears.
A widely shared TikTok video captured Lopez swaying to the music behind his daughters. But as the song’s lyrics about skipping meals and concealing insecurities with makeup sank in, his expression shifted. He glanced at his weeping daughters and the other young girls in the crowd, his face contorting into a pained frown.
“These girls are incredible, and then suddenly, this song plays, and they’re all crying about not even eating cake on their birthdays,” Lopez shared in a video interview, visibly emotional. “It made me cry too. I just thought, ‘Why? Why deprive yourselves?’”
(Video: A heartwarming TikTok showing Christian Lopez getting emotional during Olivia Rodrigo’s performance at Lollapalooza 2025 with his daughters.)
The Lopez family aims to attend as many concerts as possible, and Christian noted that the Olivia Rodrigo experience profoundly deepened his understanding of his children.
“We are incredibly involved in their lives – from travel and sports to homework and everything else,” Lopez explained. “Yet, my 12-year-old was sobbing, crying about not feeling pretty when she looked in the mirror, and it made me wonder, ‘Am I failing them?’”
He continued, “After the concert, I made sure to tell them, ‘Whenever you experience feelings like that, you need to know you can come to us and talk about it, if you want to. Our door is always open.’”
(Audio commentary by the reporter is available with this article. Read by Ashley Spencer. Audio produced by Tally Abecassis.)