Taylor’s made a super duper stadium show
Taylor Swift reinvented herself on last year’s reputation album. She had become a superstar by articulating the hopes and fears of her young fans with relatable songs about bad boys and female companionship.
But reputation changed that. it showcased a darker, sexier and less innocent taylor, obsessed with settling celebrity scores and dissecting her peevish relationship with the media. it contained some decent songs — a given from an artist schooled by Nashville since the age of 14 — but sounded tetchy and paranoid.
Swift opened her first UK stadium tour in similarly pugnacious fashion. Her arrival was prefaced by the punchy chords of Joan Jett’s Bad reputation and a newsreader asking: ‘taylor Swift is on top of the world... but has she done some sketchy things to get there?’
the bizarre narrative of the multimillionaire as victim continued. inflatable silver cobras rose 50ft into the night sky, while Swift sang of witches being burned on i Did Something Bad, her ‘big enemies’ on End Game and a reputation that has ‘never been worse’ on Delicate, three songs lifted from her latest album.
But the 28-year-old is too canny to let a show become too cheerless. rless. Her tongue was often in her cheek. and while she sang all but one of the 15 songs from reputation — what So it Goes . . . did to warrant being left out wasn’t made clear — she breathed fresh life into older hits such as love Story and i Knew you were trouble with gripping new arrangements.
the night began with generic stadium ploys. accompanied by ten pirouetting dancers and throbbing rhythms, Swift sashayed onstage in a black, sequinned leotard, but there was little to differentiate the start of this show from countless other arena blockbusters.
things picked up. Having loosened her ties to country music on the album 1989, the singer went back to her roots on heartland rocker love Story, with three guitarists joining her with the air of Good ol’ Boys who couldn’t quite believe they were in a stadium: you can take the girl out of Nashville, but you can’t take Nashville out of the girl. ‘you’re not only singing the words, you’re screaming them,’ she raved.
She then took a moment to explain the thinking behind her current album: ‘i’ve been putting out records since i was 16, and the pattern was always the same. i’d make the album and go on tour. with reputation, i decided to take time out and make decisions without the spotlight.’
the new material worked better live than on record. look what you Made Me Do was more persuasive with power chords instead of synths, while an acoustic Dancing with our Hands tied gave her another chance to reconnect with her inner rhinestone cowgirl.
Many of the best moments came after Swift, suspended by zip-wire, had drifted above the crowd in a chariot garlanded with fairy lights to set foot on two satellite stages. Shake it off saw her joined by support acts Camila Cabello and Charli XCX in a feisty pastiche of a Sixties girl group.
Her heartfelt words to those affected by last year’s deadly attack at Manchester arena were also perfectly judged: ‘Concerts are supposed to be about innocence and joy. what happened was an attempt to steal that, but you’ve shown you have incredible resilience to keep the innocence, joy and excitement. it’s an honour to play for you guys.’
Back on the main podium, she reiterated her enduring artistry by performing the ballads long live and New year’s Day at a grand piano with a vintage microphone on the top. as dusk fell, she could even afford to laugh — ‘whoops!’ — as she messed up an introduction.
the razzmatazz that marked the start of the night returned on we are Never Ever Getting Back together and this is why we Can’t Have Nice things, staged like a Broadway musical, with fireworks, confetti and dancers gyrating around a fountain.
the reputation tour isn’t as flawlessly choreographed as Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s otr ii. it also lacks the natural charm of Ed Sheeran’s Divide show.
But Swift, in constantly shifting the mood and tempo of a stadium spectacular, remains the consummate all-rounder.