For about a week now, social media has been inundated with News-thread reflecting on the past three years, the time between March 2020 and today. It has been a time of unprecedented change and loss in society, one in which many of us walked out of the office and then back into the office, which saw News-thread mask up and then mask up. Few would look back on this moment with nostalgia, but it was more about resilience, survival, and empathy. The best of us learned to consider everyone’s needs before making even the smallest of decisions. The worst of us seemed to learn nothing at all.
For Taylor Swift, the pandemic era has certainly been her own singular experience: very few can relate to being the world’s greatest musician. after launch lover by mid-2019, he could barely take it, and his planned European festival and Lover Fest series became one of the last “what ifs” in rock and roll history. And while many of us were baking banana bread and assembling Pelatons, Taylor was at work, releasing five collections of material during what will probably be the most prolific period of his career. She offered the amazing folklore other Increasingly Albums like surprise releases that comforted us all in the dark of 2020, re-recordings of “Taylor’s Version” by brave other editor in 2021, and the return to pop of great entrances of midnight in 2022. She has put in some effort as a director, including the award-winning short for the long-rumored extended version of “All Too Well,” and welcomed new collaborators like Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon into the Swift Extended Universe. . She even became the first woman to win Album of the Year for the third time at the Grammys.
But, one thing the past few years didn’t give Taylor Swift was the chance to travel the world and look her fans in the eye. Sure, the time between the end of her Reputation Tour in 2018 and the start of the Eras Tour, which took place last night in Phoenix, Arizona, may not seem all that long in the grand scheme of things, but consider that the 14-year-old that has lover for his birthday he is now in college before seeing any of those songs live. While Swift certainly has fans of all ages and demographics (her stadium performance ranged from adults dressed as full-length willows to a kid near us who started blaring YouTube videos during set), time is running out. moves differently for his big, young base. They’ve been waiting a good part of her life for this moment.
That’s not to mention the Ticketmaster debacle many had to endure to get tickets to see Swift. She alluded to it several times in the evening, but if anything, it was her performance that showed how much the time and effort her audience put into attending meant to her. Over three hours of music, Swift set out, in a nutshell, to play the most impressive stadium show ever conceived. For an artist who has always put her fans first, this was the best way to say thank you, to pour all the energy out onstage to the point where it’s hard to believe she’ll do it again tomorrow, and over and over again. time. a long the whole year. She’s full on in her Pearl Jam/Springsteen/McCartney age, just with costumes and dancing and moments of pure theatrics. Pop stars don’t usually do shows like this. But she’s not a pop star, or a classic rocker, or any of the above. This is Taylor Swift.
Leading up to Friday night, there was a lot of speculation about what the Eras Tour might actually entail. And in practice, Swift delivered exactly what the name of the tour implied, performing songs from each of her albums, arranged by chapter and presented together. Some of the albums only got light representation: speak Now saw the lonesome grandiose “Enchanted” and his self-titled debut garnered an acoustic piano version of “Tim McGraw,” while albums like folklore, midnightand lover they all received pretty massive picks. In all, 44 songs were performed, many in their entirety, including all 10 minutes of “All Too Well.” Swift would occasionally disappear to change costumes, but never for more than a couple of minutes.
As the set made the scope of what would be featured apparent, the attention to detail really began to stand out. Some notes:
- The costumes for each era were lavish and reminiscent of the album being featured, either from previous tours or music videos. But the witchy session of “willow,” with Swift in a cape and her dancers throwing bright orange orbs, might have been my favorite.
- reputation It’s never been a critical darling, and it was crazy to hear the crowds erupt during the first appearance of the snake the album represents. That said, “Look What You Made Me Do” was given a pretty incredible visual treatment, with all the Taylor eras trapped in boxes on the giant screen and Swift strutting down her runway, ending up on the floor to yell “Taylor’s.” deadline.
- Each show on the tour will have a unique acoustic number at the end of the runway. For the kickoff, Phoenix got “Mirrorball,” a rather haphazard selection, if you will.
- Taylor never really lets the seams show in her performance, but if you look closely, you can catch snippets of well-deserved pride. “Delicate,” she did a little hop in a twist that ended with a smile that exclaimed a bit of that pride, reminding anyone who paid attention of the hours of rehearsals that go into these things, that each song is littered with countless marks to reach. and a multitude of expressions and movements to memorize. She deserves to be proud of herself.
- He addressed the crowd several times, with the most telling moments being when he set the record straight. Increasingly, a record that he likes despite what they say on TikTok. Later, she gave a hilarious monologue about how many of her songs are about teaching men to apologize. As someone who was there with my wife, I felt seen and will study the lyrics more closely in the future.
- Some of the songs that were big surprises, like “tolerate it” and “the last great american dynasty,” received full theatrical treatments, with Taylor showing off her acting chops and use of genuine set pieces on stage. This felt like Swift, the director, the actor, and the musician, all met in one perfect Venn diagram center, and it took the show to unexpected heights.
As the Eras Tour begins to tour the country, complete with mostly female opening projects ranging from Paramore and Gayle in Phoenix to Haim, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Gracie Abrams and many more in cities to come, look forward to seeing the schedules inundated with the kind of accolades that heaps here. But rewards like this are rare in life, where what you’ve waited for for years manages to exceed all expectations and set the bar even higher. It’s not so much that Taylor Swift has warned every other musician about giving News-thread far more than their time and money is worth after years of hardship. It’s that she has made us all feel that we deserve it, as if it was just her doing her job. But this is not just another pop tour, nor another day at the office. We are lucky to witness an artist like Taylor Swift in her prime, trying her best. She made the wait for her worth it.
