#the eras tour review

[bananaofswifts]

5/5 STARS

"I'm really overwhelmed and trying to keep it together," admitted an emotional Taylor Swift, as she was engulfed in a tsunami of earsplitting, tinnitus threatening sound. And that was just the crowd.

The amplification at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona was loud to the point of distortion. But 70,000 (mainly) women screamed and roared, drowning out those giant speakers, joyously and thrillingly all night, as they welcomed their chosen one back to the stage.

It has been five years since Swift played a full live concert but she more than made up for it on the opening night of a new world tour with one of the most ambitious, spectacular and charming stadium pop shows ever seen. Not to mention one of the longest.

Swift performed for three and a quarter hours, playing 45 songs in a set drawing on every corner of her phenomenal career, from her 2006 self-titled teenage country debut to last year's blockbuster set of sophisticated pop, Midnights. This kind of live marathon ventured into Bruce Springsteen territory, albeit with snazzier costumes and way more glitter. And that was the crowd too.

"I can see seven people dressed like mirrorballs," said an awed Swift, gazing from the edge of an extended runway at an audience who had really come dressed for the occasion. The Eras concert tour was designed to accommodate material from all 10 of Swift's albums, and fans dressed to express their favourites. Some came in the spangly dresses of 2014's mainstream pop breakout 1989, some in the vampish lycra of snappy dance album Reputation (2017) while the fairy-tale ball gowns of 2010's Speak Now seemed particularly popular with some pre-teen fans. Swift expressed comical surprise at "an alarming number of supposedly responsible adults dressed as sexy babies" (a lyrical reference to last year’s hit single Anti-Hero). Well, each to their own era.

That Swift attracts this kind of devotion is not just down to the fact that she knows how to put on a show, though she certainly does. There was an immense high-definition screen (on which she amusingly rampaged like Queen Kong over her tiny real-life self during Anti-Hero), confetti, pyrotechnics, indoor fireworks, flashing co-ordinated wrist bands and a hyperactive hydraulic platform stage. In a particularly remarkable illusion, the star appeared to dive into the stage floor then swim underwater across the stadium. It was fantastic fun, albeit what we have come to expect from state of the art concerts.

But at the centre of all the action was a 33 year-old who has earned the loyalty of her audience by writing smart, deep, beautifully crafted, catchy and heartfelt songs of real-life dramas. It probably helps that her own love life has, in the past, been turbulent. "It's no secret that my albums have been excruciatingly autobiographical," admitted Swift. "When I put them out it's like getting a public autopsy."

Yet it turns out that Swift has a real gift for making the personal universal. To watch this massive audience sing along to every line of Swift's wordy narratives (including a 10-minute spin through the bitterly beautiful All Too Well) as if they were all singing to themselves was an inspiring reminder that pop remains a vital medium of mass communication like no other.

There's a vast span to Swift's oeuvre, and it might be hard to conceive how she could find common ground between the wide-eyed pop swagger of such mega hits as Blank Space, Bad Blood or Shake It Off with the sensuous folktronica of more delicate songs from her pandemic albums Folklore and Evermore, such as Cardigan or Betty. Yet the crowd sang everything, all night, and never flagged. Songs this good almost do Swift's work for her. Almost. Swift is the shining conduit, with considerable musical skill, impressive vocal ability, unflagging energy and a real generosity of spirit. I wouldn’t wish to labour comparisons with Springsteen because she is on a unique trajectory, but Swift is definitely her own boss.

#taylor swift #the eras tour #the eras tour review

[taylornation]

We’re looking back on this year and feeling like we just lived 13 lives? 🤯

Thanks for making it best year yet! 🫶 Also, since today is 123123, we gotta say it… 1, 2, 3, let’s go (to 2024), bitch!

#Taylor Swift #2023 #Year in Review #Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition) #Karma (Feat. Ice Spice) #Speak Now (Taylor's Version) #1989 (Taylor's Version) #VMAs #Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour concert film #Spotify Top Global Artist #Apple Music Artist of the Year #Google Most Searched Songwriter #Happy New Year

[notesonartistry]

"... she’s not a pop star, or a classic rocker, or anything that has come before. She’s Taylor Swift."

Philip Cosores of Uproxx speaking the absolute truth

#uproxx #eras tour review #there be spoilers #this isn't a spoiler tho #you guys know this!! #''she's Taylor Swift''

[the-chelseahotel]

The eras tour movie has debuted with a perfect score of 100% on rotten tomatoes

#taylor swift #eras tour movie #reviews

[indeliblescarspivotalmarks]

she may not have won the golden globes but she did win this!

#queen shit! #i did infact give it a glowing review on there so!!!! #swiftie #taylor swift #taylorswift #taylor #ts #taylor swift eras #the eras tour #taylornation #eras tour

[kcyars99]

Taylor's reaction to The Times' review of TTPD:

''🤍These chemicals hit me like whiiiiite wiiiiine 🤍''

#taylor swift #the tortured poets department #ttpd #review #april 21 #taylorswift #twitter #instagram threads #april 15 #Taylor and Travis together at Dom Dolla’s set! #Coachella2024 #post malone #fortnight #april 19 #Taylor and Travis together 🥹 #I need their outfits in HQ asap 😭 #Taylor and Travis supporting Jack Antonoff #during his Bleachers set! #Taylor and Travis #dancing together #side stage #to Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers #set during #Coachella Weekend one! 🥹 #side stage to Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers #Taylor swift #1989 tv #rep tv #the eras tour #evermore

[angeblancrose]

An Honest Brief Review Of TTPD

People are going to dive into the words and look for clues to try and string people and events together, but I'm not here to do that.

I'm here to talk about the brilliant tapestry of words she's woven into this album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.

Twists of Modern Poetry weaving in and out in a musical symphony. This was THE Taylor Swift album.

The songwriting, symbolism, and the aesthetic of it all encompass who she is as an artist in the music industry.

The whole album was compact and well intertwined from start to finish. You can count on Taylor Swift to make an album that is not only sonically cohesive or aesthetically pleasing but also contains songs that can exist even outside of the tracklist, on its own, with no context, whatsoever.

The whole promo leading up to release day and how she didn't put out any singles until today kept everyone on their toes, anticipating and wondering what this album is going to sound like. She's a Mastermind, no one can deny.

#taylor swift #it surpassed midnights #no skips #maybe one but purely 'cause it's not my taste :) #swifties #taylor's version #taylor nation #the eras tour #THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT #ttpd #ts11 #music review #new album #midnights #songwriter #music #but it's not over yet...

[wildfloweronwheels]

This one isn’t for the faint-of-heart it’s for the ones with the demons in their heads and the monsters in their beds. It’s for every person who has ever painted on a smile while parts of them died. The old Taylor may have long been ‘dead’ but this time it was close to true. Her lips had turned a violent blue underneath the glitter. Some noticed, some didn’t, we all still bought a ticket. Breakdown, rebound to the edge, this time actually jumping off the ledge. Only to land in a secret garden handbuilt, a healing done not by a saviour or by an angel (read: future traitor) but by the one who all along healed herself and came out strong.

Another extract from my review of 'The Tortured Poets Department' which you can read here

#taylor swift #hannahs writing #hannah writes #music with hannah #the tortured poets department #ttpd #hannah reviews ttpd #swifties #the eras tour

[brandysamantha]

#the eras tour movie #reviews

[itspileofgoodthings]

I say that you don’t need to know the Taylor lore to appreciate her music and I MEAN it and yet I’m not sure Taylor saying “now I’m down bad crying at the gym” hits quite as hard if you didn’t spend all of 2014 watching her coming out of gyms in NYC wearing her perfect little model ‘fits with her short 1989 bob perfectly coiffed only to learn later all the heartbreak happening behind the scenes then TOO.

#like. there are many planes on which to listen to a Taylor song #and the directly personal isn’t even always the most frequent #but one of the joys of a first album listen—amidst all the pain—is to suddenly get an inside picture of what was ACTUALLY going on #and the way the eras tour prep / personal fall out behind the scenes SLOTTED into place #when I first heard down bad #LIKe. I’m SO SORRY BUT SHE WAS PROBABLY LITERALLY DOWN BAD CRYING AT THE GYM AS SHE WORKED OUT FOR HER MASSIVELY SUCCESSFUL GLOBE-DOMINATIN #WORLD TOUR #it extends beyond that but the snapshot is SO. REAL. #the Ann Powers review captures this so well #it is Taylor directly filling us in because what she does to cope is Write Stuff Down #every time Taylor writes about someone around her being high? she just wrote that shit down #(sorry for saying shit) #and yet it isn’t just direct transcription #it is the selection of the right details #to make it transcend that #idk. it’s what I think anyway 😭 maybe I’m wrong but 😭😭😭😭😭 #what a way to die (guilty as sin do not interact at this exact moment in time)

[bananaofswifts]

HOW DO WE measure the impact of a musician in 2023? Streams can be bought. Awards can be finessed. Is it when demand for show tickets leads to a congressional hearing about Ticketmaster’s policies? Or when flight attendants shout out a fanbase making a pilgrimage to see a tour opener? Or when TikToks of merch inspirations and setlist predictions rack up millions of views? Nearly a decade ago, a headline ran declaring ‘Taylor Swift Is The Music Industry’ and those with even the slightest pulse on pop culture can tell she’s only grown more omnipresent since. It all led to a warm evening in Glendale, Arizona where months after delivering her most commercially-successful album to date, Midnights, Swift debuted a discography-spanning setlist that lasted over three hours and kicked off an aptly-named stadium run. The Eras Tour has arrived.

The sheer length of the set is a feat, but not completely surprising considering the breadth of catalog at Swift’s disposal. Watching the 12-time Grammy winner take the stage right at 8pm, and continue past 11pm triggers the often overused cliché: Who’s doing it like her?

After night had fallen and GAYLE and Paramore revved the crowd up with a mix of recent chart-toppers (GAYLE’s “abcdefu”) and cultural anthems (Paramore’s “Misery Business”), it was time for the main event. At 7:57pm, a timer appeared on a massive screen prompting screams from all corners of State Farm Stadium. Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” played as fans braced themselves for the arrival of Swift. When the timer hit 0:00, the house we’d seen in the “Lover” music video assembled on the screen, indicating that this evening was first and foremost about reviving the feelings each era evoked.

“So tonight, we’re going to be going through an adventure, one era at a time,” Swift said. “We’re going to be exploring the last seventeen years of music that I’ve been lucky enough to make and you’ve been kind enough to care about.”

It’s easy to compare one of Swift’s stadium shows to something you’d see on Broadway — never has that been more true than for The Eras Tour. The setlist is cut up into acts, grouped together by eras for each of Swift’s ten studio albums. For each era/act, Swift went full-send into that album’s look, feel, costume, color blocking, and more.

Many eras got a few songs. At one moment, it seemed like Swift’s soft spot for Folklore would mean we’d hear the entire album. On the opposite end, Speak Now’s part of the show was short but impactful. Swift played only one song from her third studio album, “Enchanted,” while wearing a stunning floor-length ballroom gown designed by Nicole + Derr. Hopping from act to act, Swift made it extremely clear when she’s taking the audience out of one era and into another. This isn’t a hastily put together setlist with a vague thread of connective tissue — Swift is taking her audience on a nostalgic extravaganza.

For both Swift and her fans, it’s been a long road to get to The Eras Tour kickoff. Friday night’s opener was four projects, millions of record sales, and over 1,500 days removed from the last tour stop on the Reputation stadium tour in 2018. Plus, who can forget the Ticketmaster fiasco in handling the sale of The Eras Tour tickets, which not only prompted an apology to Swift from the ticketing monopoly but also for Congress to investigate.

In perhaps a sympathetic nod to the canceled Lover Fest, Swift began the festivities with the Lover era. Wearing a jaw-dropping Versace bodysuit, Swift launched into “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” for the opening number. Swifties eager to see “Cruel Summer” live weren’t disappointed, as Swift strutted down the catwalk towards the stadium’s center, belting out the fast-paced bridge eager to deliver what stans had snatched away from them due to pandemic-related cancellations.

For “The Man,” Swift completed her Versace look with a blazer and made sure everyone could see the red bottoms when she kicked her feet up on a conference room table as she delivered the masterfully written and scathing assessment of gender inequality in pop culture. Swift closed out the Lover era act with “You Need to Calm Down” and “The Archer,” the latter getting a beautifully stripped down rendition so Swift’s vocals echoed across the stadium: “Because all of my enemies started out friends / Help me hold onto you.”

At one point, as Swift ran through hits from her Fearless era, she flashed a smile and announced to the crowd that she was taking us back to high school with her. The nostalgia seeped into the show, resulting in some of the loudest crowd participation yet, especially from those old enough to have grown up with Swift and were in high school at the same time she was. The singer ran through “Fearless,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Love Story,” reminding us of a time when we discovered the pop phenomenon unbeknownst to the level of celebrity she’d achieve.

Something about Swift — she’s online. If the fact that she decided to end last night with the TikTok-friendly “Karma” doesn’t make that obvious enough, her joke about disliking Evermore hammers home the point.

“We’re currently in the middle of the Evermore album, which is an album I absolutely love despite what some of you say on TikTok,” Swift said with a grin.

Later on in the act reserved for her ninth studio album, in line with how theatrical the event was, Swift set up a beautiful dinner setting only to deliver a heart-wrenching rendition of “Tolerate It.” She also performed “Tis the Damn Season,” “Willow,” “Marjorie,” and “Champagne Problems,” giving fans a sizable taste of the Evermore live experience they weren’t able to receive when the project came out in 2020.

For the acts dedicated to Reputation and Red, fans were treated to a masterclass in visuals and hitmaking, two key elements that has assured Swift prolonged success for as long as she’s had it. The powerful, striking, snake motifs were an awesome callback for fans who attended the Reputation tour.

For Red, Swift went through “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble. She closed out the act with a beautiful performance of the 10-minute “Taylor’s Version” of “All Too Well.” In the evening’s most ethereal moment, small white confetti made to look like snow blanketed the State Farm Stadium as she neared the end of her magnum opus, singing “Because in this city’s barren cold/I still remember the first fall of snow/And how it glistened how it fell/I remember it all too well.” Not only is Swift a savant for world-building, but she’s perfected the ability to translate those worlds into the live experience.

Swift wasn’t shy about making sure people got the full Folklore live experience. A makeshift cabin, not unlike the one made during Swift’s 2021 Grammys performance, sat on the stage with Swift perched on it during “Invisible String.” The star also discussed how she finally got comfortable crafting narratives for purely fictional characters, rather than ripping them from the headlines about her life.

“Folklore was such a different album for me. I start writing it about two seconds into the pandemic. I was just so very aware of how much time I was going to have to spend away from you,” Swift explained before launching into “Betty,” “The Last Great American Dynasty,” “August,” “Illicit Affairs,” “My Tears Ricochet,” and “Cardigan.” “With this album, I thought it would be so fun to create characters, and storylines, and they can live in different times, and then can do all of these things, and they could fall in love and hurt each other and go to war…”

1989’s era act turned the party up and restored the energy, with Swift donning a Roberto Cavalli top and skirt and going through “Style,” “Blank Space,” “Shake It Off,” “Wildest Dreams,” and “Bad Blood.”

To cap off the evening, Swift returned to Midnights, performing album highlights “Lavender Haze,” “Mastermind,” and more. It was hard to ignore the immense gratitude the singer continued to exude throughout the evening, with the “thank yous” coming more and more often the closer she got to the end.

Eventually, the singer asked the crowd if they had time for one more and launched into her finale, “Karma,” a track with a passionate chorus that’s begging to be scream-sung in a room of about 60,000 who’ve been waiting for this exact moment for years. Maybe it’s fitting that an artist who’s had more than her fair share of ups and downs, and at times has been the most polarizing musician alive, ends her stadium tour opener with a song about how she can finally protect her peace. Karma’s a relaxing thought, indeed.

The Eras Tour is a feat. It’s live music at its highest spectacle and greatest excess. And for most, without the catalog and showmanship of Swift, it’d be too much. But 17 years into her career, maybe we ought to stop being surprised when she finds a way to top her own efforts year after year. Towards the end of Paramore’s set, Swift’s good friend Hayley Williams said we had gathered that evening to celebrate Swift’s incredible career. There’s something funny about a greatest hits concert for someone who’s never been more in her prime, isn’t there?

#taylor swift #the eras tour review #the eras tour

[cyarsk5230]

The Tortured Poets Department official reviews so far (Via theswiftmuseum):

100 - American Songwriter

100 - Rolling Stone

100 - The Arts Desk*

100 - The Independent

94 - Variety

90 - Sputnik

90 - The Irish Times*

85 - Under the Radar

80 - Clash

80 - Dork*

80 - Los Angeles Times

80 - The Guardian

80 - The Line of Best Fit

80 - The Observer

80 - The Telegraph

75 - AV Club

73 - Northern Transmissions*

70 - MusicOMH

60 - NME

60 - The New York Times

36 - Paste Magazine

* = Doesn’t count for Metacritic.

#taylor swift #the tortured poets department #ttpd reviews #taylorswift #ttpd #post malone #fortnight #april 19 #Taylor and Travis together 🥹 #Coachella2024 #I need their outfits in HQ asap 😭 #Taylor and Travis supporting Jack Antonoff #during his Bleachers set! #Taylor and Travis #dancing together #side stage #to Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers #set during #Coachella Weekend one! 🥹 #side stage to Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers #Taylor swift #1989 tv #rep tv #the eras tour #evermore #taylor swift lyrics #midnights #taylor swift 1989 #taylor swift debut #taylor swift icons

[notesonartistry]

This is my favourite part:

"At one point, Swift interrupted her own stage patter to deadpan: "I'm trying to tell you I love you and I'm babbling.""

#eras tour spoilers #bbc #eras tour review

[the-chelseahotel]

Let’s fucking go!

#taylor swift #eras tour movie #reviews

[swiftieinbrazil]

The Tumblr's 2023 Year in Review is out! According to @fandom in the new category Musical Acts Taylor Swift was the musical act most discussed on Tumblr. Ps: this category replaced the previously separate Music Groups, Kpop, and Solo Acts lists. In the previously Solo Acts list, Taylor was the most discussed solo act in 2021 and 2022 (click here to see it).

Also, in the category Top 23 of 2023, @fandom revealed that Taylor Swift was the only artist on the list, being the 9th subject most discussed on Tumblr:

"Taylor Swift had kind of a big year, what with the albums, the epic global tour, and the movie and stuff. Fantastic work, @taylorswift, the Swifties on Tumblr thank you for everything."

#taylor swift #tswiftedit #taylorswiftedit #tsedit #the eras tour #swifties #tumblr #year in review #tumblr 2023 #musical acts #top 23 of 2023 #fandom #midnights album #midnights era #midnights taylor swift #swifties are the best #tswift #tscreators

[kensiewritesaboutmusic]

Speak Now

The album for every teen in their 20’s, everyone coming of age in their 30’s. This album brings back memories of teenage heartache and the romanticism of young new love. The soundtrack to our youth somehow made new and shiny. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was so highly anticipated it hardly needed any marketing or advertisement and this re-record is closest to the original we’ve heard so far. The twisty wordy almost rant-like lyricism still bringing that wonderstruck feeling 13 years later with new whimsy and stronger vocals that still leave you wanting more.  After 13 years it’s no surprise Taylor’s voice has matured in a definite way which you can hear in tracks such as Dear John. Being the 5th track you know it’s going to be the most emotional, such as opening a wound that was never fully healed. Re-recording it must have been like having flashbacks of being drafted at 19 into a war you never really asked to be apart of. Lying about your age to be recruited, too little too late to realize the regret this would leave you in because you were so young. If clarity's in death, then why won't this die? Would be all I could think of if I was in her place.

The opposite side of Dear John is Timeless, a vault song that truly fits into the Speak Now essence. A recurring theme throughout the album is how time can be healing or romantic the way a young couple romanticizes about the life they’ll build together and keep the memories in a cardboard box. Taylor also writes about how time can be paralyzing and stagnant, how the world feels unmoving when you’re heartbroken and nothing can heal you. Time seems to be a ongoing theme throughout Taylor’s writing. Even at 19 Taylor was capable of writing songs with depth and powerful storytelling. Timeless has to be one of the best closing songs on an album that Taylor has written. 

The album has proven to be what we all hope for time and time again, one track after another. It's probably my personal favorite of the re-records so far. This album holds masterful Poetry and hits all the right emotional nostalgia. I can't wait for another re-record!

#taylor swift #speak now tv #speak now #the eras tour #taylors version #taylornation #swifties #ts the eras tour #music review #album review #super short album review #first I've ever written #be nice #writing #music #journalism #musician #new music #pop music #music journalism