Music Review: Taylor Swift Eras Tour

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Published on Friday, 13 October 2023 19:09

Last Updated on 18 October 2023

Madeleine

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Taylor Swift Eras Tour, a marathon concert which is an autobiography in time, space and sound. Taylor Swift has cherry-picked songs from each era of her life which correspond to each album. And she’s globe-trotting. 5/5 stars and I’m not a Swifty: for her sheer good-nature, her voice, her lyrics, her costumes, and her sets.

Good-nature

She had me welling up with her heart-felt thanks for her fans’ support. One child was even invited up on stage for a hug, a peck and a gift of a hat. Her stage juts out for miles into the stadium, which is particularly thoughtful. She’s prioritising contact with her fans over revenue. We all know the frustration of going to a concert and seeing diddly squat, and having to feel satisfied with the screens. Especially the hobbits among us.

Voice

Her voice is warm, thick, and capable of delivering every emotion, just like an ordinary human being. It’s soulful one moment, angry the next. You connect with her experiences so much more directly because she can actually sing. Sounds obvious, but Will.I.Am certainly can’t and what a disappointment THAT was.

Lyrics

Her lyrics follow her life, and I call that brave, splurging all the inner feelings out onto a world stage. It feels genuine, like her, when meter doesn’t scan or lines rhyme. It’s the modern poem set to music, transforming pain into beauty. One that really got me was about ‘how we should be celebrating, rather than tolerating’, as she mourned the way a once-good relationship had turned stale. How refreshing, a love-song that doesn’t end on the dance floor.

Costumes

The costumes OMG!!! She was endlessly reinventing and looking totally fab in everything. They all linked in with the album and her state of mind at that juncture of her life.

Sets

All singing all dancing. The Fearless segment kicked of with 4 massive snakes writhing out along the stage, looking for all the world like escaped basilisks. Magic. Always best when you can’t work out how it’s done. There were constantly evolving floor effects including water and fire visuals and huge blocks that towered up then sank away, with TS sometimes on board. The audience had been given wrist bands which lit up in synch with the stage and beat. So much thought had gone into making the audience feel closely involved despite the vastness of the stadium.

Music

The music was less my thing, too poppy, but she blasted out some rock numbers and those ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn ya’ melodies from the ‘1989’ album. I admit,  I was dancing around in the aisle, following her sinewy moves. Luckily it was back row, next to a gaggle of hyper-ventilating teenfans, who knew every word and sang totally in tune. It was sad to hear some curmudgeonly neighbours shushing them and going off to complain to management. Finally on our third warning from the ushers – the complaints all came to me, the supposed mum – I turned round to the mopers and said ‘There’s 90,000 people singing along in the stadium and you’re not complaining about THAT.’ They upped and left. That’s right. Bugger off and listen on Spotify.

Streaming

Live streaming of concerts, theatre, opera and ballet into cinemas around the country (and world), Taylor Swift Eras Tour is one of the best ideas to come out of the drive to reach wider audiences. It’s local, cheaper and zoomed in, with great sound quality, and often with special behind-the-scenes interviews. Check out your local cinema!