Project Description

TAYLOR SWIFT

@ OPTUS STADIUM, WA

19/10/18

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Melanie D Griffiths

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Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour, with its six 747s worth of gear, kicked off its Australian leg in Perth with a breathtaking show that sets the bar higher than her screens for all other Stadium tours to come. For the American, who in the past has found herself embroiled in controversy, it was a love letter to her fans.

No other artist connects with their fans in that way that Taylor Swift does. She has a loyal following, with the singer even commenting how her ‘Swifties’ have grown up before her . During the concert as she stood out on one of her satellite stages she pointed out that the LED wristbands worn by the 45,000 crowd, allowed her to see every single one of her fans. Soon after she gave Perth one her ‘secret songs’ playing “I Knew You Were Trouble”. It’s that fan acknowledgement and her refusal to have her identity defined and manipulated by others that makes her so appealing to females of all ages.

Reputation, Swift’s sixth album, is a collection of songs which show a progression from 1989’s bright eyed naivety to an emerging streetwise woman. The song themselves heavily driven by synth-pop lines and production are a mixed bag but after this concert, one wonders if they were specifically composed with a stadium tour in mind? Opener ‘…Ready For It?‘ is as dirty and rocky as Swift will get and on record, it’s a wonky song but it makes sense when you see it interpreted via 33 metre screens along with dancers, smoke jets and Swift’s brusque gaze.

The show is pure spectacle (should be for the ticket price), with fireworks and pyrotechnics going off from the second song, ‘I Did Something Bad‘. There were also gigantic snakes that rose up from the depths to tower over the stage during’Look What You Made Me Do‘, a song rumoured to address her beef with Kanye West. For ‘Shake It Off‘ confetti cannons showered the crowd and the LED wristbands brought the concert experience to a next level. To the many youngsters and teens in the crowd it would have been dazzling. All that razzle dazzle should however serve the material, and did it? Well for the most part it did.

Her band, playing high up on stage between the screens, sounded gutsy and gave much of her pop songs a welcomed textural grittiness. So songs like ‘Bad Blood‘ and ‘End Game‘ were punchy rebel yells as Swift and her squad hip-popped across the stage. Swift’s voice did get swamped at times by the band and all the extra staging flourishes but it probably wasn’t noticed by most.

Packing as much as she could in, Swift delivered a ‘Style/Love Story/ You Belong With Me‘ medley that reminded us all that the old Taylor isn’t actually dead she’s just discovered haute couture and old-fashions. And as the rain started to drizzle as Swift floated above the audience in a cage for the sweet ‘Delicate‘ it was a beguiling sight you wouldn’t forget.

For all that it was Swift’s quieter moments that connected most with the audience, showing off her incredible talent. Playing acoustic guitar for ‘Dancing With Our Hands Tied‘ and then later as she sat at the piano to play the go-lightly ‘Long Live/New Year’s Day‘ medley, Swift glowed, clearly in her element with an instrument in hand. As the crowd sang along her face would momentarily light up with a gorgeously warm smile that was absolutely charming.

The show came to a close with one of her strongest songs ‘Getaway Car‘, and ‘Call It What You Want‘ with the artist dancing around a working water fountain, showing that beneath the top layer of cynicism of her songs, the old romantic pulses underneath. Another medley, and final songs ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together/This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things‘ were reworked with an industrial edge but would have been more satisfying had she just stuck to one song.

Still, it was a lavish girl-fest affair with supports Broods and Charli XCX that showed exactly what the new stadium could offer not only audiences but other touring artists. For Taylor Swift though, despite all the razzle, there is a sense that this may just be another stepping stone for her to reach her artistic peak – let’s see what her next album brings.

4.5 Stars

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