Johnny N.
Yelp
I saw the cultural phenomenon that is the Taylor Swift Eras Tour here at the Rogers Centre. For context, I'm a 28 year old straight male who is really not a Swifty. My mom just asked if I wanted to come as she had an extra ticket and I needed to see what the hype was all about. Admittedly, I do love some of her songs and generally appreciate good musicians so it wasn't like I didn't want to be there. Back to December is such a bop and I used to watch the You Belong with Me music video over and over again in middle school.
Right off the bat, my mind was blown when we walked into the Rogers Centre. She was set to go on at 8, and there was not an open seat at 7:30. 40,000 seats, at capacity, for her SIXTH show in Toronto. SIXTH!?! In one city!?! I began to do the math when my sister-in-law informed me she had done over 150 sold out shows on this stadium tour.
She saw my brain scrambling and said "She performs for over 3 hours too..." I just kind of laughed that off as I know she'd be rounding up from the likely 2 and a half hours she performs. No one is performing for 3 hours lol.
Swift came out from under the big rainbow leaf thingies at 7:59pm to one of the loudest pops you've ever heard in your life. I look over at my Brother covering his ears looking at me like "wtf..." while my mom and sister in law are smiling from ear to ear screaming along to a song I didn't know.
The collective energy in here was tangible. I stood there surrounded by sequin dresses, knee high sparkle boots, and homemade friendship bracelets as I took in the surroundings: Girls of every age between 6 and 70 belting the lyrics and crying to certain tracks, chatter of what the "surprise songs" will be, and a handful of supportive boyfriends clearly dragged along.
I really wasn't a part of the collective energy until she ran off the craziest 4 track run: You Belong with Me, Love Story, 22, and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. I was deadass a Swifty for those 4 tracks. I was screaming "SHE WEARS HIGH HEELS, I WEAR SNEAKERS, SHE'S CHEER CAPTAIN AND I'M ON THE BLEACHERS!" Such a bar damn. Although she was saying this while in Louboutin Red Bottom high heels lmao.
She performed until 11:27 pm, leaving the stage for no more than a minute for one of her 16 outfit changes. That is 3 hours and 28 minutes of putting her heart and soul into this performance. She is gangster for that. Highkey an ATHLETE. Some Kobe level work ethic. Even her biggest fans sat down for certain portions, as there's no shot they're used to being on their feet for that long.
However, much to my immortal chagrin, she performed for that long and didn't sing Back to December. Pain, pain everywhere.
This has got to be the best set production I've seen, dare I say, since Kanye's Yeezus Tour. The LED stage and wall is synced up with every one of Swift's movements, fire cannons and indoor fireworks come out of nowhere, the outfit changes for each individual era, and the attention to detail of Swift knowing exactly when the camera is close up on her face is beyond impressive. I felt like I was watching a feature film, and she was acting her ass off.
I left the Rogers Centre thinking, "Wow, she must have the craziest god complex." 150+ sold out stadium shows of people there to just see 1 person. It's not a team or anything, they are literally just there to see her. There is no way that can't mess with your head. How could you not have at least a little bit of a god complex?
The word cult sounds aggressive, but if we are going off the definition of "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object," then this is definitely a cult.
This thought path led me down a rabbit hole. In doing my research for this review, I realized we don't know anything more about Taylor Swift than she wants us to know. I'm sure if you're a Swifty you'll tear me apart for that statement, but I'mma stand on that. Every interview she does, she and her team have final cut. You'll probably say oh she gives us everything in the music, but it can't get more curated than that. Just like this tour, everything about her is hyper-curated.
I left craving to see Taylor Swift on the Joe Rogan Podcast, or any long form interview that she doesn't have final cut on. That would be SO lit. Imagine the numbers that would do... my god. I'm so curious to see what she is really like as a human being. I wonder if she even knows who she is at this point.
I understand that this would never happen as she doesn't need it AT ALL, but how funny would it be to see her reaction when Joe asks her what she thinks of the tic tac UFO Navy Commander David Fravor saw back in 2004.
I left impressed and inspired, but so curious as to what she is like behind the curtain of this hyper-curated image she has created. But I guess we'll never know.
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