Friday November 2, 2018 :
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
There was no stopping the rain or Taylor at ANZ Stadium on Friday night. The 10-time Grammy award-winning superstar put on one heck of a performance for the sold-out crowd despite storms threatening to derail the show.
International supports Broods (NZ) and Charlie XCX (UK) may have enjoyed an early taste of a Sydney summer during their sets, but come nine o’clock, and just as Swift was due to take the stage, a fierce electrical storm kicked up, delaying the start of the show. Fans waited anxiously as they listened to an announcement promising that the show would go on as soon as conditions improved. There were already a few weary eyes among the younger fans, and anticipation was certainly brewing among the older ones.
Then, suddenly, after a good half hour wait, Joan Jett blasted out over the crowd, “I don’t give a damn about my reputation”.
This was the sign the Swifties were waiting for and the shift in mood was just as sudden. Next, the enormous screens on stage sparked up with news reports, gossip, detailing the singer’s relationships, career highlights and downfalls and, of course, her reputation. With rain belting down on the stage and fans, the big screens parted and through the downpour, to the sounds of ‘…Ready For It’, Taylor made her way onto the stage. “Let the games begin”.
Dressed in a sparkling black, hooded one-piece, thigh-high boots and soon flanked by a gang of dancers, the songstress was quickly soaked by the unrelenting rain, but this certainly wouldn’t dampen her enthusiasm. She backed up her Reputation album opener with the angsty/sexy ‘I Did Something Bad’ as fireworks and pulsing flamethrowers burst overhead. Two songs in and this show was already literal fire!
Next, staying on the Reputation train and showing some love to the “more than beautiful” audience, came ‘Gorgeous’ before Taylor took it back to 1989 with ‘Style’. This would kick off a mini-block of older tracks including a really beautiful pairing of Fearless’ big hits, ‘Love Story ‘ and ‘You Belong With Me’.
While the two-hour-long set was heavy on the new material, (all but a handful of tracks from the Reputation album featured throughout the night) there were still plenty of glimpses back at the “old Taylor”, many of which were real highlights, including a stripped back acoustic version of ‘22’ off Red, a big ol’ boogie down to Taylor’s 2014 megahit, ‘Shake It Off’ and a coming together of Taylors old and new, with a another mash-up, this time of Squad Anthem ‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Should’ve Said No’ off her self-titled debut.
Of the Reputation material, ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ was a huge high point of the set. A fresh costume change – this time a sequined black and gold robe – a “tilted stage” and snakes galore, including a towering inflatable cobra named Karyn. Know any other folks famous for their K names? This track was full of attitude and the crowd was loving it.
On the softer side, ‘Delicate’ was another memorable moment, as Taylor soared over the crowd in a cage decked with fairly lights to perform a few songs on a couple of mini stages further towards the back of the crowd. It was here she also brought back Georgia, from Broods, and Charli to share vocals during ‘Shake It Off’.
But it was after this jaunt through the crowd that Taylor really hit her stride, returning to the main stage for ‘Don’t Blame Me’, probably her strongest vocal performance of the night. From here, things wound down a bit. We were treated to yet another old-new mash-up – ‘Long Live’ and ‘New Year’s Day’ with Taylor solo on piano – followed by two really beautiful renditions of ‘Getaway Car’ and ‘Call It What you Want’.
The night finished on a high with more than a dozen dancers, four backing vocalists and Taylor, backed by her live band, dancing around a fountain on stage to ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ and ‘This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’, a wonderfully upbeat goodbye to a crew of performers who had just delivered a truly stellar show.
From beginning to end, Reputation is a well-crafted, well-executed piece of art. It feels like the culmination of not only Taylor’s career to date, but her personal experiences too. It’s highly polished and controlled, yet seems deeply personal at the same time. Die-hard Swiftie or not, this show leaves you feeling as though you’ve gotten a peek at the woman behind the reputation, and love her or hate her, boy is she fascinating.
Review : Amelia Parrott
Photographer : David Youdell
TAYLOR SWIFT
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CHARLI XCX
BROODS
