Concert Review: Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift visited Toronto this past weekend on a stop of her Speak Now World Tour. She played two sold out shows at the Air Canada Centre, of which I saw the latter. Taylor Swift hit the music scene about 5 years ago (2006); and since her arrival she’s been breaking records non-stop and is one of the best-selling artists in the industry right now. It was only natural that she played two sold out shows at the Air Canada Centre!

Though not a huge fan of hers, the show was very enjoyable. Opening with Sparks Fly, a fan favourite from her latest album Speak Now, she played a two hour set that consisted of some of her biggest hits, as well as album cuts from Speak Now. Her voice sounded so fresh and in tact and her live band accompanying her made the show very enjoyable. In addition to her vocals, her stage set up and presence was also entertaining. Whether it was the set up of a fake church and marriage during her single Speak Now or acrobatics and the banging of a bell -reminiscent of The Hunchback of Notre Dame - during Haunted she made her show very theatrical. As my friend and I were discussing after the show, she would do very well on broadway! All of her songs depicted some type of story during the performance which added a music video type feel when watching the performance; it was amazing.

One of my favourite performances of hers last night was that of Back To December. Not only is that one of my favourite songs of hers, but it was also performed immaculately. The set up of the performance - Swift playing her piano in front of a gorgeous bridge - gave off a New York-esque feeling, as Swift's performance was reminiscent of her Back To December performance in Central Park during Speak Now's release week. Swift played the piano as she performed the song with deep emotion that you could see in her eyes. The fake snow gently descending during the performance was the perfect added touch. Another interesting element about the performance was her addition of OneRepublic’s Apologize and her own hit, You’re Not Sorry mashed up into the song. It was definitely one of the highlights of the night.

Other performances worth mentioning include her Canadian medley, Haunted and the encore, Love Story. As a tribute to her Canadian fans, Swift performed a medley of songs originally performed by Canadian artists. She started with Complicated by Avril Lavigne, followed with Baby by Justin Bieber, and concluded with I’m Like A Bird by Nelly Furtado. All of it was done acoustically and sounded amazing. I was a little shocked, though, at the fact that she didn’t perform anything by Shania Twain as not only is she a Canadian country singer, but Shania is one of Swifts’ idols. Her performance of Haunted was very theatric with acrobats, bells, and such great emotion and choreography, which was a definite highlight of the show. With her encore, Love Story, she entered into a portable balcony-esque device that suspended into the air and took her in the air across the venue. It was a great way to close the show as she connected with many fans, especially those who were in the nose bleeds, as they got an up close and personal finale.

During the show, Swift had charm and charisma whether it was during her performances or when she spoke to the audience. She spoke with such elegance and class and although it did seem rehearsed and scripted, it also felt like it was from her heart, which was nice. This was further proved when she walked through the audience from the main stage to the back stage hugging and shaking the hands of as many fans as she could. As a frequent concert goer, I’ve seen artists with less power do much less for their fans when they can do so much more, so it was nice to see how genuine and caring Taylor was. Taylor's persona emanated in her songs and interviews is definitely what you get in real life.