One of the highlights by far of my summer was attending Taylor Swift’s “reputation stadium tour.” I went to the first of three shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA on July 26th. I have been fortunate enough to have seen Taylor twice before on her Speak Now tour in 2011 (my first concert) and her Red Tour in 2013. So, I already knew that she puts on a great show. Also, I had seen many posts and reviews from newspapers of the Reputation Tour. Most were saying that it was her best tour yet. All of these things raised my expectations for this concert to be very high. However, Taylor still blew all these expectations away and put on the best concert I have ever seen, hands down.
A few weeks prior to the show, a tragedy on the South Shore of Massachusetts had occurred. Officer Michael Chesna of the police department of Weymouth, MA had been killed by a man with his own police gun after responding to a call about a car crash. The day before the concert, it had been reported that Taylor Swift had heard about what happened and donated hundreds of tickets to her three shows at Gillette to local police departments and their families in the South Shore area. Hearing this warmed my heart and reminded me why Taylor Swift has been my idol since I was seven years old and heard Teardrops on My Guitar for the first time. Therefore, it made me all the more excited (which I didn’t think would be possible) to see her the following day.
My birthday is in early February and that is when I got my tickets for the concert. So, I had been waiting for about five and a half months for July 26th and I was tremendously excited when the day had finally arrived. I got to Gillette Stadium around 5:30 and as time went on, I watched it fill up with many fans of all different ages and backgrounds wearing red lipstick (myself included), homemade t-shirts with lyrics of her songs on them, and other elaborate costumes and outfits that paid tribute to Ms. Swift.
Then, a little after 7 pm, the show started. Charli XCX and Camila Cabello were the opening acts. They were both amazing. Another thing that makes this tour so important and historic is that it is an all-women stadium tour. I only knew about two of the songs Charli XCX performed but I thought she had a great stage presence and energy that got the crowd excited and up on their feet. Then, sometime between 7:40 and 8, Camila Cabello came on in a customized Patriots jersey (which as a big Patriots fan, I thought was a nice touch). She blew me away. I liked some of her songs before this but never thought too much of her. However, her voice is incredible live and now I would definitely say that I’m a fan of hers.
Then, a little before 9, all the stage lights went on and Bad Reputation by Joan Jett started to play through the speakers. Bright letters appeared on the screen with clouds of smoke and the music for “Ready For It” started to play. The moment we all been waiting for: Taylor had finally taken the stage. The theatrics for this show were amazing with gorgeous costumes, amazing vocals, a lot of snakes, fireworks, smoke, props, graphics, and everyone in the crowd had a wristband that was synchronized with the lighting of the show.
When Taylor sang Love Story, the crowd lit up in pink and it looked beautiful. She sang most of the songs off of Reputation but she also performed a good number of her old songs too. She blended Style, Love Story, and You Belong with Me into an epic medley. However, my favorite part of the show was after she sang Delicate.
As she sang Delicate, she rose over the crowd onto a B-stage. I happened to be two rows from the B-stage. Then, in a rainbow colored dress with Gillette Stadium lit up in all different colors like a rainbow, joined by Charli XCX and Camila Cabello, Taylor sang the iconic song, Shake It Off about 10-15 feet away from me. It was something I will never forget.
She also sang acoustic versions of Dancing with Our Hands Tied and 22 with a green glittery guitar and microphone while on the B-stage. I was so starstruck that she was right there.
Then, she went through the crowd, shook people’s hands, went onto the other side of the floor to a C-stage and sang a few songs there. Then, she rose above the crowd again to get back to the main stage while singing a medley of Bad Blood and Should’ve Said No.
Once back on the main stage, Taylor surprised the crowd by bringing out Hayley Kiyoko as a surprise guest. They sang her song Curious. I had no idea who she was until my friend pointed out to me that she was in the Disney Channel movie Lemonade Mouth from when we were younger.
Later on, Taylor slowed things down and was at the piano to sing New Year’s Day and Long Live. It was definitely an intimate moment between her and her fans as both songs have very deep and meaningful lyrics. Taylor had a grand finale with Getaway Car, Call It What You Want, which were followed by a medley of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. It was filled with fireworks, cool graphics on the screens, a casual water fountain on the stage, and amazing notes hit by the one and only Taylor Swift.
Once it was over and the stadium lights came back on, I remember my friend and I looking at each other and simultaneously saying, “That was the best show I’ve ever seen.” She then jokingly started bowing down to the stage. Everyone else I’ve talked to that went to one of the shows this summer has said basically the same thing, whether they love Taylor or not. If that isn’t enough indication, I HIGHLY recommend anyone adding Taylor Swift to their concert bucket list… you definitely won’t be “ready for it”.