Taylor Swift doesn’t give a damn about her bad reputation. And why should she? The internet declared that her career was over almost two years ago, yet she is still selling out stadiums all over the world on her “reputation Stadium Tour.”
The tour is in support of her sixth album “reputation,” which saw the singer-songwriter dive further into her commitment to the pop genre. The album features the songs “Look What You Made Me Do,” “…Ready For It?” and “Delicate.” “Reputation” has sold over 4 million copies since its November release, and was the best selling album of 2017 by far.
Swift’s tour started back in May, opening up to a sold out crowd in Glendale, Arizona. Every date so far has been sold out, and the 53-date-tour is on track to be one of the highest grossing shows of the year. In the first American leg alone, she raked in almost $70 million.
The “reputation Stadium Tour” will be stopping in the city of brotherly love for two nights at Lincoln Financial Field. Swift will descend with her snakes on July 13 and 14 to deliver a jaw-dropping show to thousands of fans.
The tour is chock-full of girl power. Swift’s opening acts are Charli XCX and Camila Cabello. Charli XCX opens the show with her rambunctious energy singing her biggest hits “Boom Clap” and “Break the Rules,” along with her extremely successful features on “Fancy” with Iggy Azalea and “I Love It” with Icona Pop.
Camila Cabello has become one of the strongest acts in pop music since departing Fifth Harmony. Her two singles from her debut album, “Camila,” have both gone to number one and her spring headlining tour was a major success, selling out dates across the country. Her set on the “reputation Stadium Tour” is a shortened version of her headlining set. She plays her hit singles “Havana” and “Never Be the Same,” but saves room for some more emotional tracks too.
Swift’s own set is full of stadium sized theatrics and musical mastery. The setlist is packed with tracks from “reputation,” with only “So It Goes…” not making the cut. Though it sucks to see a weaker song like “King of My Heart” make the cut over this sleek track, “King of My Heart” really does bring enormous energy to the stadium in a way “So It Goes…” would not.
She also manages to hit many fan favorites from the old Taylor throughout the set. Somehow she manages to make the country songs fit in perfectly with her dark pop sounds. This is probably best exemplified by her mashup of “Bad Blood” and “Should’ve Said No.” One of my least favorite songs from Swift and one of her most memorable classics blend so well together live that you forget how awful the lyrics to “Bad Blood” really are. The beat takes over your body and suddenly you find yourself singing along.
The production on the show is quite spectacular. Her stage is gigantic and made up almost completely of screens. Even the ground she walks on is lit up with visuals for the people in upper level seats. The main background screens move around throughout the show to reveal the band and dancers, all while processing the live footage of the show and projecting them back with interesting effects.
Satellite stages have become commonplace in arena and stadium shows, but Taylor brings even these to the next level. She brings full production to the middle of the stadium, and performs some of her biggest hits out there. This includes the special surprise song each night she performs acoustically. These performances are usually fan favorites that didn’t make the standard setlist. So far “All Too Well,” “Our Song” and “Teardrops on My Guitar” have all made appearances in this slot.
Taylor Swift knows how to put on a great show. She’s been at it for years now. But, this time it seems like she’s really got it down and enjoys herself too. The choreography is tight but just enough to keep her from looking foolish. The production is full of set pieces, fireworks and flames. It’s a real sight to behold.