Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour at NRG Stadium (Taylor's Version)
As someone who frequently attends concerts, Taylor Swift easily put forth the best show I’ve ever been to by a large margin; an outstanding one-of-a-kind entertaining show of a lifetime! I wish I could go back to The Eras Tour; 3 hours and 15 minutes of singing and dancing throughout all the eras of her career within an impressive 44 track setlist! Her discography seems too good for one artist to have produced all of it and I loved being able to have been apart of this unique and marvelous tour.
Since her last 2017 Reputation Stadium Tour, Swift has released Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and most recently Midnights, which may be her best work to date (in addition to two re-recordings of previous albums Fearless and Red). Swift was an icon in 2017, but her caliber of appeal is at a completely different tier 0 level at this point in time, having attracted an audience she may not have had before with the release of her indie folk albums (records that won my non-Swiftie brother over into appreciating her craftsmanship) and strengthening her pop fanbase with Lover and Midnights (as a die hard Swiftie myself, I love all of it).
The concert goes through every era in the following order: Lover, Fearless, Evermore, Reputation, Speak Now, Red, Folklore, 1989, Surprise Songs, and Midnights. I admire that Swift placed Evermore and Folklore separated from each other as they have a more relaxed atmosphere, and it felt like a pleasant calmer part of a joyous moody musical rollercoaster that gave the audience the chance to breathe, recoup energy, and admire the peaceful, yet creatively catchy tranquility, of her folk albums (The Last Great American Dynasty is easily my favorite song from this impressive era). The stamina Swift possess is unimaginable! There's no intermission and she is front and center for almost all of the 3 hour show. The star boasts 16 outfit changes that reflect the set / era she is performing and never breaks a sweat. When I go to the mall to try on even half of that (8 outfits), I am tired and want to go home. Standing alone the entire 3 hours caused my feet and back to ache, but here's this mad woman smiling as she races, jumps, dances, sings, changes outfits- and then has to do it all over again!? I honestly thought to myself, "I hope she's feeling alright!" Luckily, Taylor Swift has put a good amount of days in-between cities she's performing in, which hopefully gives her enough time to fully recover. I was thoroughly entertained and impressed with the amount of outstanding hits one artist can hold.
Here’s a look at the complete set…
SETLIST — 04/21/2023
"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
"Cruel Summer"
"The Man"
"You Need to Calm Down"
"Lover"
"The Archer"
"Fearless"
"You Belong With Me"
"Love Story"
" 'Tis the Damn Season"
"Willow"
"Marjorie"
"Champagne Problems"
"Tolerate It"
"Ready For It?"
"Delicate"
"Don't Blame Me"
"Look What You Made Me Do"
"Enchanted"
"22"
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
"I Knew You Were Trouble"
"All Too Well (10-Minute Version)"
"The 1"
"Betty"
"The Last Great American Dynasty"
"August"
"Illicit Affairs"
"My Tears Ricochet"
"Cardigan"
"Style"
"Blank Space"
"Shake it Off"
"Wildest Dreams"
"Bad Blood"
"Wonderland”
“You’re Not Sorry”
"Lavender Haze"
"Anti-Hero"
"Midnight Rain"
"Vigilante S---"
"Bejeweled"
"Mastermind"
"Karma"
This immaculate set is largely infallible. If I had to change anything I would switch Fearless (I know I’ll get hate for voicing my opinion on this) for literally anything from Midnights (You’re on Your Own Kid, Snow on the Beach, Question, The Great War, Glitch, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve), Getaway Car (from Reputation), or even Teardrops On My Guitar (from her Debut album, Taylor Swift), as I felt You Belong With Me and Love Story were the only essentials from her Fearless era. But nonetheless, this set had no loss of momentum. If you have a chance to see this concert, it will be an incredible unforgettable night.
Final Verdict: | An outstanding one-of-a-kind entertaining show of a lifetime! |
Rating: | A+ |