Thousands of fans crowded the American Airlines Arena the night of April 10th for Taylor Swift’s long anticipated arrival. Their support for her was obvious when incoming fans were seen wrapped in Christmas lights, sporting cowboy boots with one of her shirts, wearing both red lipstick and nail polish or even mocking outfits seen in the RED album.
After two long hours of performances by her opening acts: Brett Eldredge and Ed Sheeran, Swift appeared on stage singing State of Grace.
Swift, in tears at the sight of the 13,000 fans who knew all the words to her songs told her crowd before performing her new album’s hit single Red, “I write songs about my feelings– Love, passion, frustration, miscommunication, heartbreak; but those emotions are the ones that teach us who we’re going to be. They teach us to grow up and in my mind, those emotions are red.”
Red was seen from the beginning to the end of her show through her red glittery guitar, microphone, shoes, lipstick, and piano and even through the passion seen on her face when she opened her heart out to the crowd.
Although Swift carried and expressed a different style than seen in her Fearless or Speak Now, tour the performance she delivered was beyond amazing. Many critics put down this transition, but as a fan who has attended other Taylor Swift concerts I can sincerely say that her fans are growing alongside her and enjoy every new step she takes. After attending another one of her concerts it is also clear to see why so many like I, look up and relate to her. No matter what new direction she takes with her music she is quick to connect with her crowd.
“When I was a little girl I used to think that when you grow up there would be no more mean kids. Now I am grown up and I realize that there is always going to be someone who picks on you,” Swift said. Immediately following her fan’s cheers in agreement she began playing the banjo and sang the infamous song Mean from her Speak Now album.
“The whole arena was singing, we were one big group of people who all share the common love of Taylor Swift. I loved how she explained the inspiration for her songs and how she would give us little bits of advice inbetween them. She would just sit there and talk to us while playing music- like who can do that?! The entire concert was very unique,” freshman Cathryn Cordes said.
She teaches the millions of girls who listen to her music that even in times when they feel that it’s going to be the end of the world, it’ll be okay, she teaches them to hope for love and never lower their expectations, she teaches them how to deal with certain situations and helps them to move on from others, she teaches them how to feel.
It’s hard to choose a favorite performance because I loved the entire concert. From her appearance with State of Grace, to Mean, to her amazing choreographed performance of I Knew You Were Trouble (which definitely showed Swifts transition from a country sweetheart looking for love to a confident girl who knows what she wants) every bit was different from the next.
She finished the concert with her new hit single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and advised all her young fans to never get back with their ex-boyfriends.
“Ever since I bought my tickets back in November I had been awaiting anxiously for the concert day to arrive and when it did, it absolutely surpassed all of my expectations. It was so much fun and definitely one of the best performances I have ever seen live. Taylor really goes out of her way to make you feel involved in the concert and I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to go see her again anywhere, she even crowd surfed! Overall her transition to pop music and drift from country music, in my opinion, has positively impacted her career because from the looks of it she has gained many fans,” junior Ivette Troitino said.
