Taylor Swift’s fingers danced across the keyboards of a faux-moss-covered piano, crooning through the ballad “Champagne Problems” in the midst of a bizarrely intriguing fairytale stage set, as a two-thirds-full moon hung in the sky and 58,000 fans sang along with her every word.
She softly brought the number to a close, breaking a mesmerizing lyrical spell of heartbreak and anguish, and then took a moment to bask in towering applause from the capacity crowd on Friday night (July 28) at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Yet, te moment lingered far longer than expected, as chants of “Taylor! Taylor! Taylor!” echoed through the house of the San Francisco 49ers, leaving the star a bit shaken, to the point where she looked like she might shed a tear at the unbridled display of love.
“This is amazing. What are you doing?” the pop star responded in disbelief. “That was the most generous reaction to a sad, little piano song.”
You want to talk about generous? Consider that Swift — the biggest star in the pop music universe, with pretty much zero left to prove — delivered a mammoth 3½-hour performance that included nearly four dozen songs. Now, that’s generous — and amazing, especially since she surely could’ve cut both those figures in half and still delivered a show that greatly pleased fans.
Yet, this show isn’t like others. It’s part of the Era Tour, where Swift is supporting not just one but four new (or newish) albums — 2019’s “Lover,” 2020’s “Folklore” and “Evermore” and 2022’s “Midnights.” (And that’s not counting the three so-called “Taylor’s Version” reissues of her older records.)
The show is organized by album (or era, if you will), with Swift performing a batch of tunes from one particular album and then moving onto the next. It doesn’t move chronologically, but rather zigzags back and forth through the years.
Swift kicked off the show in “Lover” territory, sounding great as she performed a half-dozen numbers — “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” “Cruel Summer,” “The Man,” “You Need to Calm Down,” “Lover” and “The Archer” — from that 2019 chart-topping album.
Swift seemed to draw energy from the fans, who sang along to every number and were basically on their feet throughout the entire epic set.
“Santa Clara, California, you are making me feel incredible right now,” said Swift, who was set to perform a second sold-out show at Levi’s on Saturday.
Working in front of a massive video screen, which basically ran the entire width of the football field, Swift boogied along to her live band, joined forces with her backing vocalists and high-stepped it with a number of dancers as she moved through both new and old albums.
She’d venture as far back as her sophomore full-length — 2008’s diamond-certified “Fearless” — for two of the best songs of the night, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” Yet, the newer albums received the most attention, with both “Folklore” and ‘Midnights” warranting seven songs each in the ample setlist.
“It feels like forever since I’ve been able to play a show in the Bay Area,” she noted as moved into “Evermore” material. “It’s been five years.”
Swift was still going strong as she approached the venue’s 11 p.m. weekend curfew, having just finished up a great set of “1989” songs — including “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood” and “Shake It Off.” As the clock ticked past the curfew, Swift performed her two surprise songs — which change from concert to concert. This time around, the singer was joined by frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner for a version of “Right Where You Left Me” and then performed a solo piano rendition of “Castles Crumbling,” marking the first time Swift had played that song in concert.
Swift finished up the show right around 11:38 p.m., having given the 58,000 fans in attendance a night truly worth remembering.
Setlist:
“Lover”
1. “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”
2. “Cruel Summer”
3. “The Man”
4. “You Need to Calm Down”
5. “Lover”
6. “The Archer”
”Fearless”
7. “Fearless”
8. “You Belong With Me”
9. “Love Story”
”evermore”
10. “no body, no crime”
11. “willow”
12. “marjorie”
13. “champagne problems”
14. “tolerate it”
”reputation”
15. “…Ready for It?”
16. “Delicate”
17. “Don’t Blame Me”
18. “Look What You Made Me Do”
”Speak Now”
19. “Enchanted”
20. “Long Live”
”Red”
21. “22”
22. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
23. “I Knew You Were Trouble”
24. “All Too Well”
”folklore”
25. “the 1″
26. “betty”
27. “the last great american dynasty”
28. “august”
29. “illicit affairs”
30. “my tears ricochet”
31. “cardigan”
”1989″
32. “Style”
33. “Blank Space”
34. “Shake It Off”
35. “Wildest Dreams”
36. “Bad Blood”
Surprise Songs
37. “Right Where You Left Me”
38. “Castles Crumbling”
”Midnights”
39. “Lavender Haze”
40. “Anti‐Hero”
41. “Midnight Rain”
42. “Vigilante (Expletive)”
43. “Bejeweled”
44. “Mastermind”
45. “Karma”
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