Somewhere, very close to the big ass catwalk Taylor Swift installed onto the turf at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night, there was a fan holding a sign that read “Best Halloween Ever.” It was a humble banner (compared to the illuminated “1989s” and the very clever “SLAYOR”), but its sentiment surely rang loud and true for every one of the almost 57,000 Swifties who chose a warm autumn night with the current queen of pop over candy corn and bobbing for apples. [Text by Ray, photos by Tracy.]
The 25-year-old megastar showed no signs of fatigue from her almost 80-show run and did not disappoint on the final stop of the North American leg of her "1989 World Tour," either. Idina Menzel would stop by — with Swift changing into an Olaf costume — to lead a sing-along of “Let It Go,” and for two hours, RayJay stood and screamed enchanted at this once-in-lifetime chance to party alongside a pop star with a scary good chance to dominate the world.
Her latest album saw release almost exactly one year ago, and the effort has spent all 52 weeks of its existence in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It’s tied with Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours for fourth of all time and topped only by Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. (84 weeks), Celine Dion’s Falling Into You (59 weeks), and 21 from Adele (78 weeks) when it comes to being camped on the charts.
Ms. Swift was clearly built for this, though.
As she quickly broke a sweat and segued set opener “Welcome To New York” into “New Romantics,” it was clear that the über-cuddly, innocent, and new-to-fame Swift from Fearless, Speak Now, and even Red was dead and gone. What stood confidently onstage as a gaggle of dancers circled and pyro went off was a bonafide woman who has endured every ounce of critical vitriol, Internet troll nonsense, and pop-music peril with grace.
Shit, she’s even made Kanye West into her new BFF.
It’s all worth noting because a look at the last year’s headlines includes several attempts at a Swift takedown. The Washington Post says she’s a bad feminist and SPIN uses Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear’s Twitter to suggest that public opinion is turning on Swift. Both The Atlantic and NPR allege that her video for “Wildest Dreams” is too colonial and misrepresents what Africa really is today. HuffPost detaches the “role model” tag, some random UK Blogger is pissed that Swift is relieved to no longer have to live up to her good girl image. Gawker even published a headline suggesting that — because she hangs out with models and celebrities — Taylor Swift is not your friend.
As the stories get published, they almost feel like legitimate examinations of a pop star’s alleged responsibility to change the course of culture for the better (“with great power comes great responsibility,” after all), but in hindsight the posts seem more and more like the proverbial celebrity dick-riding so many publications are engaging in all in the name of clicks and extended time on a page (let’s make a listicle, y’all!).
“We are not the opinion of people who don’t know us or care about you,” she reminded them.
It’s an almost painfully obvious universal truth, but in this world, where we opine at the speed of our internet connections, it needed to be reiterated — especially to her fan base. And while the crowd was surprisingly diverse (section 113 contained at least a half dozen 20-something, buttoned-up men singing “Shake It Off” loudly during the encore), it was largely made up of young, assumingly impressionable young girls. Some had their fathers as dates (props to all the dads in costumes), some were dropped off with friends, and some were full-grown ladies there on girls night.
Sure, there’s a ton to say about the way Swift’s band was able to muscle up songs like “How You Get The Girl,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and “Bad Blood.” Yes, Swift’s voice in real life held up as advertised on her albums despite the rigorous schedule, and the big pop arrangements (“Style,” “I Wish You Would”) from 1989 can truly only be contained by stadiums. But we can save all that for the concert DVD because for all the polish, pomp, and near-perfection oozing out of the always-smiling Swift, she still does something so many performing musicians can’t seem to figure out, and that’s connect with her audience, night after night, on an undeniably real, macro and micro level.
History, obviously, will dictate the way pop culture ultimately remembers Swift. Her fans will grow up, and Swift will either grow with, or apart from them. Her detractors probably won’t go away, but everyone at RayJay on Halloween night likely won’t forget the time they came to see the queen of pop play a show and left with a big ol’ stupid smile slapped across their faces.
And all the little girls and boys paying rapt attention to their heroine? They’re all way better off for it, too.
Setlist
01. Welcome To New York
02. New Romantics
03. Blank Space
04. I Knew You Were Trouble
05. I Wish You Would
06. How You Get The Girl
07. I Know Places
08. Here (with Alessia Cara)
09. Fifteen
10. Clean
11. Love Story
12. Style
13. Let It Go (with Idina Menzel)
14. Bad Blood
15. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
16. Wildest Dreams
17. Woods
———————
18. Shake It Off