K E Y P O I N T S
- Taylor Swift brought her âReputationâ world tour to London on Friday, for the first of two nights at Wembley Stadium
- The setlist consisted mostly of tracks taken from her latest album, âReputationâ, though several older songs also made the cut
- âReputationâ is Taylorâs most elaborate tour to date, featuring giant oversized snakes (a nod to her past feuds with Kim Kardashian) and flashy videos to accompany each performance
- In the lead-up to the show, there were many reports on the fact Taylor had failed to sell out her UK shows, which the BBC put down to her hefty ticket prices
- Fellow pop stars Charli XCX and Camila Cabello served as support acts on the night, while Niall Horan joined her on stage for a surprise duet of âSlow Handsâ
S N A P V E R D I C T
OK, letâs get this out of the way first.
No, Taylor Swiftâs first London date on her âReputationâ world tour was not sold out.
Yes, there were a few dots of red in the crowd at Wembley Stadium where excited fans should have been, and as her opening music (Mariah Careyâs âObsessedâ, sending up her âMean Girlâ reputation and Joan Jettâs âBad Reputationâ, for obvious reasons) blared out, you couldnât help thinking that if ticket prices hadnât been quite so steep, maybe the discourse around this tour wouldnât have been quite so centred around the fact the show wasnât a sell-out.
That being said, the fans who were there - decked out in home-made Taylor t-shirts, carrying âQueen Of My Heartâ and âYouâre So Gorgeousâ signs and singing along at the top of their voices to even the deepest of album cuts - brought such a sense of excitement into the stadium with them that you couldnât possibly complain about there not being an atmosphere.
Towards the end of piano ballad âNew Yearâs Dayâ, Taylor paused for effect, and fans applauded, cheered and eventually stamped their feet for a full two and a half minutes, while the singer looked genuinely dumbfounded. âIâm so happy,â she said. âI donât even know what to say because Iâm so happy.â
Anyone who cares enough to read a review of a Taylor Swift show already knows her strengths and weaknesses: her voice isnât as powerful as some of her peers, her choreography doesnât tend to venture beyond a few hip-swivels, a couple of extended reaches out to the audience and some hair-grabbing for good measure, and she does have a tendency to deliver platitudes about her âreputationâ that in a 90,000-capacity stadium sheâs probably the only person that truly relates to.
But where the âReputationâ tour really thrives is spectacle. This is Taylorâs sleekest and most professional show yet, complete with giant inflatable snakes for âShake It Offâ, a golden âtilted stageâ and serpent throne for âLook What You Made Me Doâ and even a fireworks display on the roof of the stadium in the finale. For those who did fork out for tickets, at least thereâs comfort in seeing that it looks like their money has been well spent.
As for the performance aspect, the show is at its most enjoyable when Taylor looks like sheâs having the most fun, whether thatâs strutting her stuff on âReputationâ fan-favourite âGetaway Carâ, fooling around with special guest Niall Horan on âSlow Handsâ (stars to join her on stage in other cities so far include Selena Gomez, Troye Sivan and Shawn Mendes) or splashing around in a fountain with her dancers in the Kanye-bashing show-closer âThis Is Why We Canât Have Nice Thingsâ.
Now sheâs got this business about her âreputationâ off her chest (something fans never cared about, and casual listeners moved on from a long time ago), hopefully these more playful moments are the ones Taylor will lead with next time she hits the road, because when she truly shone at Wembley were when it looked the least like she was âtryingâ, and simply enjoying herself.
S E T L I S T
1. â...Ready For It?â
2. âI Did Something Badâ
3. âGorgeousâ
4. âStyleâ
5. âLove Storyâ/âYou Belong With Meâ
6. âLook What You Made Me Doâ
7. âEnd Gameâ
8. âKing Of My Heartâ
9. âDelicateâ
10. âShake It Offâ (with Camilla Cabello and Charli XCX)
11. âDancing With Our Hands Tiedâ
12. âSo It Goesâ (first time performed live on tour)
13. âBlank Spaceâ
14. âDressâ
15. âBad Bloodâ/âShouldâve Said Noâ
16. âDonât Blame Meâ
17. âLong Liveâ
18. âNew Yearâs Dayâ
19. âGetaway Carâ
20. âSlow Handsâ (with Niall Horan)
21. âCall It What You Wantâ
22. âWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Togetherâ/âThis Is Why We Canât Have Nice Thingsâ
T A K E H O M E M E S S A G E
The knives were out for Taylor Swift before sheâd even set foot on stage, but with her latest tour, she should hopefully have set a few naysayers straight.
Hopefully, now sheâs exorcised the demons of her âreputationâ, she can leave this part of her narrative in the past, because this show is at its strongest when its star allows herself to just let her hair down and have fun.