Friday, April 30, 2010
By Laura Vaughn
News Editor
Taylor Swift is America’s darling, a 20-year-old country singer with curly blonde hair, a squeaky clean image and a repertoire of songs that sound like her own personal diary. With her sparkly guitar in hand, Swift rocked the Los Angeles Staples Center on April 15 and 16 as part of the Fearless Tour 2010.
The first leg of Swift’s first headlining tour, named after her second album, started in April 2009 and spanned 54 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Swift originally planned to end the show at that point. However, after each show on the tour sold out, she decided to extend it through June 2, 2010 to include 37 more shows.
Swift came to the Los Angeles Staples Center in May 2009 during the first leg of the Fearless Tour, and after the concert sold out in two minutes, she returned in 2010 to play two more shows on April 15 and 16. Hype for Swift’s sold-out concerts was high. Thankfully, she surpassed expectations to make this concert two hours of mesmerizing entertainment.
Swift opened the show with her highly successful single “You Belong With Me.” She came out dressed in a yellow and white high school marching band uniform, then shed the ensemble halfway through the song to reveal a glitzy silver dress. The upbeat tune quickly captivated the audience and set the mood for the rest of the concert.
Throughout the show, Swift made eight of her trademark costume changes. For the more theatrical songs like “Love Story,” Swift changed into a white gown during the portion of the song describing a proposal. The sets were bright and eye-catching, including a school library for “Teardrops on My Guitar” and a flaming background for “Picture to Burn.”
Many times throughout the concert, Taylor disappeared backstage and a video played for the audience to set up the next song.
After playing a video about the names of boys in her songs, Taylor appeared not on center stage, but on the top of one of the aisles in the audience, ready to play the sugary hit “Hey Stephen.” Afterward, she walked down the aisle, taking pictures with fans and hugging them.
She played “Fifteen” and “Tim McGraw” on a miniature stage at the back of the arena, before walking back to the center stage—through the floor section of the stadium.
The encore ended the concert spectacularly. Swift came out in a Los Angeles Kings jersey and sang “Today Was a Fairytale,” her most recently released single. For her second encore song, she sang the ultimate country break-up anthem, “Should’ve Said No,” while rain poured down on the stage for a dramatic final performance. Swift danced and sang in the rain as she said her final goodbye to the crowd.
If the concert had any faults, it was the lack of variety from Swift’s last performance at the Staples Center. The set list and theatrics were identical with few exceptions, eliminating surprises for those who had seen the show.
Based on the Fearless Tour, it is clear that Taylor Swift is truly a performer. At the Staples Center, she put on an amazing show with costume changes, audience interaction, superb special effects and, best of all, Taylor just being herself in front of 20,000 people. And for that, she is undoubtedly one fearless musician.
Leave a Reply