Taylor Swift brought her highly successful ‘reputation Stadium Tour‘ into Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, The home of the Superbowl Champions, The Philadelphia Eagles, for the first of two sold out hometown shows full of incredible talent, musicianship, and one of the best shows that we’ve seen so far this year. The 28-year-old pop superstar brought more than just a concert but an extraordinary experience accompanied by her chart topping songs to create the soundtrack of a performance that we will never forget on this Friday the 13th. Telling fans in attendance that she “gets more emotional about how proud she is to be from here, This is a state where I have people who come up to me and say I saw you play the fair when you were 10. The fact that it would go from that to getting to play two nights at this sold out stadium, I am so grateful, thank you so much.”
The reputation Stadium Tour production is a force to be reckoned with, between the snakes that were vibrantly present throughout her entire show to the reputation newspaper styled confetti showering the crowd during “Call It What You Want,” to the fireworks scattered throughout Swift’s set, all the way down to the bracelets that Swift gifts to each and every fan who enters the show that is flawlessly synchronized to her fabulous performance, so that she can include her fans within the show.
Energizing the near-capacity crowd before Swift took to the stage was Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ “Bad Reputation,” which only felt very fitting to hype the crowd before getting to hear Swift’s No. 1 album, Reputation, in full throughout Swift’s entire 19-song, 2 hour set, which also consisted of songs across her entire discography including songs from Self-Titled (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), and of course her record breaking album released in 2014, 1989, Including fan favorite singles like “Love Story,” “Style,” and “You Belong With Me.”
Bursting onto the biggest stage that the Lincoln Financial Field has ever hosted was Taylor Swift to her genre-defying single “…Ready For It?” which got fans instantly off their feet as the bass rumbled the venue and Swift’s silhouette appeared between the massive LED video wall stage that separated after news headlines fluttered across the screens with snippets of reporters comments on the singer. Swift’s outfit, a black sequined encrusted hooded bodysuit, complete with her fierce black lipstick, thigh-high red bottom stilettos, and her reputation newspaper styled black microphone. Throughout Swift’s entire set she dazzled the crowd with her outfit changes, each of which was accompanied by a sparkling microphone to perfectly match with each outfit. There was about 8 different wardrobe changes during her attention grasping set including lots of colorful, lustrous, sequin, glitter and fringe encrusted outfits with an edgy elegant vibe to them.
A very noticeable quality that Swift brought along with her on this reputation Stadium Tour would definitely be that she wanted to incorporate her fans within the set and really be able to get intimate with them, while she performed in one of the largest venues in the Philadelphia area. This shined very brightly throughout her entire set as she was able to talk to pretty much every fan in attendance due to the stage that flooded the length of the stadium floor with ‘snake-pits’ surrounding it and its catwalks. Along with the B-stages in the back of the stadium in which Swift interacts directly with fans whilst performing there and as she walks through the crowd to get to the other b-stage. Not to mention her impeccable production was not only for those in the lower level seats and on the floor as she even flew across the crowd on a snake during “Bad Blood” and a crystallized cage during “Delicate” to get the opportunity to say hello to the fans up in the top sections of the stadium. Also, with the entire stage being a massive 3D LED video screen, fans at the top of the stadium get the same visual as those on the floor and lower levels.
Today, I visited the house I grew up in, in Reading, it was insane. Then I came here to the Stadium and ate a Philly Cheesesteak, had some Italian Ice, it was really good. I been thinking a lot about just how cool it is to be back where I first started writing songs, this is it. I started writing songs when I was 12 and ever since then the most rewarding feeling in the world is the idea that you guys would want to come and fill a stadium and hear those songs that I wrote about the things I was feeling, when I really lonely or happy. It is just that I feel like, I am 28 now by the way, I don’t know if you know but doing this at 28, it’s still so exciting to me to write a song then play it for you as it was when I was a little kid and I would write a song and I just had my parents to play it for. But that feeling of excitement of saying how you feel to someone else in hopes that maybe they can relate to it in some way and I think that coming back here and looking out in to this crowd and seeing you guys know the words to every song, with all the history we have in this incredible state it makes me so so appreciative and so grateful because I have been writing about my feelings for pretty much my entire adult life. All that stuff, singing about love and heartbreaks, rejection, frustration, happiness, all that these emotions that you are singing back to me from the crowd they’re really delicate emotions, do you know what I mean?
Although, there was no guest performances during Swift’s set she did have Tiffany Haddish on a video screen to help lend a hand with her single “Look What You Made Me Do” by allowing her tell the near-capacity crowd that “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now, why? cause she’s dead.” A massive animated snake then arose from the stage during “LWYMMD” accompanied by a squad of smaller snakes to really give an edgy vibe during the song. Later in Swift’s set her tour support Charli XCX and Camila Cabello joined her on the b-stage to performed an amazing rendition of Swift’s “Shake It Off” as the crowd illuminated in a sea of colors making the crowd match Swift’s sparkling fringed rainbow outfit. Snakes slithered up from the b-stage to join the girls during “Shake It Off,” this moment was a very bold burst of color making for a beautiful lit up stadium.
Other highlights from Taylor Swift’s performance would definitley include her seductive performance of “Dress,” the exceptional choreography between Swift and her crew of unbelievably talented dancers, wowing visuals throughout the entire set on the stage from her video walls creating a visual to accompany each song, and definitely when Taylor showcased her multi-instrumentalist abilities during songs like “Long Live” and “New Year’s Day” where she played the piano and during “Never Grow Up” where she played acoustic guitar holding back tears. Swift told the sold out crowd before performing “Never Grow Up” that she visited her families old house/farm earlier today. Telling fans how bittersweet it was as it “is not our family farm anymore, we sold it when we moved to Nashville, and now this really wonderful family lives there and so we went to stop by today and they were so nice to let me in and look around at everything and I do get real emotional coming back here but I got especially emotional when I walked into my old bedroom and there was another little girls things in there.” Swift’s powerhouse vocals were showcased the best during “Getaway Car,” “I Did Something Bad,” and “King Of My Heart.”
Swift’s lyrics really seem to resonate with her fans as it seems they can really relate with the love stories, angst, the best of times, and that haters are going to hate no matter what you do meanings within the lyrics. She really gives her fans what they want and that is showcased during her live performance and throughout her social media as she kindly gives fans M&G’s from wearing the best or the most creative outfits to her shows and for being a loyal followers on social media, not many artists are kind enough to do this for their fans.
Ending the show with a bang with vocals so perfect during “Call It What You Want” that it gave us chills as the reputation confetti fluttered upon our skin. The ending of the show was a magical mashup of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” blended perfectly with “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” as Swift danced around in a fancy water fountain and fireworks lit up the night sky brighter then the fourth of July fireworks did just last week. Leaving the fans with one last message saying, “And in the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive.”
The old Taylor Swift may be “dead” as she says in the lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” on reputation, but Swift’s reputation as one of the best entertainers in the music business still remains very well intact with her flawless pop spectacular performance known as the reputation Stadium Tour. Fans will be bragging about this tour for a long time to come as the smiles did not leave their faces at all during Swift’s 2-hour set. For tickets and tour date information for Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, CLICK HERE.
Check our exclusive photos from the show below:
Check out 13 Reasons Why We Loved Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, HERE!
