Country crooner Taylor Swift took to the shores of Singapore on the 9th of February 2011. It was the first stop, of her almost year long trek around the world with the "Speak Now World Tour". The mission of the tour was obviously to promote her latest album, Speak Now released October 2010.
The tickets ranged from a price of $90 - $175 per ticket. Pretty reasonable, considering how Justin Bieber was charging a whopping
$250 for his priciest seat. A bit much to ask parents to shell out for their darling little girls, don't you think? We shelled out $150 to pay for our Taylor Tickets! We had close, but restricted view seats.
When arriving at the venue upon the night of the event, it was obvious that Taylor mania had largely affected Singapore. With thousands of people already lining up to get into the stadium, 2 hours before the show. There was no chance of getting anywhere near the merchandise tent as it was absolutely swamped. I would say there were around 250 people trying to get at a very small table with a tent sheltering it. The merchandise itself was nothing fantastic, and for a standard t-shirt you could expect to be paying anywhere from $40-$60.
STAGE/SETUP:
Being a seasoned concert goer, I was interested to see her setup within the indoor stadium. Very few artists are able to have an extravagant show in the Indoor Stadium, merely because of it's size. Really, the place is not that big. Even acts like Kylie Minogue were forced to downsize their set-ups. That's why I was impressed with the stage Swift had managed to pull together!
It had an extremely intimate feel to it, even though there were around 8,000 people in the stadium sharing the experience it felt like it was just you and Taylor. The stage looks like it was based on the likes of her T-Party Room, which is where she brings random selected fans after her shows. A lot of purple, red, orange, yellow, and other fall coloured fabrics were draped artistically. She had some stars draped across the top of the stage as well. It was a three level stage, the upper level where she began and ended her show, the main stage, and the catwalk. Most of her time was divided between the catwalk and the main stage. She also had a second stage near the back of the stadium, which she walked to midway through the show. Grabbing, hugging, and kissing lucky fans.
OPENING ACT:
The opening act took to the stage and played for around 15-20 minutes. Nothing special, a nice boy with a nice voice is all. I can't remember his name! He was a local act though, which I thought very supportive of Singapore by Taylor. After his performance there was little waiting time for Taylor, and she took to the stage about 10 minutes late.
SETLIST:
Sparks Fly
Mine
The Story Of Us
Back To December (Elements of Apologize and You're Not Sorry)
Better Than Revenge
Speak Now
Fearless (Ukulele, Elements of Hey Soul Sister and I'm Yours)
Fifteen
You Belong With Me
Dear John
Enchanted
Long Live
Love Story
1ST PART OF THE SHOW: SPARKS FLY, MINE, THE STORY OF US, BACK TO DECEMBER, BETTER THAN REVENGE.
My favourite part of the show was the opening. I believe that the opening of a show really sets the mood for the concert to come. If a star just walks on stage, how is the crowd going to get pumped up with the anticipation of seeing their favourite celeb? Taylor Swift knew exactly how to rile her audience, and put together a stunning and beautifully visual opening performance. A sheer black cloth covered the stage, while an introduction about "Speaking Now" was voiced over by Taylor. Soon it was time to "Drop Everything Now" and the sheer cloth fell, revealing the full stage complete with the band and of course Taylor. As predicted the crowd went wild, the sound of the stadium was like being behind a plane as it revs up it's engines! Soon after Sparks Fly, Swift launched straight into Mine a clear crowd favourite as it garnered a loud sing along. She donned a red guitar for this number, and rocked out with her bandmates. Swift addressed the crowd for the first time that night, right before The Story Of Us.
She told of how excited she was to be in Singapore for the kickoff of the Speak Now World Tour, and asked us to have a great time that night and to dance, and jump, and sing. The Story Of Us was an energetic number and went down well. The mood Swiftly (no pun intended) changed, to one of regret and apology as Taylor launched into Back To December. Before softly trilling the piano, Swift told a story of how she had made a mistake and wished she could take it back. But couldn't- and wrote "this song" as an apology. It was a soft and intimate moment, until the second verse when the band kicked in and Taylor threw a curveball at the crowd- mixing in Apologize by One Republic. Things got a lot more upbeat after that, as possibly her hardest rocking song to date Better Than Revenge was performed next. There was an excessive amount of hair whipping from Taylor, her backup singers and audience alike. After this she skipped off stage to make her first of five costume changes that night.
Overall, the first part of the show was very exciting. The mood got a little confused with Back To December being thrown in amongst all of those upbeat songs, but she got the crowd going which was the most important thing.
8/10
SECOND PART OF THE SHOW: SPEAK NOW, FEARLESS, FIFTEEN, YOU BELONG WITH ME, DEAR JOHN.
After a guitar duel between the two guitarist that accompanied Taylor, she appeared on the upper level of the stage again with her two backup singers in her wake. She performed the sweet but lackluster title track, Speak Now. To spice up the rather dull number Swift made her way through the audience to a smaller stage near the back of the stadium. She hugged, kissed, and shook hands with screaming fans along the way. Once she had arrived at the stage she addressed the audience again, telling of her Ukulele and how she believed it to be a happy instrument that should be played on happy songs. Swift launched into a cute, sweet, almost little girl-esque version of Fearless. She combined fearless with short sections of Hey Soul Sister and I'm Yours. Soon after, she recalled the time when she was Fifteen and began the song of that name. It was a very intimate moment, and the sing along from the crowd was immense. The mood picked up again after Fifteen as You Belong With Me started. I felt like You Belong With Me was one of Taylor's biggest hits, and she just didn't give it the justice it deserved. She sang it while slowly making her way through the crowd. Exciting for everyone on the floor, yes! But for us in the stands (the majority of the stadium) she was barely visible and seeing her was almost impossible. She redeemed herself slightly by saving the last chorus for the stage but it was still a mistake in my humble opinion.
Another lowlight of the concert, Dear John. While a great song to listen to on the album, live it was boring and uninspiring. Swift sat on a staircase and dramatically crooned. It failed to gather much response from the crowd.
PART THREE: ENCHANTED, LONG LIVE, LOVE STORY.
Taylor rose from beneath the stage in an elegant gown, singing Enchanted. A beautiful song about falling in love with someone but being torn apart too soon. Towards the end of the song there was on onstage costume change from the long dress to a short dazzling one. This gathered a huge response from the crowd, as it's Taylor's signature to have a Swift costume change on stage. Swift quickly launched into Long Live, a song about capturing moments that inspire you. This was another intimate moment, and she invited her band to come and stand with her introducing them one by one. She donned her bedazzled guitar to play for this song, which was recognized by many fans. Soon after she pretended the night was over, and exited the stage. She quickly reappeared in a short white dress for Love Story a massive hit. She said her goodbyes and fell from the stage, a dramatic exit to go with the entrance!
LOW LIGHTS: The first album "Taylor Swift" was completely ignored, with not even Teardrops on my guitar played. The mood was often confusing as there was no clear cut "slow section". It was a very short set- 13 songs! Missing many crowd favourites and barely making 80 minutes.
HIGH LIGHTS: Beautiful voice, very talented musician, many costume changes, amazing entrance and exit.
