We stopped by The Arc in Beeston to get the ultimate Taylor Swift experience...
If reports are to be believed, at least eight movie releases were altered due to the swift (get it) drop of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. By releasing the filmed version of her biggest concert to date, bypassing the major American studios, and working directly with the theatres, Swift and her production team managed to create a bubble of anticipation so large that even The Exorcist got scared.
There’s absolutely no doubting, whether you’re a Swifty (the name of Taylor’s super fans) or not, that this show is one of the most spectacular shows you’ll ever see. At the still somewhat tender age of 33, Swift has somehow managed to release ten studio albums which she has cleverly arranged into ten acts over the course of almost three hours. Not even Shakespeare managed ten acts in any one show. I do wonder, however, what the point was in releasing a film version of the event into cinemas - apart from making millions at the box office obviously.
I wonder how I would feel if I had spent ludicrous amounts of money on a ticket to see Swift live, only for a pretty great film version to come out a few months later for regular cinema prices. The Netflix documentary Miss Americana, released only three years ago, was a triumph and, beyond making herself even more stupidly rich than she already is, I just don’t understand the motivation, or indeed, the hype.
The costumes were dazzling, the lighting extraordinary and the set design superb
Nevertheless, this tour is incredible in scale, with her most well known albums such as Fearless, Red and 1989 being the most enjoyable. Tracks such as I Knew You Were Trouble, Shake It Out and Bad Blood were belted out with the confidence of a woman who has grown up on stage and has no trouble conquering it again and again. A personal favourite was Love Story which, for any other thirty year olds reading this, will take you right back to secondary school. The section dedicated to her revenge album Reputation was also pretty sexy, following her spat with rapper Kanye West; devilish girl power at its best.
The sheer spectacle of the show was like Notting Hill Carnival and half time at the Superbowl thrown together into a chaotic and exciting mashup, featuring up of some of the catchiest pop songs of the past two decades. The costumes were dazzling, the lighting extraordinary and the set design superb. Some performances, musical or otherwise, need to be seen and heard on a big screen; however, not much would be lost if somebody decided to view it on the smaller screen instead.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is now screening at The Arc Beeston
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