If youâve never seen audience members stand at a movie, get ready for âTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour.â
During the filmed version of her recent concert tour, young fans rise, sing, cheer and applaud the dozens of elaborate production numbers. The experience is close to being at the real thing.
Filmed at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, over several nights, the show includes 40-some songs from 10 albums. Because the stage is so huge (itâs like an airport runway), dancers fill in the spaces Swift doesnât occupy.
Frequently, she struts down the stage like a model while those dancers set the mood for dark love songs, upbeat empowerment numbers and what looks like the talent portion of the Miss America Pageant.
Swift wears dozens of costumes, too. Many begin with a figure skaterâs outfit then morph into ballgowns and MET Gala get-ups. Visually, itâs a sight worth seeing. A huge video screen creates all sorts of backgrounds which evoke those albums sheâs sampling.
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âEvermoreâ even prompts the arrival of a mossy house that finds her in an upstairs attic while the crowd settles down.
Much, though, is designed to get the faithful jumping and cheering. They donât disappoint.
Swiftâs many goodbye songs are just part of her identity as an underdog (even though sheâs one of the richest performers in music). She goes back to the early ones in an acoustic set; goes full Carrie Underwood on one of those âget revengeâ songs and, oddly, even uses the ultimate four-letter word in two songs.
While Swiftâs vocal range isnât on par with Beyonceâs or Adeleâs it does reflect her confidence. To sell the songs, she engages in a series of poses that are interesting to watch. This show has been choreographed down to the last turn.
When it is a bit spontaneous, the real Taylor emerges. Sheâs a sweet woman at the piano and an accomplished lyricist when she explains her inspirations. She also seems genuinely grateful for the adulation. At one point, she gives a girl from the audience her hat and, consistently, waves and winks at folks in the far reaches of the stadium.
While director Sam Wrench tries to capture much of the excitement, heâs limited in the amount of room he has to work with. He doesnât surround Swift with cameras or show her getting ready backstage. (How she changes costumes so quickly would be a viral video.) He plays it all very straightforward and lets her personality do the heavy lifting.
Colors help convey the different albumsâ moods and, for the most part, Swift fits the scheme. She moves like Liza Minnelli in one segment, Stevie Nicks in another. Thereâs a Pink Ladies-like approach, too, and a big snake (for âMilestonesâ) that looks like it might foreshadow yet another character change. That 10-minute âTaylorâs Versionâ of âAll Too Wellâ gets plenty of play and hints at it being her âAmerican Pie.â Itâs not, of course, but it helps reference the different phases fans have seen.
While those early country years get a nod, itâd be very easy to forget she was once the biggest act in the genre.
âThe Eras Tourâ is her âThis is It,â her Central Park concert, her âBlonde Ambitionâ Tour. It represents a very successful career and, in the process, looks like a ball for everyone on and off the stage.