Taylor Swift
Rogers Centre
Thursday night
RATING: ***1/2 (3.5 out of four)
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Swifties must have felt like they had died and gone to heaven on Thursday night as Queen T- as in Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star in the world – arrived at Rogers Centre to launch the first show of a six night residency with a marathon, three and a half-hour concert featuring 45 songs from her 18 year career.
Her unprecedented run at the stadium, continuing Nov. 15-16 and Nov. 21-23, saw the 34-year-old singer-songwriter’s feverish fans use sequins in new and interesting ways.
In fact, once you got off at Union Station and made your way down Bremner towards the stadium it was a sea of sequin on tops, skirts, pants, jackets, blazers, boots, shoes and even in the beards of some of the men (many who were wearing Kansas City Chiefs jerseys in support of Swift’s pro football beau Travis Kelce who was spotted at local Mexican street food restaurant Silent H on Wednesday night).
Swift, meanwhile, arrived in style on Thursday night, as you might expect of pop royalty, with a police escort shown on live TV and even the police horses near Rogers Centre were wearing friendship bracelets which are famously traded at Swift’s shows.
Her appearance on stage was equally dramatic with her dancers wearing oversized pink and orange head dresses that swayed like enormous flower petals while Swift sang Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince on top of an elevated stage followed by Cruel Summer.
“Toronto! We are so back!” proclaimed Swift who appreciated the loud and extended screaming from fans all night long.
“This is the first Eras Tour show in Canada.”
In fact, Swift is wrapping up her Eras Tour, which began last March in Arizona, with six shows in Toronto followed by two shows in Vancouver next month.
“This is why people love Canada,” she mentioned later on as fans gave her another long round of applause following Champagne Problems on piano.
“We have only get to do this show eight more times and I guarantee you we will remember that moment.”
There were plenty of bells and whistles all night long like that elevated stage, fire works and fire bursts, a large video screen split into three, incredibly beautiful designer clothes with lots of sparkle, lively dancers, plus the Folklore house covered in moss where she sang on the roof and a moment which gave the effect that she had jumped in a pool below her stage.
Even if I never drank the purple Koolaid to become a full-blown Swiftie, I could appreciate Swift’s many musical talents – she’s also got a killer cat walk stomp – and just general good girlness, even though I kind of liked her better when she was Miss Saucy Pants on such standouts as The Man, You Need to Calm Down, We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together, I Knew You Were Trouble, Ready For It, Look What You Made Me Do, Blank Space, Shake it Off, Bad Blood, Anti-Hero, Vigilante Sh-t and the show-ending Karma.
I also dug the hopelessly romantic Swift on such songs as Cruel Summer, Lover, You Belong To Me, Love Story, Style, and Lavender Haze.
Opening act Gracie Abrams, daughter of Hollywood hitmaker JJ Abrams (Star Wars, Star Trek), proved to be the perfect way to start the night with a 40-minute set that saw the joyous singer-songwriter gracefully navigate Swift’s huge stage in a beautiful white gown that Swift herself could have worn.
Abrams, who is dating Irish actor Paul Mescal (Normal People, Gladiator II), appeared to want to impress Swift as much as the crowd saying out loud that she wanted her to hear backstage.
She was also thrilled about getting a 2025 Grammy nomination for the song Us.
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SET LIST
Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
Cruel Summer
The Man
You Need to Calm Down
Lover (spoken intro; extended outro)
Fearless (shortened)
You Belong With Me
Love Story
22
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
I Knew You Were Trouble (shortened)
All Too Well (10 Minute Version; spoken intro)
Enchanted (shortened)
…Ready for It?
Delicate
Don’t Blame Me (shortened)
Look What You Made Me Do (extended outro)
Cardigan (shortened)
Betty (shortened; spoken intro)
Champagne problems (spoken intro)
August
Illicit affairs (shortened)
My Tears Ricochet
Marjorie (shortened)
Willow (extended)
Style (shortened)
Blank Space
Shake It Off
Wildest Dreams (shortened)
Bad Blood (shortened)
But Daddy I Love Him / So High School
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (shortened)
Down Bad (shortened; with “Fortnight” outro)
Fortnight
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (shortened)
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (extended intro)
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys / This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
(mashup on guitar; spoken intro)
False God / ‘tis the damn season (mashup on piano)
Lavender Haze
Anti‐Hero
Midnight Rain
Vigilante Sh-t
Bejeweled
Mastermind
Karma (extended outro)