The last time I saw Taylor at Jingle Ball, 2012, she performed five songs at the top of the night and a solid twenty preview of the upcoming Red tour. Pretty terrific. Four years before that she was setting up Fearless, performed for forty minutes and John Maher joined her on stage. Based upon the sets she has played recently in L.A. and London, we are getting the former and I am complaining, I do want her to close it out but I will take.
The thing with a 5 song set isTaylor is gonna completely pass on the ballads -she ahs no coice whatsoever, she wants to compete and beat with every single pop star out there so she keeps the energy level beyond sky high.
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Ha! Cheeky, cheeky, opening the set with the song she used to close Red every single night in 2012
Blank Space – Her best song since “Love Story”, a pure blast of pop magnificence that converted legions of non believers.
I Knew You Were Trouble – A big hit but really? This position belongs to “You Belong With Me” It is the weakest of the set.
Love Story – I wonder if Taylor will ever drop it? Indisputably it broke her pop in a huge way. After this it was over, she had broken through and before it she was still wandering, still trying to set things straight and become who she was. A glorious fairtytale for girls (and boys) of all ages.
Shake It Off – while I might be reaching, this feels like an answer song to “Love Story”… what happens when it doesn’t happen. How to react to romantic, or life, disappointments. I know I am the only person who thinks so, but the song is a little sad. In its place in her history it feels like everything she has written about, true love i mean, isn’t happening for her. If you are shaving something off there must be something that needs the shake.
Luckily, nobody else feels that 1989 is sad in ways that Red isn’t, that 1989 closes off romantic hope to such a degree and for a woman like Taylor, from what we know and believe about her, friendship and freedom isn’t really a substitute for true loves kiss.
