Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour

This past weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour at Gillette Stadium. For years, Ms. Swift has been gracing Massachusetts with her presence, and every summer I always say I’m going to go but never do; this summer was the summer that I finally did. And boy oh boy, was it worth it. It goes without saying that she gave an absolutely incredible, unforgettable performance. Seeing her perform “Reputation” live gave me a new perspective, enabled me to experience the album in a brand-new way, and breathed life into an already beautiful, sonically cohesive & finely calibrated record.

When Taylor announced pre-sale tickets back in December, I immediately signed up for her clever marketing scheme so that I would be among the first to know when to get tickets. After listening to the latest album, I knew I absolutely could not miss this show; although Taylor Swift was never really my favorite artist until “1989” was released, I have always admired her as a person, and truly believe she is one of few All-American celebrities who is genuinely appreciative of her fans; she understands that without them, her career wouldn’t be possible. Further, she is someone who doesn’t rely on sex to sell her music, and someone who is positive, authentic and real that people can look up to as a positive role model. What I love most about Taylor Swift, is that she is genuinely excited about making music that is based on real experiences & feelings that others can easily relate to. She is a prime example of how working hard towards something you are truly passionate about can pay off and lead to great success and admiration. Seeing her in concert would absolutely rock my world, and I was determined to attend.

I can literally remember exactly where I was and exactly how I felt when she released “Look What You Made Me Do”, the lead single off “Reputation”. I was living in a Brownstone in Allston-Brighton that I had just recently moved into, and was lying in bed at about 12 in the morning when the song dropped on Spotify. I remember getting goosebumps within the first ten seconds of hearing the track. Chills ran up and down my arms and back, and I felt haunted by the sound and lyrics. I can distinctly remember relating heavily to the lyrics - it felt as though the song was written specifically about my life situation and what I was going through at the time, even though it obviously wasn’t. I knew from that moment that her latest album was going to be huge. “Huge” is definitely a massive understatement as to how incredible this record is - however, I’m lacking in creativity at the moment to think of a more illustrious word to describe it with. Suffice to say, I have been obsessed with “Reputation” since its release.

My first task was to find friends who liked Taylor Swift and who were willing and able to shell out money to go to her concert. Obviously, someone who isn’t a fan of hers wouldn’t want to go to her show given the cost of tickets, parking, and food & drinks at the stadium. What's more, is that I knew if I was going to this concert, I was investing in good seats, and would not settle for the nosebleeds. This part was a little bit of a challenge, as a great majority of my friend’s dislike TSwift for one reason or another - “she’s too nice”, “her kindness is fake”, “her music sucks”, “she’s not genuine”, etc. As if anyone actually knows what celebrities are like in real life; I think it’s important to note that the people who say Taylor Swift isn’t kind or genuine, or that she’s a fake person, are the exact same people that will turn around and say Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian are the epitome of authenticity. HAAAAA! As if.

Despite this obstacle, I was determined to find even one friend to go to the show with - it’s the one performance in recent memory that I absolutely could not miss. It’s the one concert that I would have been emotionally devastated had I not attended, and would honestly have cried myself to sleep all three nights with the knowledge that she was performing and I wasn’t able to be there. TSwift’s music literally makes me feel so many emotions, and to see her perform live would legitimately be a dream come true. Thankfully, my friend & housemate Seana is equally as big a fan as I, so we decided to go to the concert together.

I spent Saturday leading up to the concert making preparations: I listened exclusively to TSwift music throughout the day, and made a sign that said “Taylor Swift: I LOVE your Reputation” & “Taylor Swift: You’ll never go out of style!” - unfortunately, I wound up not taking the sign with me to the show because it was too big, and security likely would have made me throw it away. Such a shame, because it was a wicked cute sign. Regardless, I was super excited all day, and made sure my look was on fleek for the concert that night. This includes my “I’ve been day drinking Yellow Tail pinot grigio all day to pregame this concert”, look. Also, I just want to note that I literally lost my Ray Ban’s BEFORE I even left for the concert - absolutely no idea how that happened.

Once Seana got home from work & assembled her outfit, we were off to Foxborough. She literally looked beyond Gorgeous - picture Kendall Jenner in blonde form. She wore a sexy black cropped tank, paired with black fishnets and destroyed ripped jeans, Calvin Klein underwear & black boots. Literally, she looked exactly like what you would expect a fan of Taylor Swift to look like - scroll down if you want to see the photos. I myself looked kind of like a 16 year old attending their first concert - but I may have just felt that way because it was my first Taylor Swift Concert, and because it was my first time seeing a concert at a massive stadium. I wore ripped Abercrombie booty shorts, a shirt that said “Dream Junkie”, and was dripped in crystals from Swarovski.

Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t that much traffic getting there, and we only had to park a mile away from the stadium. We didn’t get to the parking lot until maybe like 6-6:30 and thought we were running late since Charli XCX was opening at 7 - but when we got there, there were still tons of people in the parking lot pregaming, barbequing, and having a great time. God I love Gillette Stadium.

Once we ventured to the stadium and found our seats, we went to grab a couple of overpriced Twisted Teas, and of course some T-Swift merch. My “Dream Junkie” tee was quickly replaced with a $40 “Reputation” tee, and Seana & I both bought matching “Reputation” posters. We sat down and were treated to two amazing performances by Charli XCX and Camila Cabello, both of whom fit right in with the vibe of the show. Charli’s futuristic pop sound and Camila’s high energy & Pat’s jersey definitely won both over with the crowd. The pair served great as an energy lift for everyone entering the stadium.

Then came the main event: TAYLOR SWIFT! “We’re back!”, she exclaimed as she opened the show with “...Ready For It?”, which is pretty much exactly what I expected her to do - and I loved it, because I really wasn’t even ready for how dazzling and awe inspiring this concert really truly was. She played pretty much every song on “Reputation”, and the show itself was decked with all kinds of props, decorations, and special effects, including an impressive firework display at the end of the show, and at certain points throughout. Swift also moved around to different stages throughout the stadium via a lit up platform and a giant cobra.

In terms of production, no expense or idea was spared. Everyone in the audience received light up wristbands as we entered the stadium, which lit up throughout the night in various patterns and designs. She performed in front of two gigantic, drive-in movie size screens that moved and changed scenes throughout the course of the night. The most impressive feature of this show, was the serpent theme: snakes were displayed prominently on all of the screens, and the stage itself was populated with gigantic, gilded, blowup cobras and slithery pythons. The snake symbolism derives from a feud between Swift and the Kardashians in 2016 - essentially, Kim Kardashian West shared a series of videos on Snapchat (and eventually, her “Reality” show), that appeared to depict her husband, Kanye West, discussing controversial lyrics to the song “Famous” on the phone with Swift. It appeared from the videos that Taylor approved of the lyrics, however, prior to the surfacing of the videos, she claimed she never approved of Kanye calling her a “bitch” - which, she never explicitly stated in the videos that she approved, so I’m with her. The release of these videos led to trashy Kim Kartrashian and her band of mindless followers to refer to Ms. Swift as a “snake”, hence the theme of the tour.

In between songs, Swift also took time to talk to the audience about the meaning behind the music. She went into great detail about her artistic process and how she has fine tuned it throughout her career. She explained her evolution and what brought her to write “Reputation” - she as well encouraged the audience not to let the opinions of others to get them down, especially when it’s from people whom you don’t know that also don’t know you or your story, and are making comments about you based on hearsay or jealousy. Per Swift, “You shouldn’t care so much if you feel misunderstood by a lot of people who don’t know you, as long as you feel understood by people who do know you, who will show up for you, the people who see you as a human being…it’s you. You did that for me.”

Seana and I left Gillette Stadium after Taylor finished off the night with "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things", both feeling inspired and in awe of the show that we had just witnessed. We both felt energized from the production values, the dancing, the sights, the sounds, and especially, all of the other excited fans that were in the audience; we literally couldn't stop talking about it as we sat in traffic on our way home. I emphasized how happy and thankful I was that we were able to attend, as I hadn't seen a show that impressive since I had seen Madonna at the DCU Center back in 2004. This show re-affirmed my love for Taylor Swift, and the price that I paid for tickets and everything else felt completely justified. It really is an amazing experience when you are able to see and hear your favorite artist perform your favorite songs in person, live on stage. I am so happy and blessed that I was able to have this opportunity, and will hopefully be attending more of her shows in the future.

Set List

“...Ready For It?”

“I Did Something Bad”

“Gorgeous”

“Style”/”Love Story”/”You Belong With Me”

“Look What You Made Me Do”

“End Game”

“King of My Heart”

“Delicate”

“Shake It Off”

“Dancing With Our Hands Tied”

“All Too Well”

“Blank Space”

“Dress”

“Bad Blood”/ “Should’ve Said No”

“Don’t Blame Me”

“Long Live”/ “New Year’s Day”

“Getaway Car”

“Call It What You Want”

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”/”This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”