A few more thoughts about Taylor Swift's two-night stand at U.S. Bank Stadium that ended Saturday:
- Swift is the first artist to play two nights at the Vikings stadium. She drew 98,773 concertgoers, many of whom were under the age of 10.
- Even if the Beyonce/Jay Z spectacle this summer at the Vikings stadium had more hype and widespread appeal, Swift's was superior. The Bey/Jay presentation was an overlong 44-song soap-opera in which there was no evidence of their own personalities between songs. It was essentially a theater production that dragged on for nearly 3 ½ hours. While Swift's two-hour, 24-song extravaganza had a theme of snakes ruining her reputation, the show felt personal, offering glimpses of Taylor the person instead of merely Taylor the megastar. If the Bey/Jay staging was theatrical, Taylor's was more like a mammoth TV set, with the star hitting her marks to face the right camera at the right time with her expressive face -- and then being free to speak between songs.
- Swift's staging was complex, ambitious and quite effective for a stadium. Two T-shaped runways extended from the huge stage, with its backdrop of two curved, jumbo video screens angled toward each side of the stadium. There were two satellite stages at the other end of the stadium on which Swift performed a handful of songs. Moreover, when she was on the smaller stages, her image was displayed on the giant Vikings scoreboard screen, something few other performers have taken advantage of at USBS. She made a great effort to make the stadium seem smaller.
- The set lists on both nights in Minneapolis were the same save for one song. On Friday, Swift offered a solo acoustic guitar treatment of "Begin Again" and on Saturday it was "Tied Together with a Smile" from her 2006 debut album. Her patter was similar on both nights except on Saturday she shared a little friendly advice – OK, it was a mini-sermon – about not to judge what other people are going through and to avoid the "pressure to have a perfect body and a perfect life." She urged everybody to be kind. Oh, one other difference: Red fingernail polish on Friday, purple on Saturday.
- Was one show better than the other? It's hard to say but I may favor the first one because she seemed a little looser and a little happier, a little more excited and a little more in the moment and less scripted. Or maybe it was just with the first time through, you have a real sense of discovery. Here's my review of the opening night concert.
- Taylor repeated three things from her previous tour, the one behind the "1989" album: Walking through the crowd, slapping hands; distributing free wrist-bands that blink different colors in time to the music, and surveying the crowd to see how many had seen her other tours and how many were first-timers (it's a good marketing strategy as well as a way to get everyone to cheer).
- As hard as she worked, as much as she sweated, as much as her hair flew all over the place, her lipstick always looked impeccable.
- Swift used her dancers very effectively during this show. They weren't involved on every number and their approaches varied all evening, from bungee jumping to ensemble choreography in matching outfits to one man swirling with giant butterfly wings.
- Did she lip sync? Maybe on a few of the dance numbers. But her full-throated wail on "Don't Blame Me" was impressive.
- Swift's opening acts, Charli XCX and Camila Cabello, delivered solid sets. Charli had several recognizable radio faves and "Havana" hitmaker Cabello, dressed in a Vikings jersey with number 1, added a little subtle taste of Prince's "Kiss" during "Into It," which was a nice nod in the Purple Town. Both Charli and Camila joined Taylor for the over-the-top, confetti-filled "Shake It Off" on a satellite stage on both nights.
- How was the sound? No better or worse than at any other show at USBS. The place was built for sports, not for concerts. It's a place for music spectacles, not acoustically superb concerts.
- Even though Swift is a very independent force at age 28, her mom, Andrea, walked around the stadium during the shows, giving hugs to Swifties who recognized her.
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