Taylor Swift
October 21, 2015
Greensboro Coliseum- Greensboro, NC
Greensboro, NC…right on schedule at 8:30 p.m., a deafening roar and screeches came from a sea teenage girls, which had my ears ringing for multiple hours. This could only mean one thing, Taylor Swift was about to set foot on stage with her catchy opening number, Welcome to New York. The song was set to a NYC street inspired backdrop with props such as a park bench and light posts on the stage.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see her perform in Washington, DC earlier this summer. As usual, she pulled out all the stops and now the bar has been set even higher. Needless to say my expectations were exceeded once again at the Greensboro Coliseum. Swift, arguably the biggest pop star in the world, gave her all at each stop of the 1989 World Tour. Some of the highlights being the incredible backup dancers right behind her everywhere she moved, an elevated stage and the genius idea to provide each audience member with light up bracelets that flashed to the beat of each song that had their own color/beat going on instead of using flashlights on their phones.
During the intermissions of songs and set changes, there were mini videos that featured many of Swift’s “Squad” Members. “No cats were harmed in the making of this tour, just one pop star.” was the message shown at the end of one of several videos that were played during the intermissions. The videos featured Swift’s adorable cats named Dr. Meredith Grey and Detective Olivia Benson (from the shows Greys Anatomy and Law & Order: SVU). Swift’s most well known “squad,” Lena Dunham, Selena Gomez and several Victoria’s Secret models, such as Karlie Kloss, Jamie King and Cara Delevingne made video appearances, each talked about how they met Swift and their friendships and their high admirations for her work. Speaking of appearances, Swift always surprises fans with one or two surprise guests at each 1989 show. A series of famous musicians are to join Swift on stage and sing either their most popular hit or just a hit from their past. Swift 
has had other artists such as Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake and Jason Derulo join her on stage as well as some famous country artists such as Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban. Tonight, Swift was leaning back to her country roots and had Country star, Miranda Lambert surprise fans that night. Joining Swift onstage, the two paired for a rendition of Lambert’s hit Little Red Wagon.
Swift’s set list mostly featured songs from her first pop album 1989, hence the tour name. But she also included some older fan favorites with a little bit of twist. She performed a much edgier version of I Knew You Were Trouble; she also gave the crowd a more rock version of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, both of which displayed a much more mature side of Swift. Also on the set list, Swift performed older fan favorite singles such as Love Story and Red, (this show was the Red Album’s third year anniversary) on an elevated stage that took her over the audience, giving perfect opportunities for fans to get some Swift-featured selfies.
The audience that filled the whole complex, was comprised mostly of teenage girls dressed in crop tops and high waisted shorts or in nifty homemade costumes representing a song of Swift’s. They were joined by their mothers (and I did see some Fathers who I know are secretly Swifties) with signs showing off their support for Swift, some even proudly displayed signs with photos of Swift’s cats. I believe most signs consisted of poster lights; glitter and neon paints to make sure it caught Swifts attention. There’s no denying that Swift has one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in the world. They’re called “Swifties”. Each and every song Swift performed that night had every single audience member singing back every lyric, myself included.
I’d say one of Swift’s strongest suits as a pop star that has made her so popular, is her being relatable. She is able to connect with her fans and inspire them, which she did last night by giving a message important for girls of all ages (and some boys) to live your life on your own terms and be yourself no matter what. That was her main message to every single fan that attended that night.
The show’s opening act was Australian singer-songwriter, Vance Joy, who stood center stage with just a microphone and his guitar strapped across his body. He played songs from his 2014 album Dream Your Life Away including his hit single Riptide, Fire in the Flood and Mess is Mine. Joy also surprised fans with an incredibly flawless cover of Sam Smith’s famous hit Stay With Me.
With that being said, if you get a chance to attend any Taylor Swift show on the remaining dates of the 1989 World Tour or any Taylor Swift show in the future, GO. It’s well worth every penny spent on a ticket; no matter where you sit she always manages to put on a mind-blowing performance.
Review by: Alyssa Howell
Taylor Swift
Vance Joy
