When Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour It hit theaters last October, became the highest-grossing concert movie of all time with its sheer speed, and had hardcore Swifties and just the generally curious, literally dancing in the aisles for hours. Now available to stream on Disney+as well as rental on numerous VOD platforms such as Prime Video and AppleTVages also sweetens the pot with additional live performances of “Wildest Dreams,” “The Archer,” and “Long Live.” some people If you complain about the on-demand ticket price, you can’t really diminish the shine of this grandly imagined, career-spanning concert film, which was filmed last August during a three-night sold-out stand in Los Angeles. s SoFi Stadium. Swift, her songs and her almost 20-year work at different times in her career polish very, very well.
TAYLOR SWIFT – THE TOUR OF ERAS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Ten “epochs”, more than 40 songs sung and just three hours long when all is said and done, which includes three additional songs not included in the theatrical version: both in sound and vision, The tour of the ages is a stunning film and performance by Taylor Swift. “Oh, hello!” she greets the thousands of people gathered from the top of an attitude box that moves up or down the stage, most of which streaks through the center of the stadium. “Oh, Los Angeles, you’re making me feel great right now… so powerful“, and a mix of dynamic close-ups and rotating antennas capture the constant action on stage, from Lover highlights like “The Man” and “You Need to Calm Down,” via Brave with its touching nods to early hits “Love Story” and “You Belong to Me” (“Are You Ready to Go Back to High School with Me?”), and forward through the eras that define Swift’s life. enormously successful career.
As energetic a centerpiece as Swift is, but during some moments on the piano bench, she is always on her feet, running, strutting, strutting, and generally keeping the venue’s attention rapt – the evolving stage configurations for Ages They are large and eye-catching. For those with a forest theme Increasingly, Swift dons a cape while her dancers hold fairy lights aloft amidst what appear to be living pine trees. For Reputation, the effects create the illusion of a huge snake coiling over the thrust of the stage. And to 1989, the singer and her dancers hit an animated car with glow-in-the-dark golf clubs. There is also at least one other time when it is not in constant motion, such as when the cockpit Folklore emerges on stage and Swift sings “The 1” while lying on her moss-covered roof. “I’m not a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair,” she tells her audience, explaining the motivations behind 2020’s bucolic COVID-recorded record. “I’m like a woodsy Victorian lady wandering through the woods. “
Whether she’s drunk with pain, drunk with jealousy, or making no promises to the guy who makes her drink, Taylor Swift steadily moves through the eras of her career with verve, resolve, and a continued ability to make her better known. , the most passed-down improvisations feel alive in new ways. “22” becomes a boisterous onstage gathering, as she and her dancers emulate the feeling of playing deeply with one’s own equipment. “Look What You Made Me Do” is sensual in tendrils of scarlet and filmy black. And ultimately, towards the end of the set, “Anti-Hero” and “Karma” vibrate with the confessional self-awareness that she has incorporated into her enduring style of songwriting and performance.
What movies will it remind you of? For BTS: Still to come, the seven-member Korean boy band performed their own version of a career highlights list, complete with themed scenes and staging. And if you need more Taylor content after three hours of AgesDisney+ presents the intimate Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessionswhile Netflix has Swifties angry over the pending removal of The Reputation Stadium Tour.
Performance worth seeing: With almost twenty people, Swift’s team of dancers is a constant presence in multiple formats in Ages, taking shape in large and small groups, providing theatrical cues that link and give personality to the period proceedings, and revolving around the star as she explores the full breadth of the stage. Riding a neon-lit bicycle on an oddly shaped platform, in the dark, in front of 70,000 people? It doesn’t seem easy!
Memorable dialogue: Any gig where there’s room to stretch out deserves an acoustic set. Swift places hers just before the big finale, performing “Our Song” on a beautiful guitar with “Taylor” embedded in the neck and “You’re on Your Own, Kid” on an upright piano adorned with flowers. “When I dreamed up the idea of the Eras Tour,” Swift tells the audience, “I thought it would be really fun to go back through all these different phases that I’ve had musically.” Because it’s been, I mean, it’s been a little bit of everything. You have been very kind to me in allowing me to explore genres and step outside the boundaries created for us in the music industry. And that is only Thanks to you I can do that. So thanks”.
Sex and skin: There’s nothing really spicy here. Instead, Swift’s numerous costume changes are a marvel of patented stage attire that includes sparkly leotards, luxurious lavender ballgowns, sparkly shorts, faux fur, and even a cape. Notably, each design integrates a discreet back pocket to support Swift’s in-ear monitor system.
Our opinion: Taylor Swift writes most of her songs in furiously first-person present tense, and for her fans, that’s immersive. Everyone can know that it is her love that should be celebrated. Everyone can be the protagonist of someone’s bad dreams. If everyone’s reputation is the worst it’s ever been, then that’s everyone who can be proud to be loved for who they are. “These are the words I held back because I was leaving too soon†– to see some of the cuts of the fans in The tour of the ages, where people of all ages and styles scream along with their lyrics, with their eyes closed, is continued proof of this saturated and symbiotic effect. But they’re also in the room to experience Taylor’s perspective on these songs. Due to the scope of her ongoing tour across multiple continents, and because Ages was a huge hit in theaters, part of the fun of watching it at home is capturing the most talked-about moments. When Swift pours out her heart firsthand early on, during the Brave was, is returned by a kaleidoscope of the faithful. When the stage superstructure effortlessly transforms from bucolic Folklore cabin in the illuminated and harsh angles of the eighties 1989, people are drinking in all that magic, madness, heaven and sin. And when Swift appears to pe headlong into crystal clear waters before reappearing to midnight At the opposite end of the long push, it’s a tour de force that feels as fresh as live theater on a stage hundreds of times smaller. As a star whose fans are legion, Taylor Swift has already given them plenty of history in the form of songs. Tour of the eras It’s best to bring images to that blank space, where everyone can write their name.
Our call: TRANSMIT IT. It’s like, how could you not? Whether you’re a newly minted Swiftie, a long-time leader, or someone wondering about all the hype, and in today’s culture, Taylor Swift remains a dominant force of aspirational, spiritual, and economic buzz. – The tour of the ages is both a concert film and a clearinghouse, a spectacle that places viewers at the very center of what has made the singer-songwriter a true phenomenon.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.