Photo: Wargo/WireImage
Three hours before hitting the stage for her sold-out gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Taylor Swift is jittery with nervous energy. “I’m freaking out,” says the singer, whose 52-date Fearless tour — which launched in April and wraps in October — marks her first headlining run. “I had to force myself to go to sleep last night, because I ran through the set list 400 times in my mind: every single change, every single step.”
There’s a lot to remember. From show opener “You Belong With Me” — which features choreographed cheerleading and Swift in full high school band attire — to the encore, during which Swift and her fiddle player stage a drum battle on “Should’ve Said No,” the two-hour, three-act show is an elaborate spectacle that doesn’t slow down, even when the singer hauls her acoustic guitar into the audience to play a sweet, stripped down set of tunes including “Fifteen,” “White Horse” and her 2006 hit “Tim McGraw.”
Check out photos of Swift’s Madison Square Garden show.
The crowd — mostly teen girls who flash Swift’s trademark “heart” hand sign and scream their faces off while snapping cellphone photos — especially digs the quieter moments. The applause that rolls in after “McGraw” is so thunderous that Swift stands for three minutes, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. When she finally speaks, she looks misty-eyed. “As long as I live,” she says, “I will never forget what you just did for me.”
She regains her composure for the third act, which kicks off with “Love Story.” Dancers dressed in Elizabethan costumes glide across the stage while Swift, wearing a red-and-gold cloak, sings the modern-day ...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily