Taylor Swift

[faizoff]

Saw this on reddit, cracked me up, no idea if it's real.

[Stadler]

The glasses are a nice touch...

[KevShmev]

Update...

Guitar is always first, piano second, except where indicated.

Glendale, AZ night 1: Mirrorball and Tim McGraw
Glendale, AZ night 1: This Is Me Trying and State of Grace
Las Vegas, NV night 1: Our Song and Snow on the Beach
Las Vegas, NV night 1: Cowboy Like Me (w/ special guest Marcus Mumford) and White Horse
Arlington, TX night 1: Sad Beautiful Tragic and Ours
Arlington, TX night 2: Death by a Thousand Cuts and Clean
Arlington, TX night 3: Jump Then Fall and The Lucky One
Tampa, FL night 1: Speak Now and Treacherous
Tampa, FL night 2: The Great War (w/ special guest Aaron Dessner) and You're On Your Own, Kid
Tampa, FL night 3: Mad Woman (piano - w/ special guest Aaron Dessner) and Mean (guitar)
Houston, TX night 1: Wonderland and You're Not Sorry
Houston, TX night 2: A Place in This World and Today Was a Fairytale
Houston, TX night 2: Begin Again and Cold As You
Atlanta, GA night 1: The Other Side of the Door and Coney Island
Atlanta, GA night 2: High Infidelity and Gorgeous
Atlanta, GA night 2: I Bet You Think About Me and How You Get the Girl
Nashville, TN night 1: Sparks Fly and Teardrops on My Guitar
Nashville, TN night 2: Out of the Woods and Fifteen
Nashville, TN night 3: Wouldve, Could've, Should've (w/ special guest Aaron Dessner) and Mine
Philadelphia, PA night 1: Gold Rush and Come Back...Be Here
Philadelphia, PA night 2: Forever & Always and This Love
Philadelphia, PA night 3: Hey Stephen and The Best Day
Foxborough, MA night 1: Should've Said No and Better Man
Foxborough, MA night 2: Question...? and Invisible
Foxborough, MA night 3: I Think He Knows and Red (both on guitar, since her piano malfunctioned due to rain from previous night)
East Rutherford, NJ night 1: Getaway Car (w/ special guest Jack Antonoff) and Maroon
East Rutherford, NJ night 2: Holy Ground and False God
East Rutherford, NJ night 3: Welcome to New York and Clean (the only repeat thus far)
Chicago, IL night 1: I Wish You Would and The Lakes
Chicago, IL night 2: You All Over Me (w/ special guest Maren Morris) and I Don't Wanna Live Forever
Chicago, IL night 3: Hits Different and The Moment I Knew
Detroit, MI night 1: Haunted and I Almost Do
Detroit, MI night 2: All You Had to Do Was Stay and Breathe
Pittsburgh, PA night 1: Mr. Perfectly Fine and The Last Time
Pittsburgh, PA night 2: Seven (piano w/ special guest Aaron Dessner) and The Story of Us (guitar)
Minneapolis, MN night 1: Paper Rings and If This Was a Movie
Minneapolis, MN night 2: Dear John and Daylight
Cincinnati, OH night 1: I'm Only Me When I'm with You and Evermore
Cincinnati, OH night 2: Ivy (w/ special guest Aaron Dessner), I Miss You, I'm Sorry (guitar also w/ special guest Gracie Abrams) and Call It What You Want (first show to get three songs in the surprise songs "eras" section)

[Zantera]

Saw this pop up in my YT feed: "Metal Guitarist sees Taylor Swift live for the first time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQk0PQn-WB0&ab_channel=BecomeTheKnight

While I mostly agree with his thoughts on her music being pretty 'meh', I gotta say the weather conditions around that Nashville show definitely seem really crazy. Not sure if I feel impressed they went through with the show considering the weather, or if it was really stupid but I'm sure at the very least those conditions made the show memorable. For good or bad. Never had any crazy storms like that here thankfully.

[KevShmev]

I don't subscribe to the "rain shows are a special event" mentality that some of her fans do, but to do the whole show though weather like that is not something all musicians would do. 

[TAC]

I don't subscribe to the "rain shows are a special event" mentality that some of her fans do, but to do the whole show though weather like that is not something all musicians would do.

Going to a rain show sounds horrific, but if the performer and the crowd can make something of it, more power to 'em.

[KevShmev]

Going to a rain show sounds horrific, but if the performer and the crowd can make something of it, more power to 'em.

Even better when they can get around it, as I saw they started last night's show an hour early (which was announced early in the day).  Looks like rain was expected to hit that area hard around 11 pm or so, and her set has been going from 8 pm - 11:15 pm-ish, so by going on at 7, she was done before 10:30.  Wise move. 

[MirrorMask]

I don't subscribe to the "rain shows are a special event" mentality that some of her fans do, but to do the whole show though weather like that is not something all musicians would do.

Going to a rain show sounds horrific, but if the performer and the crowd can make something of it, more power to 'em.

I guess it's good for memories but sucks for the experience.

I was very annoyed that it rained during (most of) my Metallica concert on the Hardwired tour, having to wear a raincoat for the whole evening and feeling limited in movements with the ground dirty.

But now, years after the event, I look back and remember Creeping Death with red lights and rain pouring down? fuck yeah that was apocalyptic 

[KevShmev]

I have been considering trying to get a last minute ticket for the Saturday KC concert this week, as I would love to see this show again, and St Louis to Arrowhead is literally about a 4-hour drive and a straight shot on I-70 (I live five minutes from I-70), but prices just aren't coming down. Right now, the cheapest ticket on Stubhub for this weekend is $1,283.00.   

[XeRocks81]

https://twitter.com/justintrudeau/status/1676761275483734020?s=46&t=LEHmPJPF1j9Ww7YDAWaMpw

I swear I didn’t hack the prime minister’s twitter account  he did that all by himself

[KevShmev]

Why would anyone want to go to Canada?

It is an extra kick in the nuts to Canadiens that 14 more international shows were added yesterday for 2024, yet Canada still has nada.  It sucks, I know, but it's impossible to go everywhere.

[MirrorMask]

It is an extra kick in the nuts to Canadiens that 14 more international shows were added yesterday for 2024, yet Canada still has nada.

One of them is a second date for Milan! double occasion to sneak in somehow 

[KevShmev]

It is an extra kick in the nuts to Canadiens that 14 more international shows were added yesterday for 2024, yet Canada still has nada.

One of them is a second date for Milan! double occasion to sneak in somehow 

Sounds like some real vigilante shit, so if you get caught, you're on your own. kid.

[soupytwist]

My Niece's two favorite acts are Taylor and Paramore.  Paramore have just been announced as the support act for Taylor in European - This is a sliding doors moment for my Sister, secure tickets and she'll be the greatest Mum in the world, miss out and her daughter will disown her

[KevShmev]

Tell her good luck...because she is gonna need it. 

[MirrorMask]

So, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is out.

Went straight to listen to Haunted  the original version was a bit "heavier" and had the guitars more "in your face"...

[KevShmev]

I will dive into it later, but I will reiterate that the charm of the original is the old school rock feel. The production had a bit of dirt and grime in the right places, and that added so much character.  I have a feeling TV will have a cleaner production, but will lose a bit of the character.  Looking forward to the Vault tracks the most.

And it looks confirmed that she did change the one lyric in the chorus of Better Than Revenge.  I wish she hadn't, but it's her music and she can do what she wants with it.  I have always thought that was her most petulant song , but she was 18 when she wrote it. 

[The Realm]

I think she was always going to change that lyric in Better Than Revenge and she did. I’m ok with the change. The original lyric really isn’t Taylor’s style these days. 

I’ve given the whole album one listen. A few tracks I like more but some original versions have a certain charm that is missing now.

[MirrorMask]

And it looks confirmed that she did change the one lyric in the chorus of Better Than Revenge.  I wish she hadn't, but it's her music and she can do what she wants with it.  I have always thought that was her most petulant song , but she was 18 when she wrote it.

It's so corny but it's also catchy and it's a guilty pleasure  I know people seem to favor The Story of Us, but I can't get into that song. I know Better for Revenge is a lame teenager song but I can't help but like it  "she took him faster than you can say Savatage" 

[KevShmev]

I think she was always going to change that lyric in Better Than Revenge and she did. I’m ok with the change. The original lyric really isn’t Taylor’s style these days. 

I’ve given the whole album one listen. A few tracks I like more but some original versions have a certain charm that is missing now.

That is true, but....this is a not a new album; it's a re-recording, and I thought the goal was to make them as close to as possible like the originals.  That lyric, for better or for worse, WAS Taylor's style in the late 00s.  I took issue with Roine Stolt re-writing the past on the newer Flower Kings remasters/remixes, and this feels like the same thing.  And again, it is her music, and she can do whatever she wants with it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.   Also, that one lyric change in Better Than Revenge likely won't bother me at all, but it's just the idea.  Not a big deal in the grand scheme. 

[KevShmev]

It's so corny but it's also catchy and it's a guilty pleasure  I know people seem to favor The Story of Us, but I can't get into that song. I know Better for Revenge is a lame teenager song but I can't help but like it  "she took him faster than you can say Savatage" 

The original The Story of Us still might be my favorite Taylor song.  It's certainly the one I listen to the most, as it rocks and is all kinds of fun.  I just love the groove, and the way she drops her voice with the last two words of this line in the chorus ("when it all broke down") is still one of the greatest hooks of all time, IMO.  I am curious to see if she is able to nail it as effectively on TV.

[The Realm]

The Story of Us is great. That is a really cool song.

I think the thing about the original album is that it really rocks. The drums, bass and guitar are great and really prominent in the mix.  On TV the production is more subdued and it doesn’t rock as hard.

[Skeever]

I like Speak Now. My hot take: her songwriter doesn't really improve from Speak Now.
The production gets poppier, the accolades she receives become greater, the veneer of self-importance she carries about herself slathers on another thick layer with each release until we get to the almost insufferable moment we are at now. But as a songwriter and lyricist, she doesn't really get better.

[KevShmev]

The Story of Us is great. That is a really cool song.

I think the thing about the original album is that it really rocks. The drums, bass and guitar are great and really prominent in the mix.  On TV the production is more subdued and it doesn’t rock as hard.

I have to admit to being extremely disappointed with TV of The Story of Us. It isn't nearly as lively as the original, and Taylor just doesn't have that youthful chirpiness in her voice anymore that made the original version so special.  Don't get me wrong, I love the way her voice sounds now when singing her new material, but it's just not possible to sing songs the same way she did when she originally sang them as a teenager.

I like Speak Now. My hot take: her songwriter doesn't really improve from Speak Now.
The production gets poppier, the accolades she receives become greater, the veneer of self-importance she carries about herself slathers on another thick layer with each release until we get to the almost insufferable moment we are at now. But as a songwriter and lyricist, she doesn't really get better.

As much as I love Folklore and Evermore, I think I am far enough away from being a new fan now to where I am comfortable saying that Speak Now and Red are 1a and 1b when it comes to her best albums ever.

[HOF]

I will dive into it later, but I will reiterate that the charm of the original is the old school rock feel. The production had a bit of dirt and grime in the right places, and that added so much character.  I have a feeling TV will have a cleaner production, but will lose a bit of the character.  Looking forward to the Vault tracks the most.

And it looks confirmed that she did change the one lyric in the chorus of Better Than Revenge.  I wish she hadn't, but it's her music and she can do what she wants with it.  I have always thought that was her most petulant song , but she was 18 when she wrote it.

Hah, my daughter knows I hate that lyric and she came running up the stairs this morning to tell me she'd changed it.

[425]

I will dive into it later, but I will reiterate that the charm of the original is the old school rock feel. The production had a bit of dirt and grime in the right places, and that added so much character.  I have a feeling TV will have a cleaner production, but will lose a bit of the character.  Looking forward to the Vault tracks the most.

Haven't listened to the TV yet, but when I revisited the original a few years ago, I found it to be pretty badly brickwalled and hard to listen to for the full run. If the master on the TV is not so hot, then I'll be happy.

I might still consider this her best album. One great track after another.

[KevShmev]

For anyone interested, here is the transcript below of her letter to the fans regarding Speak Now.  Say what you want about her, but she has such a way with words.


"When I think back on the Speak Now album, I get a lump in my throat. I have a feeling it will always be that way, because this period of time was so vibrantly aglow with the last light of the setting sun of my childhood. I made this album, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. I've spoken about how I feel like those ages are the most emotionally turbulent ones in a person's life. May be when I say that, I'm really just talking about myself.

I think they might just be the most idealistic, hopeful years too. At this point in my life, I had released my second album, Fearless. It became the breakthrough moment I'd always dreamt of, one that catapulted my career to new realms of success. It had brought with it a tidal wave of pressures and pitfalls and growing pains. All the while, I was encountering the milestones and checkpoints of normal teenage growth. I had cataclysmic crushes and brushes with heartache. I moved out of my parents' house and set my bags down in a new apartment. I hung photos on my own walls and decorated the space where I would sob and cackle and shatter and dream. Sometimes I felt like a grown-up, but a lot of the time I just wanted to time travel back to my childhood bed, where my mom would read stories to me until I fell asleep.

In my darkest moments, I was tormented by the doubts that swirled loudly around my ascent and my merits as an artist. I was trying to create a follow up to the most awarded country album in history while staring directly into the face of intense criticism. I had been widely and publicly slammed for my singing voice and was first encountering the infuriating question that is unfortunately still lobbed at me to this day: does she really write her songs? Spoiler alert: I really, really do.

In the years since, I've developed a thicker skin about public criticism and the cynicism with which people approach the music I make. At that time, it leveled me. I had these voices in my head telling me that I had the perfect chance and I blew it. I hadn't been good enough. I had given it all I had and been found wanting.

I wanted to get better, to challenge myself, and to build on my skills as a writer, an artist, and a performer. I didn't want to just be handed respect and acceptance in my field. I wanted to earn it. To try and confront these demons, I underwent extensive vocal training and made a decision that would completely define this album: I decided I would write it completely on my own. I figured, they couldn't give all the credit to my co-writers if there weren't any. But that proved a new challenge: It really had to be good. If it wasn't, I would be proving my critics right.

I had no idea how much this pain would shape me. That this was the beginning of my series of creative choices made by reacting to setbacks with defiance. That my stubbornness in the face of doubters and dissenters would become my coping mechanism through my entire career from that point forward. This exact pattern of exacting my form and rebellion when I feel broken is exactly why you're reading these very words, and I'm re-releasing this album now.

I went through my first worldwide scandal (the mic-grab seen around the world). I experienced the weirdness of trying to get to know a boy while a swarm of paparazzi surrounds the car. Media contacting my publicist for an official statement on why two teenagers broke up. These are weird experiences to have any any age, but even more surreal when you're 19.

I had the nagging sense that in the most intense moments of my life, I had frozen. I had said nothing publicly. I still don't know if it was out of instinct, not wanting to seem impolite, or just overwhelming fear. But I made sure to say it all in these songs. I decided to call the album Speak Now. It was a play on the "speak now or forever hold your peace" moment in weddings, but for me it symbolized a chance to respond to the chatter and commentary around my own life.

Some of these emotional revelations were surprising to people. Some expected anger and instead got compassion and empathy with "Innocent." Some expected a kiss-off breakup song but instead got a hand-on-heart apology, "Back to December." It was an album that was the most precious to me because of its vast extremes. It was unfiltered and potent. In my mind, the saddest song I've ever written is "Last Kiss." My most scathing is "Dear John" and my most wistfully romantic is "Enchanted."

I'll be forever proud of setting a goal and seeing it through. I'll always feel shivers all over when I remember singing "Long Live" to close the show every night on tour. The outstretched hands of those bright and beautiful faces of the fans. Their support was like an open palm that reached out and helped me up off the ground when others were, frankly, mean.

These days I make my choices for those people, the ones who thought I had been good enough all along. I try to speak my mind when I feel strongly, in the moment I feel it. I'm still idealistic and earnest about the music I make, but I'm less crushed when people mock me for it.I know now that one of the bravest things a person can do is create something with unblinking sincerity, to put it all on the line. I still sometimes wish I was a little kid again in a tiny bed, before I ever grew up.

I always looked at this album as my album, and the lump in my throat expands to a quivering voice when I say this. Thanks to you, dear reader, it finally will be.

I consider this music to be, along with your faith in me, the best thing that's ever been mine."

[MirrorMask]

"Media contacting my publicist for an official statement on why two teenagers broke up" is really striking.

Also, she seems to know how far some of the most "devoted" fans go, I've read that in a concert she said something along the lines of "you don't need to defend me from someone you think I wrote a song about 14 billions years ago", which is probably coded for "ok, I've seen you all wanting to burn down Jake Gyllenhall's house last time around, please don't go after whoever I wrote the Speak Now songs about so many years after the fact" 

[KevShmev]

Yep, that message was clear, and she said it super nicely and without mentioning John Mayer by name.

Also, KC got a real treat last night, as Long Live was added to the Speak Now set. 

And she released a new video from the From the Vault track, I Can See You:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVkKLf4DCn8

We need more rock-influenced songs like this from Taylor. 

[MirrorMask]

Yup, I've heard it and my first thought was "can't wait for a rock remix of this".

[KevShmev]

I have seen some really good rock covers of her non-rock songs on YT. It shows how well her songs translate from genre to genre.  This one of Mirrorball is really nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUh6zLKsFA

[XeRocks81]

I thought it was fun to make jokes or memes about Jake G when Red (Taylor’s Version) came out but some people always take it too far

[KevShmev]

I thought it was fun to make jokes or memes about Jake G when Red (Taylor’s Version) came out but some people always take it too far

The funny part is fans are so up in arms over the Better Than Revenge lyric change that I have barely seen any John Mayer jokes.  What's even funnier is that I saw the charts of most-listened-to songs yesterday on iTunes and Spotify and whatnot, and Better That Revenge was near the top, and I cannot imagine that would have been the case otherwise, so the lyric change seemingly boosted the plays the song received.  That Taylor, she is so smart. 

[nick_z]

I don't know that I am so familiar with the nuances of the original recordings to truly pick up on the differences, but I enjoyed the TV version yesterday...always a good excuse to revisit Speak Now anyway. It is indeed a great album.

I thought the tracks from the vault were good too. I Can See You is clearly one that already "crossed over" a bit (I'm sure thanks to the production too). The duet with Hayley Williams on Castles Crumbling is another highlight and I kinda enjoyed the Train-esque vibe of When Emma Falls in Love.

[bluefox4000]

I'm a fan but i got to say i found Speak now to be the weakest of the re-records.

I LOVED Fearless most.  that version  opened that album up to me.

Red TV was worth it for the vault disc.

I didn't need the red Main album re-record cause to me the original was perfection(and yes i get WHY she's doing these projects again, lol)

The Speak now.  I love the original.  this version i just felt nothing for and don't ask me why.

i haven't even been able to finish it yet. i get about half through and i'm just done.

Taylor's hit or miss for me anyway so no biggie.  Maybe Midnights pissed me off so much i'm just taylor'ed out (HATE that album