This post will share details about Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour. If you’re not wanting any spoilers, you might want to read a different post until you see her show yourself! I recommend this one; you’ll need something to pass the time while waiting for your show date.
For Valentine’s Day this year my husband gifted me with two tickets to the Taylor Swift concert. I surprised him with a gift card to his favorite smoothie bar, so we’re pretty much in sync with our gift-giving abilities.
Taylor Swift has been my favorite ever since I first heard her sing Tim McGraw. I remember I was in the back seat of my mom’s car and I thought, ‘hm. this girl is going places.’
Although I am an older #swiftie, I’m not too old to be a fan, it just means I’ve been a fan longer than you. (I’m going to do a series on perspective. This may be a good place to start).
Any who. I’ve seen Tay (as her friends call her) perform in concert a total of four times:
- Opening up for Rascal Flatts when she was just starting out
- Opening up for Brad Paisley later that same year-ish (in which I got to meet her after the show and exclaimed “I only came to this concert to see you!” which earned me one hug, one picture, one autograph, and the pleasure of repeating this story every single time her name is ever mentioned in conversation.
- Three years ago in Chicago at Soldier Field for the epic {and my favorite} 1989 World Tour (also following a surprise gift from my husband. This time it was Christmas, and yes, I did cry both times he did this).
- Again this past Friday also in Chicago at Soldier Field for her Reputation Stadium Tour
When Chad purchased these tickets, he had planned on us going to Chicago Thursday and staying all weekend; doing our normal thing (#drinkingshoppinghavingfun). What he didn’t realize is that Thursday was our son’s Kindergarten Graduation, Friday his last day of school, and Saturday was the beginning of a weekend-long baseball tournament out of town.
Whoops.
So we made the incredibly intelligent {“I can’t even say that with a straight face”} decision to drive to Chicago and back (please note, this is about a 2.5-3 hour drive from our house). I’ve never realized how painful it can be to stay awake, but this drive home proved it.
Okay cool. So we left home around noon on Friday and parked at Soldier Field and connected with our Uber Driver roughly around 4 pm; headed to a local pub, and pre-gamed with some apps and adult beverages.
(Uber Ride Selfie! It only took us 9 attempts to get one).
Let me also mention that it was 52 freaking degrees. And. Windy. I mean, yeah I get it’s Chicago (we were only told that about 627 times), but still. It was June First, people. Warm it up a bit.
Anyway, we had drinks and food at a place called Weather Mark Tavern , watched fellow Swifties come and go in their sequined jackets {circa 1989}, and googled pictures of T. Swift and her boyfriend (if that’s not how you spend your date nights, then you’re doing it wrong).
We Ubered back to Soldier Field around 6 pm, and walked around checking out the scenery, snapping pictures, and I tried explaining to Chad the importance of costumes at these shows (this came about after seeing two girls “driving” around in their cardboard Getaway Car while dressed as Taylor’s cats). He just didn’t get it. I tried, people, I tried.
(“Chad! That lady didn’t get the picture of the stage behind us! We need another photo!”)
Charlie XCX took the stage fashionably late, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I knew more than just Boom Clap. Camila Cabello followed close behind, and she looks just like she does on TV. I’m not sure what I expected, but I remember thinking, “Oh nice. She looks just like she does on TV.” {shrugs}.
I had read on Instagram that you’ll know Taylor is about to take the stage when you hear Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” playing over the loudspeaker. And sure enough, I heard it, elbowed Chad, and said “THIS IS IT!”
I then noticed Tay’s mom making her way out into the crowd (right in front of us, might I add), and proceeded to nudge every little girl around me, figuring they’d want to know, while Chad politely explained to the parents that his wife is crazy.
Thanks.
So let me break this down for you because otherwise I feel like this could get pretty lengthy.
Amazing Things About the Reputation Stadium Tour
- Our seats (I know this has nothing to do about the show itself but everything about my husband). We were Row 1 Section 106, and it was amazing. Her family was also seated directly in front of us on the floor, which made me feel like I had special VIP access. (Not really but it made for a cool pic).
- The Opening. When Taylor showed up on that stage all hooded and then the pyro went off and the fireworks and the beat to the opening song. It was like, Damn. All. The. Feels.
- The amount of older songs performed. I have loved Taylor Swift since Album Numero Uno, so to be able to hear a little history was absolutely amazing. Especially when she sat at the piano and played Long Live. I might have cried a little.
- The fact that she didn’t strut around for two hours in high heels. I mean – Who can do that?! Thanks for keeping it real, Taylor. I also wore more reasonable shoes this time around. #gettinolder
- There’s a moment where she’s standing on one of the other stages with just her guitar, and she sings a slowed down version of Dancing With Our Hands Tied, and it’s pure magic. She literally could have just done that all night and I would have been happy.
- Three stages. What’s cool about this tour is that she didn’t stay in one spot. It gave so many more people access to seeing her up close and personal, and I love that she chose to run through the crowds (right in front of us!) back to the main stage, although I was
1) slightly nervous for her at one point, and
2) pretty pissed at the gaggle of girls that decided to block my view by pushing in front of me.
Don’t worry. We had words, and by we I mean me (grammatically it would be I, but you know what I mean) and they might have been something like, “IF YOU WANTED TO STAND HERE YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE TICKETS THAT GOT YOU CLOSER TO THE STAGE LIKE WE DID!”
Sorry. Not sorry though. It’s true. Get back to your row. (Don’t worry, these girls were more like adult women. I would never yell at little girls at a Taylor Swift concert. I’m a mom, I probably would have put them on my shoulders or braided their hair).
Things I Didn’t Find So Amazing
Okay guys. This one is gonna hurt. I contemplated not even writing about any of these, but I’ve always promised to be honest and authentic. So here goes..
- I didn’t love that almost all of the older songs she sang were part of a medley. It would have been nice to hear the full versions to more of them (I realize she can’t sing 400 songs in one night, but hopefully you get my point here).
- Taylor sang every song from her Reputation album except So it Goes. I don’t even understand why, so if you know or have a theory, please share.
- Here are the two things that honestly had me feeling pretty down:
One:
In her setlist, is my all time favorite song by Taylor Swift. Any guess on what it might be? All Too Well. I have cried, laughed, sang, listened on repeat, more times than I can count. And when I found out it had been added to her setlist, I almost didn’t want to believe it because I knew it sounded too good to be true. But it was all over Instagram. It was all over the internet. All Too Well was being brought back. Acoustic, even. Just Taylor and her guitar. I could not wait.
So why, then, am I so upset?
SHE DIDN’T SING IT!
I’m not sure if she was too cold (thanks a LOT Chicago), or if she’s rotating it in and out for specific shows, or if the internet lied to me. But she didn’t sing it. And I waited the entire night like Stephanie Tanner waited for real-life Andrew Keegan to show up at the mall for their date and he went and hung out with the guys instead (which by the way, that episode is called All Stood Up which I think is All Too Ironic).
Two:
There was no encore. The show literally just ended. She thanked Chicago, waved, and ran off stage. The lights came on. Everyone left. The only time I have ever been to a concert where the performer didn’t have an encore, was back in 2004 when Britney Spears hurt her knee and fell on stage, and then came out to apologize to the crowd stating she needed to end the show. Seriously, it happened. I was in the third row. I watched it. But if you don’t believe me, you can read about it here.
I literally stood by my seat and waited until Chad had to gently tell me it was time to go start our 3 hour trek home. “But she’s coming back!” I kept insisting as he pulled me to our car.
My Take-Aways
- Taylor Swift has always been and will always be one of the most talented songwriters ever. Nothing will ever be able to convince me otherwise.
- The girl can perform. She looked incredible, she sounded incredible; she puts on an amazing show.
- Personally, 1989 is one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Anything would be hard to top that. I still stand by 1989 as being my favorite T. Swift show, but Reputation is pretty close up there.
- I really nailed my dance moves at this concert. Something about it all just worked, and I’ve never been more impressed with myself.
- She’s amazing. Even though I really wanted to see/hear her perform All Too Well live, it was still one of the best nights and I wouldn’t change anything about it (well, I mean, if I could change things I would have her sing All Too Well, and do something in the encore, and maybe score RepRoom passes). But the show was incredible, and I still absolutely love her (so does Chad).
Watch my video medley of all my glorious recordings from that night! {Guys, I’m not a videographer. Some of these are from Instagram, some of these are just from my phone, and I can’t zoom properly, and I can’t hold a phone still. There’s one of me and Chad singing, and I messed up the words like a big dumb*** but all Chad kept saying to me was “THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG!” and I was laughing so hard… and then there’s a part where I’m singing horribly loud, and you can tell the moment I realized that hey.. I’m recording this. My voice is probably on here, and then I shut up but by that point the damage has already been done. Oh well. I had fun.
“Tash! You need another photo of you and Taylor Swift!” – Chad
“Well that didn’t work.” – also Chad
