NRG Stadium
April 21, 2023
“I’ll be your host this evening. My name is Taylor.”I've been going to concerts for 40 years. My first was in G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station. I was 14, and the band was a largely forgotten MTV-era combo with a couple of minor hits, playing to an audience well below "Jolly Rollie's" 7,800-seat capacity.
Since then, I've seen shows in venues cramped and cavernous. U2's Joshua Tree (Erwin Center) and Zoo TV (RFK Stadium) tours; the (Dixie) Chicks in a tent outside HLSR; Guns 'n Roses at the Starplex in 1989; Man...or Astroman? at Fitzgerald's; the Rolling Stones at the Cotton Bowl for the Steel Wheels tour; the Who at the Astrodome for the "Biggest Party in History" in 1989; Paul Simon at Red Rocks ... Barry Manilow and G.W.A.R. and everyone in between.
So when I tell you Taylor Swift's "Eras" Tour is a superlative concert experience, you can take me seriously.
Like the name suggests, the concert breaks down Swift's career into mini-sets based on her last nine albums (though not chronologically; 2019's Lover leads off, goes into 2008's Fearless, then jumps to Evermore, etc. etc.). The stage design and visuals change to match each album's aesthetic — forests for Evermore, a sort of Patrick Nagel/TRON mashup for 1989 — with Swift changing costumes throughout.
But back up a bit. After openers Gracie Abrams and beabadoobee (more on them later), you could definitely feel the anticipation building in the sold-out stadium. I don't know what kept prompting different pockets of NRG to burst into screams (maybe a janitor's cart), but that was nothing compared to when a countdown clock appeared showing two and a half minutes to go.
The Lover act opens with Swift appearing mid-stage, surrounded by dancers wielding giant fan-like apparatuses. Opening song "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" leads quickly into "Cruel Summer." And we're off.
Swift welcomed us to "the first of three nights in Houston," as an introduction to "The Man" (performed in an office setup along with "You Need to Calm Down"), as if that fact hasn't been hyped up as nauseum by every media outlet in town. "Welcome to the Eras Tour," she told us, mentioning that this is her mother's hometown (she's a Memorial High and UH alum). Is it possible there was an additional twinkle in her eye during the show? Let's go with it.
Some "eras" got more play than others. Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights (unsurprisingly) seeing the most love, though there were a number of abbreviated selections, including "Fearless," "You Need to Calm Down," "Style," and "Wildest Dreams." And I'm noting those last two because they were the ones that stung the most for me.
I'm told the transition to the Fearless act was a rain of gold sparks, but to me it looked like the house set was burning down. Swift sang the title track and "You Belong With Me" (HUGE reaction to that one) in a fringed dress and cowboy boots, a reminder of her short-lived stint as a country adjacent singer.
It was also one of the few times her band joined her onstage. One reason the Eras Tour has been so effective as a production is, honestly, because the musicians themselves are mostly sequestered in the far corners of the stage. That would seem anathema in an actual band setting, but it makes sense for what Swift is going for.
Evermore brought the "room" down a bit, with a witchier vibe for "'Tis the Damn Season" and "Marjorie" before Swift talked about how COVID inspired the album and how she feared she might never perform live again. Then she played "Champagne Problems" on a mossy piano to the loudest applause of the night so far, before performing a blistering "Tolerate It" on a dining room table.
Look, it would be simple to cover all the subsequent acts in a similar blow by blow fashion: Reputation's snake motif, the perfunctory treatment given to Speak Now (the last time yours truly covered a T-Swizzle show, humorously enough), the crowd's deafening reaction to 1989's material. But an Eras show is a 44-song extravaganza. It's like a Springsteen gig with visual accompaniment.
Yeah, I'm going there. Swift may only bring out the guitar or piano for a handful of songs, but the Eras experience is next level. It's a flex of such immense proportions you can't help but be impressed, whatever your "classic" rock bona fides. In all the aforementioned stadium shows I've seen, I have yet to see one where 70,000+ people are on their feet and singing along to almost every damn song.
What must it be like, to wield that power? Swift is the first artist to sell out three shows at NRG Stadium on the same tour, yet she continues to inhabit the "Who, me?" approach to megastardom. Political figures posture for her approval in the wake of the Ticketmaster clusterfuck, and somehow the biggest minuses are because she's ... messy about her ex-boyfriends? Okay.
Because the most egregious thing about Taylor Swift, at least in the minds of those eager to denigrate her accomplishments, is her self-centeredness. Which is why it's hilarious that she went out of her way to talk about how Folklore was her reaction to the centeredness of her earlier work.
I'd be remiss in not mentioning last night's "surprise songs" (Swift plays two songs — one on guitar, one on piano — that haven't appeared on the tour to date). Last night, we got "Wonderland" (from 1989) and "You're Not Sorry," making its first live appearance since 2013.
Swift departed around 11 with a parting, “Houston, Texas I love you so much.” And judging by the near constant state of pandemonium that met her every word, the feeling was mutual. Again, I've been going to concerts since I was in middle school, and it's hard for me to recall a show this thoroughly entertaining. Yes, it's rigorously rehearsed; yes, there's always the whiff of insincerity that follow the uber-famous, but Taylor Swift's enthusiasm is contagious, and she puts on a show more elaborate than anything I've seen in a very long time..
How Were The Openers? Gracie Abrams told us she was “happy to be among fellow Swifties," but her songs are all reminiscent of bummer Olivia Rodrigo (who she opened for on last year's Sour tour). Beabedoobee offered a much bouncier, almost CHVRCHES-esque set. She leaned heavily on recent numbers ("Cologne" and "The Perfect Pair" were bangers) and was well received. Both were pretty dwarfed by the setup, though Abrams did roam the stage a bit.
Personal Bias: Invested enough to be disappointed I didn't hear "mirrorball," I'll tell you that much.
The Crowd: Young, white, and female. A lot of whom who weren't adjusting well to spending several hours in heels for the first time.
Overheard In The Crowd: "What?"
Random Notebook Dump: "'22?' I'd settle for 42 right now."
SET LIST
Act I: Lover
Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
Cruel Summer
The Man
You Need to Calm Down
Lover
The Archer
Act II: Fearless
Fearless
You Belong With Me
Love Story
Act III: Evermore
'tis the damn season
willow
marjorie
champagne problems
tolerate it
Act IV: Reputation
...Ready for It?
Delicate
Don't Blame Me
Look What You Made Me Do
Act V: Speak Now
Enchanted
Act VI: Red
Red
22
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
I Knew You Were Trouble
All Too Well (10 Minute Version)
Act VII: Folklore
seven
the 1
betty
the last great american dynasty
august
illicit affairs
my tears ricochet
cardigan
Act VIII: 1989
Style
Blank Space
Shake It Off
Wildest Dreams
Bad Blood
Act IX: Surprise Songs
Wonderland
You're Not Sorry
Act X: Midnights
Lavender Haze
Anti‐Hero
Midnight Rain
Vigilante Shit
Bejeweled
Mastermind
Karma
