by Mia Zarrella, Entertainment Contributor
You know who was there. You’ve seen photos and video. You’ve read reviews. But what did your fellow Rhode Island residents think about the performance?
From 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Taylor Swift put on a heart-racing, outfit-changing, eye-catching performance. Changing into a dozen different outfits, putting on a spectacular light show, and having a surprise guest band don’t begin to cover the highlights of the show.
So did the Gillette show live up to audience expectations? What did Rhode Islanders like most about the show? What did they not like?
Elizabeth Miceli, 20, of North Kingstown proved her dedication to T-Swift by attending the concert while battling Mononucleosis.
“I’m so obsessed with Taylor that I went anyway,” she said. “I was sick as a dog at the concert, but it still felt worth it.”
Swift’s monologues and “spot-on advice,” as Miceli put it, were her favorite parts of the performance. “You rarely see an artist that puts that much thought into a performance. It was clear that she genuinely cared about her fans,” Miceli said. “The most disappointing part was the length. Taylor wasn’t onstage until almost 9:30. There were just way too many opening bands. Although Shawn Mendes and Vance Joy were nice, HAIM felt very out of place.”
16-year-old Canadian pop singer Shawn Mendes opened the concert at 7 p.m., followed by Australian folk-pop artist Vance Joy, and then Taylor Swift’s personal friends, the pop-rock band HAIM.
“I was surprised that she didn’t play more of her older songs,” said Miceli. “She literally played the whole new album though which was great. I loved the way she changed up “Love Story” and the acoustic performance of “You Belong With Me” brought me back to my high school days. She was impressive, elegant and a world-class performer.”
North Kingstown resident Bryan Flanagan, 20, arrived to the concert at 9 a.m. Flanagan says he was the sixth person to get there and, “literally had the worst seat in the stadium all the way at the top by myself.”
Flanagan wore a shirt he made that said, “I have a blank space baby and I’ll write your name” and he had other concert-goers sign their names to it.
Then five minutes before the concert, Flanagan’s luck was miraculously improved.
He was awarded front row tickets from the Taylornation booth at the concert due to being an “extreme fan.”
“So I’d have to say getting those tickets last minute and going from the top of the stadium to five feet away from Taylor the entire concert had to be my favorite part,” said Flanagan.
Two members of the band Walk the Moon, Nicholas Petricca and Eli Maiman, surprised the 60,000 screaming fans with a WTM/T-Swift version of “Shut up and Dance.”
“It makes the show that much more enjoyable not knowing who’s going to pop out from under the stage and chill on stage with Taylor,” said Flanagan.
What could a make a show even more enjoyable? Turning the audience into a lightshow.
Upon entering the concert, wristbands were handed out to the concertgoers. The bands lit up to the beat of Swift’s songs—creating a light show in the excited crowd.
“It was dynamite,” said Miceli about the bracelets.
Before the final song, which was of course “Shake It Off,” Swift’s two cats made a cameo in a recorded video played above the stage.
Missy Hardesty, 29, of West Greenwich described her experience during Taylor’s final song, “Shake It Off.”
“Everybody in the stadium was singing and dancing, and the bracelets were blinking in a bunch of different colors. It almost looked like stars— it was amazing to watch!” she said.
Hardesty noted that, “[Swift’s] costumes weren’t as awesome as they’ve been at her previous concerts. Most of her costumes for this tour were either skin tight or super short— a little out of character for her.”
But when it comes to Hardesty’s favorite part, it was 100-percent Swift.
“I would go back to when the lights went down and Taylor Swift was about to come on stage for the first time,” she said. “You can’t beat that energy!”
It seems that during her 1989 World Tour Taylor Swift is proving her credibility as a pop-sensation. Not only was her performance big, beautiful, and exciting, but it was earnest.
Flanagan said, “You could tell that the seven months it took to make this tour paid off well.”
Did you attend the concert? What was your favorite and least favorite part? Let us know!
