After breaking records in the United States, the American musician launched the European part of her tour at Paris La Défense Arena on Thursday in Nanterre. Unveiling new paintings during a lively show.
There are only a few weeks left before the Paris Olympic Games, but a first performance took place this Thursday, May 9, in Nanterre: for 3 hours, Taylor Swift launched the European part of her Eras Tour, taking in more than forty of titles (including some shortened ones) and multiplying the changes of costumes and sets with the endurance and mastery of a high-level athlete.
“You make me feel powerful”: it was with these words that the 34-year-old American, in a sparkling scarlet leotard (by Versace) reacted, a few minutes after her appearance, to the long cheers of a crowd that she literally fits in the palm of his hand: 42,000 “swifties” (including 30% foreigners) committed to his cause, generously exchanging “friendship bracelets” (these little jewels made with beads spelling out the titles of his songs). Fans who will continue to flock to the multiple merchandising stands deployed on site (the “Swiftconomics” are doing well, thank you) and who are given, as soon as they enter the room, small lanterns with multi-colored LEDs lighting up at in unison during the concert, adding stars to the glitter that the star already scatters on their outfits, and in their eyes.
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Powerful, Taylor Swift certainly is: after having struggled for a long time to seduce the French public (she did not manage to fill a Zénith in 2011, and had given a single date at the Olympia in 2019, before having to cancel concerts due to pandemic), the musician this time plays four sold-out evenings in Nanterre, followed by two dates in Lyon in June.
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A few minutes ahead of schedule, Taylor Swift appears under one of the “butterfly wing”-style veils held up by her dancers, and begins with extracts from her seventh album, Lover (2018). Three titles as a reminder of the holy trinity that she embodies today, American icon (Miss Americana & the heartbreak prince), pop (the irresistible Cruel Summer) and feminist (The Man, You Need to Calm Down), after which she returns to her beginnings and begins a long “journey” through her multiple incarnations, these “eras” which have succeeded one another throughout her 18-year career.
Country princess with a (obviously) glittery acoustic guitar, deeply wounded by love (on All Too Well appeared on the album Red in 2012, inspired by her breakup with Jack Gyllenhaal and performed here in a 10-minute version in which the crowd knows every word), fairy tale princess in a dress the color of buttercup or fresh butter, (kindly) poisonous pop star having the serpent as emblem (period Reputationconceived in 2017 as a response to her quarrel with the couple Kanye West – Kim Kardashian)… Taylor Swift goes through one incarnation at the dizzying speed of a pop superhero, roaming, alone or with her group and dancers, a stage which advances like a star track (or athletic track) to the middle of the pit, evolving with them on a podium which rises or falls over the songs, disappearing for the time of interlude changes (necessary, we suspect, to go the distance on such a show) more or less successful (with guitar solos, or videos of flowers or stars a bit 1.0).
Highlight of the show
Enough to constantly capture the attention of those who thought it would take a long time. Just the ethereal folk sequence bringing together album titles Folklore And Evermore, published during the pandemic, she shows a decline in performance. We float a little during the appearance of the star on the roof of a life-size wooden chalet (with safety harness matching her dress) and these sequences where she twirls, in a yellow outfit with ruffles, like a ‘a Stevie Nicks bounty. Fortunately, the tubes of 1989 (Shake it off, Bad Blood) come to wake up the concert, before the highlight of the show: the interpretation, for the first time live, of the titles of The Tortured Poets Department, eleventh album released on April 19. The impression of attending a long-running musical comedy is accentuated: Taylor Swift, in an immaculate corseted dress, whose skirt is decorated with lyrics from her songs (“I love you it’s ruining my life» – “I love you / it’s ruining my life”, taken from the single Fortnightwill literally be screamed with her), appears on a rickety psychiatric hospital bed, is accompanied by the beating drums of a mini-army on The Smallest Man Who Ever Livedand gets undressed on stage to appear as a cabaret dancer (the theme of a future music video?) on I Can Do With a Broken Heart.
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A self-proclaimed “female revenge musical» therefore, (“musical comedy of female revenge”, Taylor attacking, between the lines, the more or less famous exes who shared her life) which gives relief to the songs chanted on a record from which no hit emerges Really. This feeling that all Taylor’s titles are a bit similar is confirmed by two intimate surprises, one Paris performed solo on acoustic guitar followed by Loml in piano-voice which, if they have the merit of reminding us that it is on instruments that she really knows how to play that Taylor Swift composes her songs, they sometimes only include a grid of often similar chords, and a little limited.
In their bubble
No matter: the last “era” that Taylor Swift chooses to travel through is that of Midnightsalbum released in 2022 with R’n’B accents whose star performs the titles in a midnight blue bodysuit, registering Vigilant Shit, performed to a languorous choreography, as the most “sexy” moment of the evening. But Taylor Swift is not Madonna or Britney, and remains the star of her time, very little sexualized. His glances are more knowing than seductive, and that is his whole secret. As she herself states, she wrote her songs based on the episodes and emotions that went through her life in the hope that they would echo those of her audience. The words echoed by a mainly female crowd proved him right: for three hours, it was their heartache, their intimate and common wounds, their desire for revenge, consolation andempowerment that his fans expressed, in total communion.
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A cathartic bubble, a wonderland into which this new kind of Alice takes them for three hours, far from the real world – no clearly political allusion, even the most consensual, is made by the artist who is said to yet it could tip the American presidential election. We could criticize it for lacking an extra bit of soul, a little unexpectedness, stolen moments which would enhance an already incredible charm. But becoming a champion doesn’t rely on improvisation. We emerge from the Taylor Swift concert without boredom or revelation, with glitter on our cheeks and bracelets on our wrists, with perhaps the desire to listen to certain songs again whose melodies remain undeniably well-crafted. A performance to be commended.
