Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Tour Opening Night: All the Moments You Need to See
Taylor Swift kicked off her Reputation Stadium Tour last night (May 8) in Glendale, Arizona, and it was a spectacle. Choreography, pyrotechnics, killer live vocals—Swift delivered roughly two hours of pure pop bliss, and her legion of fans lived for it.
They’re also living for a few moments that happened in between the songs, too—like Swift calling out Kim Kardashian or her pointing to boyfriend Joe Alwyn in the crowd. It wouldn’t be a Taylor Swift concert without some juicy tidbits, right? And the Reputation Stadium Tour opening night had plenty. Here are all the ones you need to see.
A quick refresher on that drama: Swift claimed two years ago that she hadn’t approved certain lyrics Kanye West wrote about her in his song “Famous,” though a Snapchat video Kardashian leaked suggested otherwise. Swift doubled-down on her stance, though, which prompted Kardashian—and basically all of social media—to brand her with the snake emoji.
Swift gave a short but poignant speech about all this last night. “A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media and it caught on,” Swift said. “And then a lot of people called me a lot of names on social media. And I went through some really low times for a while because of it. I went through some times when I didn’t know if I was gonna get to do this anymore and I guess the snakes… I wanted to send a message to you guys that if someone uses name-calling to bully you on social media and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn’t have to beat you. It can strengthen you instead.”
Not in real life, but Swift recruited her to say the classic, “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” line in a video projection during “Look What You Made Me Do.” Haddish revealed last year she had dinner at Swift’s house after they did Saturday Night Live together and became friends.
Well, I guess that confirms who the song’s about. Eagle-eyed fans caught Alwyn in a baseball cap bopping along in the audience to “Gorgeous.” At the end of the song, Swift literally pointed at him, causing the already-lit crowd to lose their minds even more.
Which is a pretty huge deal for Swfities. The Red deep cut is considered by many to be Swift’s best song, and some fans thought an extended version of it would appear on Reputation. (The original song is apparently eight minutes long.) Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but Swift made up for that by adding an acoustic version of the song to her set. Naturally, it’s stunning.
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Taking cues from Madonna—who’s famous for reinventing her hit songs in concert—Swift included many of her staples in the Reputation Stadium Tour set list, but gave them a twist. She performed “Bad Blood” with elements of “Should’ve Said No”; a medley of “Style,” “Love Story,” and “You Belong with Me”; and a piano moment that blended “Long Live” and “New Year’s Day.”
This might’ve been the most fun performance of the night. Both Cabello and Charli XCX sang verses of Swift’s hit 2014 song, and they all joined in bombastically for the chorus. Pop star friendships!
If the Reputation Stadium Tour‘s opening night is any indication, we’re in for a very fun next couple of months. Are you ready for it?
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