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Flashback to August 2015, when Taylor Swift played a pair of shows at Rexall Place
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Taylor Swift announced long-awaited Canadian dates on her massive, and highly coveted Eras Tour. Unfortunately for any Canadian city not named Toronto, a chance to see Swift will mean a trip to the Big Smoke in November of next year.
For now, you can tide yourself over with this flashback to August 2015, when Swift played a pair of shows at Rexall Place, the first of which was reviewed by then-Journal music writer Sandra Sperounes, and published Aug. 5, 2015.
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As smart, musically gifted, and beautiful as she is, Taylor Swift always makes her fans feel even more so.
Every time she rolls into Edmonton with her musicians, dancers, props, costumes and dozens of trucks, the 25-year-old superstar plays the perfect hostess – repeatedly thanking her crowds and looking as if she’s having more fun than any other time in her charmed life.
As her fame grows – she’s now at Gaga-multiplied-by-Bieber levels – and Swift continues to surround herself with a Girl Squad of singers, Hollywood actors, and top models, will she start to lose touch with this gift?
Alexisonfire is nailing the band gig one step at a time
Concert announcement: Jonas Brothers to play Edmonton’s Rogers Place in November
Uh-uh. Swift was her usual warm and welcoming self on Tuesday night, the first of two sold-out shows at Rexall Place. In between songs and special effects, she thanked fans for buying her records, for coming to her gigs, for treating her like a friend, for cheering at unexpected moments. “We always make a point to come and play in Edmonton,” T-Swizzle said after her first four tunes – Welcome To New York, New Romantics, Blank Space and I Knew You Were Trouble.
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“You are the absolute epitome of a crazy, mind-blowing, unforgettable crowd. We needed to come and look you in the eye and thank you for being so passionate about music.”
When she wasn’t gushing about her fans — 14,000 girls, women, moms, and a few dads — she was offering them heart-to-heart talks about love, self-doubt, and making mistakes. “The way that you treat me when I’m here or when I’m online, you treat me like I’m one of your friends,” she said, her voice quivering with emotion.
Aww, Swift could easily spend the rest of her career on the lecture circuit, if she wanted. Thankfully, she still loves to sing – and her voice seems to be getting stronger and more soulful with every tour, as she demonstrated on two of her old country tunes, Fifteen and Love Story. She also still loves to put on a big two-hour show – complete with a New York-themed set, sparkly outfits, dancers, puffs of smoke (for the sultry I Knew You Were Trouble), lasers (I Wish You Would), a hydraulic catwalk that lifted her 10-15 feet above the crowd, and free wristbands that lit up in time with her songs.
There were a few flaws, however, with the technology. At times, the audio didn’t always match the visuals on the screens at the back of the stage. And for Blank Space, she opted to include a loop of her saying “Edmonton” in a misguided attempt to personalize the song.
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Another minor disappointment: Edmonton didn’t get a surprise guest. On almost every other stop of her 1989 tour, Swift has trotted out a different pal. Sadly, the only surprise on Tuesday was the lack of a special guest. Maybe we’ll get luckier on Wednesday night?
There was no question about the identity of Swift’s opening act – rising star Vance Joy.
Last year, around this time, the Australian tunesmith was over at Gallagher Park, performing on the Folk Fest’s mainstage.
On Tuesday, the Joy-ful one played six of his buoyant acoustic-flavoured tunes – including his latest song, Fire and the Flood, and his ukulele hit, Riptide – to screaming fans at Rexall Place.
Next to Swift, he isn’t the most charismatic performer. Joy looked uncomfortable on such a large stage, only bobbing his knee or tapping his feet as he strummed his acoustic guitar or uke. His voice was also a bit shaky at times, which he acknowledged with a plea for help. “Sometimes, I miss the high notes, so if there’s someone could hit them and we could get a choir effect, that would be nice,” he asked, somewhat sheepishly. Fans didn’t seem to fulfil his choir effect, but they did help with the lighting later on in his set – using their cellphones to add a nice glow to the arena as he played Riptide with his three bandmates.
Joy and Swift will do it all over again on Wednesday night. Happy, happy …
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