There is no shortage of reasons to dislike Taylor Swift. It could be her public score-settling with ex-boyfriends, her inability to take even the gentlest joshing from Amy Poehler, or even that irritatingly smug pout she’s been wearing on the red carpet throughout awards season.
But when it comes to performing live, the haters have got nothing on her, and that blossoming confidence was on show in all its multifaceted glory last night at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The show that Swift has put together to promote the “Red” album is so much more than a mere pop concert. Through her various costume changes, choreographed set pieces and even the odd magic trick, the native Pennsylvanian has created something closer to a giant musical carnival.
Almost as impressive as her Barnum & Bailey world is Swift’s power and surprising versatility as a musician. It was apparent from the start as she and her band assuredly delivered “State of Grace” in a way that had more in common with radio-friendly alternative rock. For a moment, you could close your eyes and quite easily think you were at a Killers show.
That flexibility was almost constantly in evidence, whether it was through the girl-group reworking of “You Belong With Me” or even the dubstep touches applied to “Trouble.” No matter what she did or where she went, Swift’s often-criticized vocals never seemed to waver. The fragile acoustic county starlet of years gone by seems to have been all but buried and you get the feeling that if Kanye tried to invade her stage now, Swift would not only put a boot in his behind, but write a megahit about it and the send him the platinum disc, signed “Screw You. Kisses, Taylor.”
However, there were moments when the tightly rehearsed show suffered under the weight of Swift’s anvil-like earnestness. “Hi, I’m Taylor and I write songs about my feelings,” was her introduction to the packed house, and while it’s the fuel for some of her best songs, it also sparks some of her most cringe-worthy “banter.” Hearing her talk about the catty girls at school as a precursor to “Mean” felt more about following the script than baring the soul, while the babble about rejuvenation and new beginnings that went before — you guessed it — “Begin Again” was barely coherent.
So, although her motivational speaking is suspect, Swift’s dominance as a pop performer certainly is not, and that was emphasized again as she closed out the show with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
The sound of 18,000 fans joyously singing along only underlined that Swift has written one of those rare choruses that will see an artist through any kind of career-apocalypse.
Not that she needs to worry about such things right now. On last night’s evidence, Taylor Swift seems virtually blast-proof.