Not a lot going on at the moment, Taylor Nation.
The Blonde With The Sparkly Snake Microphone, has kept mostly to media silence except with some necessary appearances. Here at the Swift Agency, just a guy who’s steer clear of news based on rumors, we’ve already commented on the possible reasons for Taylor’s silence. At least we did get an update on what she’s been up to in her acceptance speech at the 2018 iHeartradio Music Awards when she won Female of the Year. She is, indeed, on rehearsals for her upcoming reputation Stadium Tour.
And yes, it’s a large-venue-big-cities-only tour. She’s been getting some flak for the stadium venue and ticket price upgrade. Taylor has adopted Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program where fan club members boosted their place in line via… shopping. I’m sorry, I don’t think this is/was a good plan.
Positively, a lot of scalping was cut down. This has a predictable side effect when combined with the ticket rise: shows are not sold out on the first day. This has been heaven to detractors of the Swift brand which immediately claimed failure. The outcome that both Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift are hedging their bets on is that the shows will sell out at a slower rate, but more seats will be taken by actual fans that otherwise would’ve been sold at ticket reseller sites. It’s a bit of a gamble.
The bigger gamble for fans like me, is the lack of smaller venues. I’m not crazy about large stadiums. However, I recently got a peek at the VIP invite via Just Jared and the stage’s general shape is revealed. You also got to see this if you hunted for tickets through Ticketmaster (although I’m not sure it showed up for all city shows).
Based on that shape of crossed catwalks reaching into the audience from the corners, I have to guess that is a rather large stage. It could potentially give Taylor the ability to walk further and be seen up close by more of her attending fans. This could explain why this is a large venue only tour… She might need the extra space.
That also means, that the amount of fans getting a close up are multiplied and might make it worthwhile. I’m rather optimistic about this. Plus, Taylor usually adds some sort of more-than-meets-the-eye feature (the catwalks for RED and 1989 had some sort of transformation). I’m guessing that it’s her way to compensate since the walking-into-the-crowd segment and the B stage performances are getting really hard to pull. You can’t rise to fame without getting stalkers and security concerns are not just for the star – they’re for the audience as well.
Currently I don’t have tickets or plans, but chances are that I will buy into the hype… A bit unsure to be honest. Like so many other fans, I don’t feel like a good fan for skipping it. As I usually do when I feel conflicted, I listen to a lot of music and see how much gravitational pull the new album has for me. Perhaps I will wait until news start leaking out when the first tour concerts comes along. We’ll see. No, I will not be going for that VIP ticket. That must cost an arm and a leg.
The Sparkly Dressed gave us two clips of her rehearsals for the Delicate video this past week. Have a look. Yes, I’ve heard the comparisons to an ad from Kenzo. My reference is a lot older: Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice video with Christopher Walken.
Coming up on the Calendar!
- May 8: Taylor Swift’s reputation Stadium Tour begins in Glendale, AZ.
(Sources: Taylor Swift via YouTube, Just Jared)
