Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour is DC’s Pop Concert of the Year

Big reputation. Big delivery. Taylor Swift rocked the DC area’s biggest venue, FedEx Field, for two nights on July 10-11, leaving behind any talk of the haters and players she sings about in her ever-so-catchy songs. What fans received at Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour was nothing but praise and gratitude for simply being a fan and sticking by her side, singing her songs all these years. Taylor Swift is at the top of all my friends’ best concerts lists, so for me, seeing her for the first time here at FedEx was a no-brainer. With three stages, exceptional lighting, huge inflatable snakes, dazzling costumes and a perfectly lit stadium that seemed to make all your problems disappear, the performances she gave in DC set the bar extremely high.

Taylor Swift opened in Landover, MD with “…Ready for it?” and ended with “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” Her setlist included mainly songs from her recent Reputation album and a few oldies but goodies, like an energetic performance of “Love Story” (Fearless, 2008),  a slow piano mash-up of “Long Live”  and “New Year’s Day” (Speak Now, 2010), and an acoustic version of “State of Grace” (Red, 2012). Though she doesn’t dip into songs from her very first album on this tour, fans can still enjoy hearing almost all the Reputation songs that we’ve listened to prior to this day, live with such power and passion behind each vocal effort.

Some other memorable moments included Swift hanging in a lit-up sparkling basket gliding in the air from one stage to another singing “Delicate,” making fans’ dreams come true as she walked from that second stage to the third while shaking hands and throwing smiles at the people who were lucky enough to have floor seats right near her pathway, and coming back to the stage in her unique suspended form of stage transportation singing an enchanting rendition of “Wildest Dreams.” It was also a total jam fest when she brought out her openers/gal pals Charli XCX and Camila Cabello to dance and sing to one of my favorite feel-good tunes, “Shake It Off.” Nothing, however, topped her finale performance of a greatest-of-all-time mash-up “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together “/ “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” With cool guitars, a grand piano,  insanely brilliant choreography and blazing fire — Taylor still had more for us to get giddy over: show-stopping fireworks rocketing from the stage under the starry night sky at FedEx Field.

There wasn’t a bad seat in the house — the magic of her red-hot show could be felt throughout the whole stadium. Taylor Swift left the drama behind and made her Reputation World Tour all about the music, production and the fans. See the rest of the tour dates at www.taylorswift.com.

FedEx Field: 1600 Fedex Way, Landover, MD; www.redskins.com/stadium/