Taylor Swift Brings a Wild, Magical Weekend in Denver

All Photos: Gerardo Federico

Many thousands of Swifties joined in a pilgrimage to Empower Field in Denver last weekend, all to celebrate the music of Taylor Swift. And they did it together through singalongs, loving best friends, and in total, unbridled joy.

The massive crowds were made up of groups of friends, couples, and families – every age was represented on the lovely Friday summer evening I got to attend. Even millions of photos taken by superfans could not quite capture the smiles, the anticipation, or the bright faces of people awaiting to see Swift in real life.

Taylor Swift is the biggest musical star in the world, and her sets showed that.

It’s been five years since the Reputation Tour graced Colorado, and there have been four albums released in that time: Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022). Combined with all her previous work, the singer-songwriter created a performance using the Eras theme by offering ten acts representing her ten studio albums over 44 songs – plus two surprise songs: (Friday, July 14) – ‘Picture To Burn’ and ‘Timeless’ and (Saturday, July 15) – ‘Starlight’ and ‘Back To December’.

The Eras flowed out like this:

Lover – Swift opened with ‘Miss Americana & The Heartbeat Prince’ after a clock a la Times Square counted down the first note. The crowd swooned in awe as the artist and her crew of dancers – bedecked with gigantic attachments resembling something between peacock plumage and butterfly wings – filled the stadium’s stage that nearly covered the football field. This was a big start for a show that would get much bigger. ‘Cruel Summer’ had the entire stadium singing along (scream-singing, really) and set a low bar that would just keep climbing. “The Archer” showcased Taylor’s powerful voice and would be on point all night.

Fearless – Three loved songs from the beginning of Swift’s career came next: ‘Fearless’, ‘You Belong With Me’ and ‘Love Story.’ Each were sung loudly enough to hear from space, note for note, even by fans who were barely alive when they were written and released. Also, the more country-tinged style of these songs had the diverse crowd of hipsters, suburbanites, drag queens, dancing bros, and out of staters all celebrating together.

Songs sung loudly enough to hear from space, note for note, by fans barely alive when they were written.

evermore – The five songs from the year of the pandemic were not as much a party as a perfect exhale. To feel the songwriter’s heart-felt touches on romance and personal growth was profound. ‘tis the damn season’ stood out – a song from this woman who can take us all back to our first loves – the ones still occupying sweet spaces in our hearts. ‘willow’ got the crowd back singing along as Taylor made sure to preserve the connection. 

reputation – This album’s era delivered a tougher version of Swift, complete with snakes on huge screens. ‘…Ready For It?’ and ‘Don’t Blame Me’ encouraged people to really start going crazy as bodies were slamming into each other – not quite a mosh pit, but pretty damned close. The diversity of the songs and performance was quite the spectacle, and the whole stadium soaked all of it in.

Speak Now – Released earlier in the month under the Taylor’s ‘Version’ style, she added ‘Long Live’ after the beautiful version of ‘Enchanted’ to the delight of the fans. As I mentioned before, the secret song ‘Timeless’ was performed as well. I would have loved a few more from this album, and many agreed as the re-release of the album rocketed to number 1 on the charts with its release. But this act was so powerful, I might not have been able to handle it.

Red – Beginning with a clever intro of other songs from this album then ending with the ten minute version of ‘All Too Well’, one that felt wonderfully concise. Red grabbed members of the crowd even deeper as they sang with passion of their hero. ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ was a powerful message of empowerment that offered closure and opportunity for the future. 

folklore – Seven songs from the first album released in 2020 that dropped as the world had slowed down from the pandemic. Maybe people were able to feel even more as the crowd listened to ‘the 1’ and others with reverence. ‘cardigan’ got the people moving again and singing as we knew what was still coming.

1989 – The boom was delivered again with ‘Style’ from the iconic 1989 album. ‘Wildest Dreams’ had us dancing in with best friends we’d just met, and Swift’s musical troupe smiled as they led the crowd to new levels. ‘Blank Space’ and ‘Bad Blood’ offered tough versions of pop music in this setting that wasn’t to be reckoned with. This woman is the biggest musical star in the world and this set showed that.

We were dancing in with best friends we’d just met…

Midnights –  The most recent album was the final act, but Swift was just getting started. So many people screaming “It’s me, Hi, I’m the problem, it’s me” was so cathartic as we all knew this might be ending – but we were going to hold on to this night to its last breath. ‘Vigilante Shit’ built the drive to the last few songs: ‘Bejeweled’, ‘Mastermind’ and ‘Karma’. The pop star offered music that stands against anything out now, and to deliver in this setting with immaculate production, it was downright astounding.