The 1989 World Tour
The 1989 World Tour was the fourth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her fifth studio album, 1989. It began in Tokyo, Japan, on May 5, 2015, and concluded in Melbourne, Australia, on December 12, 2015. Spanning 85 shows, Swift announced the tour's first dates in North America, Europe, Japan and Oceania in November and December 2014, announced additional dates for Singapore and China in June 2015, and a final announcement of the third show in Melbourne was made the following month.
The tour took seven months to plan and three months to rehearse. As with her previous tours, Swift was highly involved in the 1989 World Tour's planning and stage design. She aimed to create an intimate experience for concertgoers, which she found challenging for shows held in stadiums. Most songs on the set list were from 1989; additional songs from Swift's older albums were reinterpreted with a more synth-oriented production to align with 1989
The world's highest-grossing tour of 2015, the 1989 World Tour sold over 2.278 million tickets and grossed over $250.7 million. It was acclaimed by critics, who praised Swift's stage presence and connection with the audience. Meanwhile, her appearances with an array of special guests attracted commentary regarding her new image as a pop star—having previously been known as a country singer-songwriter—and the sense of authenticity that she had maintained. On December 20, 2015, Swift released the concert film The 1989 World Tour Live in partnership with Apple Music. Filmed at the November 28, 2015 show at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, the film features additional behind-the-scenes footage of special guests from other shows throughout North America and Europe.
Background and development
Swift released her fifth studio album 1989 on October 27, 2014. The synth-pop album was her first to be marketed as pop music, departing from her image as a country artist. It was a commercial success, selling over one million copies within its first week of release in the United States. On November 3, 2014, via her Twitter account, Swift announced the first details of her world tour in support of 1989. Australian singer Vance Joy was announced as an opening act, and the ticket sale for the North American leg was confirmed for November 14.In a November 2014 interview with Time magazine, Swift said that the set list would primarily consist of songs from 1989. She included new versions of songs from her older catalog to maintain the cohesive, synth-heavy production of 1989 while also keeping the "live feel" of her performances. Swift, as always, was heavily involved in the tour's planning and production design. She acknowledged the challenge of playing in stadiums, expressing her goal for "those people in the very top row feel like they got an intimate, personal experience". In an interview with KIIS-FM in December 2014, she revealed that she knew what the stage would look like, as well as knowing that "all the fans seem to be saying that they really don't want any song left off the setlist".
Swift first announced the North American and European dates in November 2014. The tour was set to kick off in Bossier City, Louisiana on May 20, 2015, and conclude in Tampa, Florida on October 31, 2015. Additional shows were added across the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, and the Netherlands. One month after announcing the first dates, Swift added further shows in Japan, and Australia. The opening show of the tour would be in Japan in May 2015, and the shows in Australia would take place in November and December 2015. In June 2015, Swift announced more shows in China and Singapore in November 2015. The following month, Swift announced a third show in Melbourne, Australia, which would serve as the closing show of the 1989 World Tour on December 12, 2015. Opening acts were Vance Joy, Shawn Mendes, Haim, and James Bay.
The tour required seven months of planning and three months of music rehearsals, including four weeks of stage rehearsals and 10 days of two-a-day dress rehearsals. Swift traveled for the tour with 26 semi-trailer trucks and 11 buses carrying 146 people from city to city. Additionally, about 125 to 150 people were hired in each city to help with the load-in and stage setup, which took between six and eight hours for arenas and an additional day in stadiums. Swift chose two designs for the trucks' vinyl wrap, with 13 trucks per design. Concertgoers were given light-up bracelets that were programmed to change color throughout the show, a practice that was later implemented in Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour and the Eras Tour.
Concert synopsis
The concert begins with black-and-white projections of street scenes, which subsequently serves as the backdrop to the performance of "Welcome to New York". Swift then emerges from beneath the stage to sing the song, followed by "New Romantics" surrounded by a dozen male dancers. Next, Swift sings "Blank Space" before erupting into a call-and-response climax where she strikes a golf club against a black lacquer cane whilst also shouting the name of the city where the concert is being held. Swift proceeds with an industrial rock-oriented version of "I Knew You Were Trouble", which she performs as shirtless male dancers delivered a sensual choreography.After the performance of "I Wish You Would", Swift appears in a glowing pink polka-dot two piece dress to perform "How You Get the Girl", accompanied by a choreography inspired by the 1952 musical Singin' in the Rain that is performed by the dancers twirling neon umbrellas. The show continues with "I Know Places", during which Swift wears thigh-high black boots and garters. The song's intense lyrics and production are accompanied by a performance of Swift being chased by the masked dancers through multiple mobile doors as she sings "They are the hunters / We are the foxes." After the song ends, Swift performs "All You Had to Do Was Stay", followed by either "You Are in Love" or a different surprise song at several shows. "All You Had to Do Was Stay" is excluded from the set list for several shows. Swift introduces "Clean" by sharing lessons she had learned in her personal life with her audience. After "Clean", Swift performs a synth-oriented version of "Love Story" while standing on an elevated platform that whisks around the stadium.
Swift proceeds with "Style", during which she performs while strutting down the runway-styled stage in a sparkling dress, and "This Love". For the performance of "Bad Blood", Swift dresses in a top-to-toe black leather suit. She then delivers an intense rock version of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" on an electric guitar. Afterwards, Swift emerges from beneath the stage again to perform a mashup of "Enchanted" and "Wildest Dreams" on a grand piano. She follows with "Out of the Woods" in a sparkling catsuit as giant paper planes fly overhead. The show concludes with "Shake It Off", during which Swift and the dancers perform on a spinning platform above the crowd with fireworks and confetti.
Adjustments and special guests
The shows on the 1989 World Tour features a nearly identical set list spanning the majority of the 1989 album, with the exception of the deluxe track "Wonderland". Different shows have different guest star appearances intertwined between Swift's performances. For select shows, Swift replaced "You Are in Love" with "Wonderland", or songs from her earlier albums. These included "Should've Said No" ; "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen" and "Fearless" ; "Mean", "Sparks Fly" and "Mine" ; "Holy Ground", "All Too Well", and "Red". During the second show in Santa Clara, California on August 15, 2015, Swift dedicated "Never Grow Up" to her godson, the second child of her friend, actress Jaime King. During the show in Glendale, Arizona, on August 17, Swift performed "Ronan" in dedication to Maya Thompson, the song's cowriter, and her late son.A feature of the 1989 World Tour that attracted attention was the array of unannounced special guests that Swift invited onstage with her. Swift explained during an interview with Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio that since her fans could have expected what the show would look like through social media posts prior to attending, she wanted to incorporate an element of surprise: "They know the set list, they know the costumes, they've looked it up. That presented me with an interesting issue. I love the element of surprise… so going into this tour, having people pop on stage that you didn't expect to see." Though Swift had invited musicians onstage with her during previous tours, this time, she invited singers, models, athletes, and actors—public figures across "every type of field". A notable example was the show at London's Hyde Park in July 2015, during which she was joined onstage by models Martha Hunt, Kendall Jenner, Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, and Cara Delevingne, who were subsequently noted by the media as members of Swift's "squad" and her representation of her newly established feminist identity. While some of the guests were scheduled beforehand, others were improvised; Swift asked singer John Legend to join her onstage only 40 minutes prior to showtime, after spotting him in the audience.
As the tour continued, special guests ranged from Hollywood actress Julia Roberts to counterculture figure Joan Baez. Nick Levine from the BBC observed that while these special guests were well appreciated by Swift's fans, their appearances gave the impression to others that Swift did so to prove her star power of her new image as a pop star, having abandoned her previous image as a country artist. In doing so, Swift's sense of authenticity began to slip, despite her global stardom. Kristy Fairclough, a professor in popular culture and film, commented: "Her shifting aesthetic and allegiances appear confusing in an overall narrative that presents Taylor Swift as the centre of the cultural universe." Fairclough asserted that while Swift had presented herself as an underdog and outsider from her contemporaries, which had garnered her a devoted fan base, she began to appear as "a profoundly unsympathetic underdog" for being a "globally famous, attractive, thin, white, very wealthy woman". When the tour ended, Swift acknowledged that "people might need a break from ". New York magazine listed Swift's "squad" as one of the defining moments of music in the 2010s decade.