Detour 1989

Look at that pun at the title. I'm that good I thought of it as I wrote it. Anyway, I know that my blog is supposed to talk about movies (hence the name), but I'm still so excited I don't know what else to write. So on May 5th, it was the first show of Taylor Swift's 1989 Tour ever. I was one of the fifty thousand people who attended the show in Tokyo Dome. Wait, come to think of it, it still has some relevance to movies. Taylor Swift was in The Giver although only for like 8 seconds. Yeah, I don't feel guilty of posting this anymore in my blog that is supposed to be about movies--if you need to protest, I will shake it off.

Back to the concert, it was so perfect. Other than the fact that when I got there, most of the merch were sold out and we had to wait in line for around one hour to buy them--or the fact that I didn't got selected to Loft '89..... This is getting a bit fanboy-ish. Well, I've been wanting to see Taylor since she visited Singapore on 2011 for Speak Now Tour. After four years, finally I got in. Actually last year, I almost went to her concert too but man, it was sold out like within seconds. Literally seconds. It's hard to compete with these kids in Japan who might be her biggest and most hardcore fans. I mean look at the people who dressed up with her cheerleader costume in Shake it Off music video (this one's a favorite), her Halloween unicorn costume, her 'Ew!' skit with Jimmy Fallon costume, and even her Great Britain flag outfit from the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Talk about dedication (and it's kind of amazing that I know where these costumes are from).

I think this period of Taylor Swift's career is just the perfect time to attend the concert. Before, we've heard that Taylor's so bad at singing live and she kinda did if you look at her early live videos but now, she can definitely sing like a pro. And she's just so sexy and pretty now. It's just the best. She predictably starts the show with 'Welcome to New York' but with so much swagger--the screen started with New York buildings and then lights!-enter Taylor Swift and her amazing dancers. Then proceed to 'New Romantics', it's so good that even the screen has that dreamy filters turned on.

Her 'Blank Space' performance was quite the experience. Before the last chorus of the song, she looped her voice screaming Tokyo and proceeded with singing the secondary melody of the lyrics 'boys only want love if it's torture / don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you'. It was amazing. And then she surprised us all with a killer version of her pseudo-dubstep hit 'I Knew You Were Trouble' but with a way better, way cooler arrangement--1989 style. Prior to the start of the shows, we were given bracelets and those bracelets can light up. And in 'Trouble' it lighted up so cool. I just cannot describe this. It was p-e-r-f-e-c-t. And guys, this is only the fourth song!

She changed her clothes-her second out of ten-and then proceeded to sing normal versions of 'I Wish You Would' and 'How You Get The Girl'. During her outfit change, there's this video that featured Lena Dunham, Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevigne, and HAIM, just to name a few, talking about her. It's so funny, I don't know whether the Japanese audience got it fully. I mean, a girl behind me was asking her friend what is single to her friend. Duh. 'I Know Places' comes next--my favorite--and along with it a door-opening, show-stopping dance choreography followed by 'All You Had To Do Was Stay'.

She then comes to the front of the stage with her guitar, acoustically singing 'You Are In Love' and then the stage RISES. THE STAGE RISES. I'm not saying metaphorically. The stage actually, literally rises! She followed that with 'Clean'--another favorite of mine--with a very amazing, 'Style' music video-style graphics. It's just so gorgeous. So GORGEOUS. I'm betting those are unused footage from 'Style' though. Yeah, those True Detective opening style things. And then she brought the audience wild (and me wilder than the rest of them) with her 1989-style 'Love Story'. I think that's a mandatory song or else, some Swiftie Yakuza member is going to burn the dome down after the show.

Another costume change and she sang my all time 1989 favorite 'Style'. I. Went. Wild. That song gets even better when she sings it live. Then she sang 'This Love'. After another costume change, she brought fire to the screen and change the mood completely with 'Bad Blood', which gets better when sang live and with a slightly different arrangement from the recording. She followed that rock-and-roll aura to her most un-rock-and-roll-ish song 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'. I never fully understand the hype for that song, but this rock version should be getting a proper recording because it's that good. Then she changed into an outfit similar to Karlie Kloss' and delivered 'Enchanted' with a twist--mashed up with 'Wildest Dreams' That is like the mash-up of perfection. I'm sorry I'm so in love with this concert. After that she sang 'Out Of The Woods' and exited.

After seeing so much of Lena Dunham and friends, this time it's Taylor Swift on the screen with her cats. I don't usually watch cat videos but this one's really cute. Then it's 'Shake It Off' time! It was so energetic, the stage was spinning with her and the dancers and that was the end of the show! It was around two hours of happiness and perfection. The dancers were crazy good. The light show was a freaking spectacle. And her performance is so much better than even your best expectations. Thank you, Taylor.

I actually can imagine myself like 30 years from now, attending a Taylor Swift Greatest Hits concert and still freak out at her every song. I guess that's what would happen when your high school breakups were consoled by Taylor Swift's 'Breathe'. Or when your breakups got even worse when you heard 'I Almost Do'. Or you had an emotional breakdown when you first heard 'The Last Time' because it hit home badly. (Cringe all you want, even Dwayne Johnson sang 'Shake It Off' on Lip Sync Battle)

See you in every concert after this! I swear I'm going to wear a kick ass costume next time that you need to hold a special aftershow meet-and-greet with me alone. (That's not creepy at all). Anyway, replaying 'Wonderland' because somehow she forgot to play this in the show.