Taylor Swift played her heart out at the very first concert of the Eros tour Friday night in Arizona, but admitted to some big emotions during the night.
The 33-year-old superstar oozed confidence as she sang and danced around the stage after some three years away from her last live show.
About an hour into her three hour performance, the 12-time Grammy winner spoke to the sold out audience at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona telling them ‘Is it just me or do we have a lot of things to catch up on? It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on tour.’
Taylor Swift admits to feeling ‘really overwhelmed’ on first tour date in almost five years as she performs 44-song set to 70,000 fans in Arizona
Taylor Swift played her heart out at the very first concert of the Eros tour Friday night in Arizona, but admitted to some big emotions during the night.
The 33-year-old superstar oozed confidence as she sang and danced around the stage after some three years away from her last live show.
About an hour into her three hour performance, the 12-time Grammy winner spoke to the sold out audience at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona telling them ‘Is it just me or do we have a lot of things to catch up on? It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on tour.’
‘I can’t even go into how much I’ve missed you…because there’s no way to verbalize it,’ she explained from the stage in a video captured by one lucky attendee.
The hitmaker later went on to admit she was ‘really overwhelmed, and trying to keep it together all night.’
Confidence: Taylor Swift, 33, oozed confidence as she sang and danced around the stage after some three years away from her last live show, but the hitmaker admitted to some big emotions, telling her audience ‘really overwhelmed, and trying to keep it together all night’
Taylor kicked off the show wearing a a dazzling pink rhinestone leotard, standing tall in pair of silver sparkling boots, which she wore with fishnet stockings.
The chart topper belted out songs such as Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Cruel Summer and You Need to Calm Down from the Lover era.
The show ended up featuring a staggering 44 songs throughout the evening, including the extended 10-minute version of All Too Well, which was featured as a bonus track on the rerecorded version of her hit album Red.
In total, she performed for 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Although her new Midnights songs got, including Anti-Hero, Lavender Haze and Mastermind significant spots in the setlist, Taylor made sure to play some of her recent tunes from her surprise releases from the Folklore and Evermore eras.
One of her sets featured a see-through cabin that she sat upon while singing, which was reminiscent of a set design she previously employed.
Songs in that set included Betty, Invisible String, and other tunes from the Folklore album.
She also showed off some of her guitar-playing skills with an acoustic version of her song Mirrorball.
Megastar: Swift worked her costume with confidence as she blew fans away with her opening number
Fans of Taylor’s earlier country music got a special treat toward the end of her show when she performed an acoustic version of her first-ever single, Tim McGraw, which became a top 40 hit.
The massive launch comes after Ticketmaster’s catastrophic pre-sale debacle, which left pre-verified fans waiting in a virtual line for hours and others unable to purchase tickets at all.
The organization finally apologized to Swift and her fans, citing bot attacks and massive demand as the culprits.
The controversy triggered a lawsuit from fans and a furious response from Swift herself.
Leggy: Taylor showed off her toned pins in a dazzling jumpsuit embellished with red shimmering patterns
Jaw-dropper: Taylor looked gorgeous in a fringed champagne minidress
Dominating: The U.S. leg of Taylor’s sixth headlining tour will be taking the country by storm for the next five months, concluding with a slate of Los Angeles concerts in August. After conquering Arizona this weekend, Swift will be headed to Sin City
Boogie: She showed off her incredible dance moves as she strutted down the stage in her eye-popping ensemble
Fans who were successful in getting tickets also complained about the exorbitant prices, which were due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing scheme, which raises the prize significantly when demand is high.
Other major artists including Bruce Springsteen have also been lambasted for letting the ticket seller boost the price of their tickets, which priced out many working class fans.
Fortunately, Swift still had reason to celebrate last month after she made history at the Grammys yet again.
Swift won Best Music Video for her romantic drama, All Too Well: The Short Film making her the first person to win the category with a sole directing credit for their own music video.
‘I can’t put into words what this means to me. For The Recording Academy and my peers to acknowledge me as a director, and in doing so, acknowledge my work to try and reclaim my music… I’m blown away,’ Swift tweeted after the victory.
The Look What You Made Me Do singer also thanked ‘fans who willed this to happen.’
Taylor was scheduled to play in Glendale, at the stadium briefly renamed ‘Swift City’ in her honor again Saturday.
She is set to take the stage in Las Vegas the following weekend, before heading off to Arlington, Texas and Tampa Florida for a series of dates there.
Changing it up: Taylor had several costume changes throughout her blockbuster concert
Over the top: The pop superstar looked gorgeous in a beige dress with a voluminous skirt decorated with sparkling spangles
Taking it down a notch: The singer looked impassioned during a more somber number where she got down on her knees. She was dressed in a pale purple pleated dress
New material: Taylor’s new tour is in support of her latest album, the 2022 hit Midnights
Low key: Taylor dressed down for an upbeat number in which she wore a white graphic T-shirt and sequined shorts with a black fedora
It marked Swift’s 12th Grammy Award, after earning 46 nods through her career, which has spanned multiple genres and made her arguably the most famous pop star.
Over the past few years, Swift has begun to spend more time behind the camera as the sole director of her music videos The Man (2019), Cardigan (2020), Willow (2020), Anti-Hero (2022) and Bejeweled (2022).
In December, she announced her plans to direct her first feature for an original script that she wrote.
Her project will be produced by Searchlight Pictures, which is the studio behind a number of critically-acclaimed flicks, including Nomadland and The Shape of Water.
Lovely: The show had incredible production values, and she sang one of her numbers from Folklore on top of a small see-through cabin
Set: Taylor even sat on top of the roof of an enchanted house as she performed on the first night of her tour
Gorgeous: She looked stunning in a floating purple gown as she put on quite the show for her fans
Leggy look: Another costume change revealed a black bodysuit with beaded tassels dangling from it
On point: She matched her ruby lipstick with a beaded crop top and matching mini skirt
Triumphant: The songstress beamed in a golden tasseled dress as she celebrated with her fellow performers
Old school: Taylor brought out her pink jumbo acoustic guitar for two songs toward the end of her show, an acoustic version of Folklore’s Mirrorball and her first-ever single, Tim McGraw
Having fun with it: One particularly playful number featured her fellow performers on powder blue bicycles
Doppelgängers: Another setup featured virtual version of Taylor performing in sync with her
Going all out: She was joined by a band and backup singers for another number
