Taylor Swift Impresses at Staples Center

Home icon Home»Concert Reviews»Taylor Swift Impresses at Staples Center

Written by Chris Johnson

American country pop singer Taylor Swift was at it once again Friday, April 10th, singing to an almost sold out crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This was the second show in Los Angeles and only the fourth show in California for the second leg of her Fearless Tour, which originally started with a sold out 52-city roadmap and was considered to be one of the most attended tours of 2009.

Starting off the night was country band Gloriana, this (congratulations guys!) band was just named the 2010 Academy of Country Music's Top New Vocal Group. With songs like “How Far Do You Wanna Go?” I found myself singing along, even though I didn’t even know the words! This four person band made up of two brothers, Tom Gossin and Mike Gossin, with Cheyenne Kimball (2002 winner of the competition America's Most Talented Kid) and Rachel Reinert had everybody on their feet.

Next was 5th season American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler. Since American Idol she has sold over 800,000 copies of her album, “Small Town Girl” which has been certified Gold by the RIAA – and I think the audience made up a large percentage of that because the screams didn’t stop from the beginning of her set. With her bedazzled microphone and singing a short set including her hits “Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You” and “Don't You Know That You're Beautiful”, the audio problems with her mic were almost un-noticeable since everybody was still screaming. This ex Idoler has learned a lot and grown up as a singer since last I remember her, from American Idol. I think it’s safe to say she will be headlining her own tour in a few years.

Before Taylor Swift, the girl next door from Pennsylvania, started her set with “You Belong To Me”, you could tell people were pumped. Screaming girls of all ages waiting for their beloved Taylor Swift, who came out dressed up like a high school band member, to start the night.

Midway through her set, Taylor Swift made her way to the middle of the stadium to continue singing with a few acoustical versions of her songs, during which time she hugged, shook hands with and even gave little kisses to hyperventilating boy fans on the way. I seriously thought we were going to see people pass out.

Taylor Swift also combined Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around...Comes Around“ with her own “You're Not Sorry”. It was followed by "Picture to Burn" which got the entire audience on their feet and singing along before walking off stage. After, one of her guitarists came out and asked for encore screams by pretending to be an orchestra conductor, signaling who should be screaming, when and for how long. And did they ever. If there was a concert at the LA Live/Nokia Theatre across the street I think it’s a safe bet to say they for sure heard the screams. Just imagine some 15,000 girl fans screaming.

Well, it worked. Taylor came out to complete her set with encore performances of “Today Was A Fairy Tale” and “Should’ve Said No” before closing out the set for real.

I went into the concert not knowing what to think and not being much of a fan. I really knew absolutely nothing about Taylor Swift to be honest. I, however, left knowing that this girl has raw talent which was obvious from her performance tonight. Her singing ability is beyond phenomenal and every other aspect of the show, from the crowd interaction, to the theatrics on the stage, was just pure entertainment. She successfully bridges rock and country in a way that is appealing to music fans of all shapes and sizes.

The entire setlist:
You Belong With Me / Our Song / Tell Me Why / Teardrops On My Guitar / Fearless / Forever & Always / Hey Stephen / Fifteen / Tim McGraw / White Horse / Love Story / The Way I Loved You / You're Not Sorry/What Goes Around, Comes Around / Picture To Burn + Today Was A Fairytale / Should've Said No