Taylor Swift at Aviva Stadium, Dublin on June 28th 2024

“I’m going to Taylor Swift on Friday, are you around?” An everyday Whatsapp, if ever you saw one, apart from the fact that it landed with us from a friend of many years who lives in Ohio. And yes, the journey was exclusively to see Taylor Swift play the Aviva. If the stellar status of the current Queen of pop ever needed some kind of personal wow moment, this was mine.

In fact, the sheer scale and cultural pervasiveness of the Taylor Swift brand makes it genuinely difficult to review her. Her journey from country singer to pop behemoth has made who she’s dating headline news; fostered think pieces on how what she says or doesn’t say might impact the US election; and helped grow a large industry around beads. Her mere presence in Ireland had Today FM building a beach sign saying ‘Ireland: Taylor’s Version’ the size of two Olympic Swimming pools.

In short, reviewing Taylor Swift is not unlike reviewing The Beatles: ultimately, does your take actually matter at all? Does anyones, anymore? I mean, probably not. She quite simply sits above it all.

But let’s put that aside. There’s an air of celebration around the Aviva on a warm Friday night. Hundreds have turned out without tickets, just to listen from outside, and claim picnic spots on every free piece of grass. Those beads are being exchanged, and Taylor branded cake shops have popped up outside a number of driveways. Inside the arena, beneath a sea of colourful cowboy hats, there’s a sense of intense anticipation. Its volume rises minute by minute as Taylor’s arrival approaches.

For those unfamiliar with the set up, the Eras tour is something of a Taylor Swift career flashback. At over three hours, it explores her story so far across sections associated with her albums, with Swift hopping off stage for an outfit change as the stage set up slowly transforms between each album-themed segment.

Given Swift entered this particular show with five albums in the top ten of the Irish album charts, it’s hard to argue anything she plays isn’t a ‘hit’, but the bigger moments come thick and fast as we’re propelled into ‘Lover’ with giant floating wings, a sparklingly lively rendition of radio smash ‘Cruel Summer’ and feminist anthem ‘The Man’. Of course, most of the crowd knows exactly what’s coming: amongst the 45 song setlist, there are only two tracks that change each night, but that in no way seems to dim the excitement as each track kicks in.

‘Fearless’ brings with it the title track and Shakespeare-inspired ‘Love Story’, which prompts a massive singalong, but it’s in ‘Red’ where the energy of the concert reaches its first real high, with back to back power pop anthems ‘22’, ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ and ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ seeing Swift pass the mic to her dancer during the middle of the three to yell “póg mo thóin” after the spoken word verse.

After the bigger hits, ‘All Too Well’, a rawer, quieter moment than much of the choreograph-heavy content that preceded it, is a crowd favourite, stretched to ten minutes of simple and emphatic singalong, and reaching a massive crescendo as the crowd scream “fuck the patriarchy” mid way through.

The woman herself, by the by, is clearly enjoying herself. If facial expressions could tell a story, hers tell it well: there’s well-rehearsed hair flicks to the camera and she emphatically struts through the heart of the stadium on her massive mid-arena platform, that stretches two thirds of the way to the back wall. A lot of it is planned, of course, but there also seems to be genuine emotion and camaraderie that flows from the singer into the crowd. It comes to the fore when she picks out crowd members to acknowledge, placing her hat on a young fan’s head midsong, or insisting that she’s performing with, rather than for, her audience.

‘Reputation’ and the section that contains both ‘Folklore’ and tracks from its sister album ‘Evermore’ are a nice mid-section for the contrast they offer. While ‘Reputation’ is somewhat sultry and punchy, with ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ a fiery highlight and Taylor clad in one-legged lycra, the ‘Folklore’ selection has a very different feel.

In fact, Swift comments on how ‘Irish’ it all feels, as she sits atop a grass covered wooden cabin surrounded by pop-up trees to explore what is essentially her Covid content. It’s an album less designed for stadium big bash drama, and more for fireplace intimacy. ‘Champagne Problems’ – which receives a standing ovation of a couple of minutes – and ‘Willow’ feel like something of an early days throwback, a nod to a simpler version of Swift as an artist that’s more charming and comfortable than stadium bombast.

Naturally, ‘1989’, that follows immediately afterwards, is lined up as the big hitting glittery contrast, with ‘Blank Space’ and ‘Shake It Off’ served up back to back in perhaps the most punchy moment of the whole night, all in a costume representing the Irish flag.

‘Tortured Poets Department’ is another slick, vibrant corner, with ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ offering the highlight, before the much-touted secret set. The only element of the show that’s not identical night after night  delivers a simply presented guitar double up of ‘State of Grace’ and ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’, before Swift sits down at the piano to perform ‘Sweet Nothing’ ahead of the extended finale.

‘Midnights’, with the sun going down, is the final ‘Era’, and in it we’re treated to a casual looking Swift in supersize on screen, knocking over buildings and swatting away helicopters on the backdrop to ‘Anti-Hero’, before the pace is lifted to one last manic peak amid ‘Mastermind’ and ‘Bejewelled’.

As the fireworks and confetti rain over the Aviva, a raucous standing ovation rattles around the arena and we notice a few tears shed. To regular gig goers, a Taylor Swift show might feel like it sits somewhere between a gig and a live music video, either way it’s an endlessly euphoric singalong that’s at least part-powered by the most dedicated fanbase you’re likely to come across. For those who don’t understand the hype, seeing arguably the biggest artist of the 21st Century live might make it hard to deny there’s something a touch special about it all.

As the fireworks explode over the closing moments of ‘Karma’, and Taylor uses yet another stage elevator to disappear into the bowels of the Aviva, tens of thousands of people have been given the night of their lives. Was it the night of our lives? Not really, though we’ll remember the sheer choreographed polish and bounce along beauty of the experience for a long time. That said, if all shows came with such a sense of blissful community and positivity, there’s no question the world would be a better place.