Before the first date of , there was a lot of speculation about which song would start the concert with. That’s how little was known about the show, which go on to be . Would the setlist stay in order of her discography, beginning with her self-titled debut album and close with (that came half true!), or did she have something else in mind? I was there in Glendale, Arizona, for opening night, and as the digital clock ticked down to zero and the dancers took the stage attached to flowing, morning sky-colored clamshells, all us Swifties in attendance were somewhere between screaming from excitement and holding our breath in anticipation for the unknown.
And then: “It’s been a long time coming...
” It had been a long time coming since Swift’s last tour before . The concluded in November 2018. Less than a year later, in August 2019 (five years ago today!), Swift released her seventh studio album , a colorful return to open-hearted love songs.
Swift was going to support the album at international festivals in 2020, followed by two shows each at SoFi Stadium in California and Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, dubbed as and , respectively. Those dates were to feature “Taylor Swift and Friends” and . But then the pandemic happened, and the tour, scheduled from June to August, was canceled.
Save for a few , the live debut of wouldn’t come until the opening era of in 2023. has an interesting standing in Swift’s discography. The top-selling album of 2019 has some of he.