Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

[mr_rating_result]

Attention Swifties: I normally review a film simultaneous with its release date … but I can’t afford to wait to tell you about the new Taylor Swift concert film coming to the Tropic Cinema, else tickets will be sold out.

In the past Taylor Swift has “broken” Ticketmaster with her live concerts, so you can expect demand to be high for the filmed version of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”

Directed by Sam Wrench and produced by Swift, this concert film is scheduled to come to the Tropic on October 13. So you’d better lock in your seat.

Taylor Swift Eras attire and friendship bracelets are strongly encouraged!

Leave it to the iconoclastic singer to break the rules, bypassing the major movie studios. After negotiations with the studios fell through, Swift struck an unprecedented distribution agreement directly with AMC Theaters and Cinemark Theaters.

This mega tour spans 17 years of music, 44 songs in all. The program is divided into 10 sets, one for each studio album she has released over her phenomenal career.

Director Sam Wrench, who previously helmed “Billie Eilish: Live at the O2” and “Lizzo: Live in Concert” recorded the film at the first three of six Los Angeles shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SAG-AFTRA permitted production to proceed amidst the 2023 strike because it met “the same standards the unions are seeking in their negotiations with the studios.”

The Eras Tour itself was met with unprecedented ticket demand. On September 1, 2023, AMC reported that the tour had grossed $26 million within three hours on its platform, marking the highest-ever single-day advance ticket sales in the company’s history.

Vanity Fair opined that the film arrived “just when moviegoing needs it most.” Rolling Stone named “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” as one of the “Must-See Movies of Fall 2023.” Deadline Hollywood and USA Today declared the film would “save” the late 2023 theater box office.

Newsweek noted that Swift and AMC’s partnership “has the potential to rewrite the rules” of film distribution. National Association of Theater Owners says the success of “The Eras Tour” indicates the potential of concert films in theaters.

The Daily Telegraph praised Swift as “the greatest tactician in showbusiness.”

As all Swifties know, 33-year-old Taylor Alison Swift is a singer-songwriter who has put her stamp on the music industry. She began her professional career at age 14 as a country singer.

Swift is known for her musical versatility and artistic reinventions. After six country music albums, her next one explored country pop. That was followed by one showing rock influences, then one with electronic elements, and then a synth-pop album, and one with a touch of hip-hop. Her latest releases embrace indie folk, alternative rock, and chill-out styles. She been described as a “music chameleon.”

In addition to 12 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift has been listed in Rolling Stone’s Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Artists, Time’s 100, and the Forbes Celebrity 100.

In addition, she claims 40 American Music Awards, 29 Billboard Awards, 12 Country Music Association Awards, three IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Awards, and 101 Guinness World Records.

Having sold over 200 million records globally, Taylor Swift’s net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $740 million, making her the richest female musician in US history with music as the main source of income.

Taylor Swift, of course, is known for her dating history and her songs that reflect these relationships. Her confessional lyrics have received positive reviews from music critics. Supermarket tabloids often speculate about which of her ex-lovers are mirrored in a song, a practice she criticizes as sexist. Aside from clues in album liner notes, she avoids talking about the subjects of her songs.

She has been called a “preternaturally skilled” entertainer with a vibrant stage presence, “a rare gift of turning a stadium spectacle into an intimate setting,” irrespective of “whether she is plucking a guitar or leading an army of dancers.”

Taylor Swift says of The Eras Tour: “It’s not just a tour. I just sort of feel like my life finally feels like it makes sense … I’ve just never been this happy in my life in all aspects of my life ever.”

She says to her fans – the Swifties – “I just want to thank you for being a part of that.”

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com