Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Kicks Off European Leg in Paris: 8 Best Moments

Not only is Swift a tough act, she's tough to open for, and Paramore will be playing in front of her all summer at some of the biggest venues in Europe. So frontwoman Haley Williams introduced the band's mission: To make the audience “ripe and ready for Miss Taylor Swift.” They did just that, opening their set with the second song, a blistering cover of Talking Heads' 'Burning Down the House'. The song is half funk, half crazy deconstruction of it, and Paramore leaned into that contradiction as Williams, an energetic performer, did her best high-octane, high-clunk dance. “There's no such thing as a bad dance at a Paramore show,” he told the crowd afterwards. But since Swift's performance is polished to a high shine, Paramore's manic, messy energy made a nice contrast.

The idea that American and British artists touring Europe would attempt a few sentences in the local language dates back to a time when local audiences didn't speak English well. Nobody cares anymore. Except in the case of Swift, who only had to say one word, it enchants – literally “enchanted” but colloquially “pleased to meet you” – to drive Parisians, who are usually too cool to drive crazy. He continued in what looked like a decent accent – ​​which it was très bien and it was something else it is magnificent – and the crowd kept going crazy.

Some of the fans there were French and hadn't had a chance to see Swift before, but some came from other countries in Europe and others from the US or Canada. It was also a smart way to build energy. After Swift's countdown clock hit zero, she opened with “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” and “Cruel Summer,” then allowed herself a minute to be still without letting the crowd's energy drop. He then went into “The Man” and “You Need to Calm Down”, which no one did.

The energy of the concert never flagged, but some songs had the audience erupting with excitement. The most artfully staged was “Look What You Made Me Do,” which had the backup dancers in what looked like plastic display cases that they burst out of. The constant movement was muted, held back – then released and unleashed as the rhythm of the song seemed to make the arena shake. Sure enough, as the song goes, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Because she's dead! But the setting was about escape, rebirth, reinvention. It's the Eras tour, after all.

From Lover served as the show's opening season, after the Reputation performances ended with “Look What You Made Me Do” – and rapturous applause – by one of the younger Taylors (ca. Folklore and Forever) returned to the stage, above a transparent wooden cabin. Relaxing on the roof as audience wristbands glowed an autumnal yellow, Swift performed 'Cardigan'. It's hard to make an arena moody, but the booth set the scene and the mood lighting drove the point home: This was all about the atmosphere. It's a beautiful, ethereal song, unlike “Look What You Made Me Do,” but that's the point of having seasons in the first place.

The section of the show dedicated to Folklore and Forever it had its own kind of energy – exciting and almost spacious, rather than fast and furious. Swift explored it with eight songs – “Cardigan”, “Betty”, a particularly impressive “Champagne Problems”, “August”, a shortened “Illicit Affairs”, “My Tears Ricochet”, “Marjorie” and “Willow”. It was like a walk in the woods, followed by a crash back in town when the 1989 The segment opened with “Style,” after which Swift moved into “Blank Space,” followed by a triumphant “Shake It Off,” a short “Wildest Dreams,” and a house-bringing “Bad Blood.” The final three songs came out like a victory lap, as if Swift was justifiably proud of her quieter music but wanted to show she still had the Shake-the-stadium anthems of her first pure pop album. The stage was set for…something.

Before the show, one could hear the anticipation (in multiple languages) of whether Swift would add a new era for her new album. Consensus seemed…chanceand ended with a new video that had his visual vocabulary Department of Tormented Poets – moody, with muted tones and images of paper and, at one point, a typewriter. The applause went from loud to explosive – most people there knew enough about the regular setlist to realize that this was a departure from it and that they would be the first to see it. In a white dress, Swift leaned into it and a rendition of “But Daddy I Love Him” ​​that went straight into “So High School” made everyone realize they were seeing something truly special. Swift, who always looks happy to be wherever she appears, also seemed particularly excited. It is, quite literally, a new era.

Swift played a generous helping of new songs – “But Daddy” and “So High School” and then “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?” “Down Bad”, “Fortnight”, “The Smallest Man Who Lived” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” – all with the precision for which the entire series is known. But the live standout was “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?” that has the scornful fury of some of her earlier songs, and a light-up support video highlighted the anger in it. If this tour is Female Rage: The Musicalas Swift says, “Who's Afraid” emerged as one of the scary good numbers.

After the Tormented Poets era, Swift pulled out an acoustic guitar and, even without doing anything, created a certain amount of suspense about the songs she'd be playing on it. “There's a song I've wanted to play in the acoustic set on the Eras tour since I wrote it,” Swift said, “but I was only going to play it for the first time” – suspense! – “in a certain city”. The crowd erupted: He meant “Paris”, in Paris! It was perfectly suited to the unplugged treatment and went down great – especially in a crowd with so many people who had traveled so far to be there. Then he played “loml” on the piano, which was less obvious but still more beautiful.