Column: Eras is epic at Arrowhead

PAXSON HAWS/THE FORUM
Taylor Swift performs at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday, July 7.

I’ve always been a big connoisseur of concerts and music throughout my life. My first concert was Dierks Bentley years ago at Bearcat Stadium and I’ve continued to attend as I’ve gotten older.

I’ve seen artists such as Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, One Direction, George Strait, The Jonas Brothers, Miranda Lambert, The 1975 and more.

But my most recent in demand concert, the first night of Taylor Swift’s stop at Arrowhead Stadium as part of The Eras Tour, might make its way to the top of my list of the best shows I’ve seen.

The tour, in which each performance lasts just over three hours and features 44 songs, has designated sets and costumes for each “era” — or album — Swift has gone through, aside from her debut album.

But her set for the Speak Now album has always been the simplest, featuring just one song as Swift waltzes down the stage in a magnificent ball gown.

When she stepped on stage to perform the lone “Speak Now” song called “Enchanted,” she debuted a new layered purple ball gown. Then she shocked the crowd by performing an additional song from the album “Long Live” which she performed with her notorious blue-koi-fish-decorated guitar from her Speak Now tour in 2011.

It was a highly anticipated moment as rumors of the guitar’s removal from the Country Music Hall of Fame spread online earlier in the week. “Long Live” was also a song many had been hoping for as one of the surprise songs. The surprise song section at each show features two songs that change each night and are the most looked forward to part of the show.

It’s such a huge moment during the set list that hundreds of thousands of people from around the world tune into the show via various live streams on Instagram and TikTok.

The cheering hit a whole new level of loudness when Swift announced another surprise of the night. So loud it registered to my ears as a staticky roar, difficult to differentiate the voices of even the people right next to me.

I’m not aware if anyone took a decibel reading during the show, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it came close to that of the world record noise level set at Arrowhead Stadium in 2014.

The surprise? The premiere of a new music video for one of the vault tracks on the album starring actors Taylor Lautner, Joey King and Presley Cash.

“From the Vault” tracks are songs she wrote when she originally wrote the album but were cut from the album before release.

Following the music video, Swift brought the three actors out on stage to introduce them to the crowd and thank them for their performance. For those unaware, having Lautner there was a huge moment for fans and Swift as the pair dated around the time she originally recorded “Speak Now” and one of the songs on the album is about Lautner.

Then she performed her two surprise songs, “Never Grow Up” — which she has never performed live before — and “When Emma Fell in Love,” another vault track.

I’ve truly never experienced a concert quite like this one, and I’ve already attended The Eras Tour as a fan back in April. It felt like a whole night dedicated to celebrating this one album despite her playing songs from nine of her 10 albums.

I have several other concerts lined up to attend this year but I highly doubt anything comes close to night one of The Eras Tour in Kansas City.

Paxson Haws is a reporter for The Maryville Forum and the Grant City Times-Tribune.

PAXSON HAWS/THE FORUM
Taylor Swift performs at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday, July 7.