reputation Stadium Tour
2018
«I learned a really important lesson that I've been telling you from the stage for about ten years but I never had to learn it so harshly myself. And that lesson has to do with how much you value your reputation. And I think that the lesson is that you shouldn't care so much if you feel misunderstood by a lot of people who don't know you, as long as you feel understood by the people who do know you.»
Taylor Swift
Table of Contents
Background and Development
On November 13, 2017, Taylor announced the first round of dates for the tour jointly with Ticketmaster. Tickets went on sale to the general public on December 13, 2017 (Taylor’s 28th birthday).
On March 1, 2018, Taylor officially announced Camila Cabello and Charli XCX as the opening acts for the “reputation Stadium Tour”. Camila was previously speculated as the opening act due to the fact that her “Never Be the Same Tour” dates didn’t coincide with Taylor’s tour; Portland’s Live 95.5 even announced her in a sweepstake for the July 22, 2018 concert at the Wembley Stadium in London through a since-deleted post on Twitter, a day before Taylor confirmed her as the opening act. On May 8, 2018, Taylor announced 2 shows in Tokyo, with Charli XCX as the opening act.
The Show
Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” faded as the lights dimmed and the screens poured out talk-show soundbytes about Taylor. In keeping with the theme of reputation, the stadium show opened with a black-and-white retrospective montage featuring some of the many headlines — the good, the bad and the very ugly — that Taylor had made over the years. After one reporter announced, “Taylor Swift is in hot water again” and another whined, “She holds too many grudges,” the word “reputation” began to repeat as the woman at the center of it all took the stage.
Next up was the much sweeter “Gorgeous” where Taylor took a break and introduced each and every one of her female back up singers and dancers to the crowd, putting their faces up on the big screen. Interestingly, for a huge mainstream artist, the show was not as much of a hit-fest as some might have expected, with much of the set focussed on material from Taylor’s latest album. The first song she performed that was not off of reputation was “Style,” from 1989 (2014), which morphed into “Love Story” and then “You Belong With Me” from her second album, Fearless (2008).


As the video screens created a starry backdrop and the audience wristbands lit up to create waves of color throughout the stands, Taylor explained why she was so afraid of earning herself a bad reputation, which basically came down to her feeling like it would stop her from having something real. Real friendships, real love, real encounters with people she might otherwise miss out on because of earning herself a bad reputation due to gossip. It all is really… “Delicate” (1, 2, 3, LET’S GO, BITCH). She sang the song on a small platform wrapped in golden fairy lights (a gold cage in which she was hostage to her feelings?), which flew her to the other side of the stadium, landing on a smaller — but still big — B-stage. “Do you wanna dance with me?” she asked before the first beats of “Shake It Off” started playing and opening acts Charli XCX and Camila Cabello joined Taylor on stage. All of the confetti falling from the sky was a nice call-back to “The 1989 World Tour” (2015).
But it’s the Alone Time With Tay that fans treasure most. There was a two-song solo segment with just Taylor and her guitar, half of which consisted of her proving that the recent album’s “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” (or on some nights “So It Goes..“) worked as well acoustically without the big electropop production. The other half was a wild-card slot. On opening night, Taylor acceded to online demand by resurrecting the rarely played breakup ballad “All Too Well,” the song that was like a secret handshake among True Swifties.
Back on the main stage, fans got one more big pyrotechnic reputation moment with the almost-religious experience of “Don’t Blame Me.” With such a huge production and occasionally processed vocals it seemed heartening and important when Taylor was sitting down alone behind a piano for a medley of “Long Live” and “New Year’s Day.”
After a video interlude of Taylor’s poem “Why She Disappeared“, the synth gem “Getaway Car,” which really ought to be a single, found Taylor alone on stage against a backdrop of nature scenes from the American West. The stellar ballad “Call It What You Want” was presented in front of an illustrated retro mansion and a large functioning fountain.
The show ended with a medley of “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” two buoyant singles about holding your ground. In that context, the “reputation Stadium Tour” was soon regarded as a testament to Taylor’s era-defying longevity. “And in the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive” were the final words fans saw upon the show’s end. While it provided a perfect close to the story of the show, Taylor’s performance was physical proof that she meant it. As her music had evolved, she did too, but Taylor hadn’t lost sight of what got her there or the passionate performer she was in the beginning. This was the reputation Taylor Swift — and her fans — had been waiting for.
«This tour has been in ways I think I can't really explain... it has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life. I feel like I started as one person and at this point I feel like a different one. And that's because of you.»
Taylor Swift talking to her fans on the final night of the "reputation Stadium Tour" in Tokyo


rep Room
As you entered the rep Room, Taylor showed off some of her iconic outfits from some of her music videos. Snacks, drinks, and everything else was provided for you at the reputation Bar, each drink being named after one of Taylor’s song lyrics. The rep Room also included a cushy seating area and, of course, a huge snake displayed prominently in the center.
Critical Reception
Box Office
Records
With a $14 million take from 107,550 sold tickets at Levi’s Stadium Taylor topped her own gross and attendance counts set during “The 1989 World Tour” in 2015. With more than 118,000 fans in attendance at the Rose Bowl, the two-show run earned $16.2 million and set a new gross record for a single headliner at the venue, surpassing U2’s 2017 record by over $467,000. Grossing records previously set by U2 as well were broken at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, where she topped their “Joshua Tree Tour” 2017 gross by $2.4 million, and Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where she surpassed the $6.6 million gross set by the band in 2011 during their 360° Tour by $1.2 million. Taylor made history by becoming the first female artist to headline Dublin’s Croke Park twice, with around 136,000 fans reportedly attending both nights. Similarly, she achieved the milestone of becoming the first woman to headline three consecutive nights at MetLife Stadium and Gillette Stadium.
Following the tour’s 29th show in North American soil at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the “reputation Stadium Tour” had grossed about $202.3 million in the continent ($191.1 million from the United States and $11.1 million from Canada) thus breaking Taylor’s own record of having the highest grossing tour by a female artist in North American history, surpassing her “1989 World Tour” (2015) in much lesser dates.
Accolades
«Seeing people grow up in the crowd, or in meet and greets and stuff, looking out and seeing somebody who I met when they were ten and now they're a full-grown adult – that is wild. Or somebody coming up to me and saying, 'I've been listening to your music since I was twelve,' and now they're a grown up. It's just never ever going to feel like, 'Oh yeah, that seems normal to me.' It's always going to seem deeply interesting and wild...I definitely think that I tried to keep my expectations very realistic when it came to thinking, 'You know, I could be a phase for some people.' I just appreciate every moment, so when somebody comes up to me and says 'I'm still listening to your music,' to me that means that it's lasted through all the other phases in their lives.»
Taylor Swift
Concert Movie
Associated Album | ||||
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Start Date | May 8, 2018 | |||
End Date | November 21, 2018 | |||
Locations | Asia Europe North America Oceania | |||
Legs | 5 | |||
No. of Shows | 53 | |||
Attendance | 2.5 million | |||
Box Office | $345.7 million | |||
Opening Acts | Camila Cabello Charlie XCX Broods | |||
TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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- 1. ...Ready For It?
- 2. I Did Something Bad
- 3. Gorgeous
- 4. Style / Love Story / You Belong With Me (Medley)
- 5. Look What You Made Me Do
- 6. End Game
- 7. King Of My Heart
- 8. Delicate
- 9. Shake It Off
- 10. Dancing With Our Hands Tied/So It Goes... (Acoustic)
- 11. All Too Well (secret song)
- 12. Blank Space
- 13. Dress
- 14. Bad Blood/Should've Said No (Medley)
- 15. Don't Blame Me
- 16. Long Live/New Year's Day (Medley)
- 17. Getaway Car
- 18. Call It What You Want
- 19. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
- 20. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things