Finally, some good fucking RED-era content!!! I genuinely think this might be Taylor’s most charming recorded performance ever. Just … wow.
This intimate, college auditorium concert was the result of Harvey Mudd College winning a national contest to host Taylor’s Storytellers special, and the smaller venue and young adult audience resulted in this familiar, conversational tone for the evening that I really loved. Taylor was able to take a lot of time between songs to just talk to the crowd and be herself. Her candid rapport with them was so refreshing, and sets this show apart from any other.
I never caught this special when it originally aired, but I really enjoyed the experience of watching it all these years later, because there are so many moments where she drops hints and alludes to things that Swifties have now been able to see fully come to fruition. It hurt my heart when one fan asked if she ever doubts herself and she talked about how she’s afraid people will get sick of her, because I have the knowledge now that she had already written Nothing New by that point, but it didn’t make the album. She also mentioned songs feeling like “a message in a bottle” twice during the runtime — another Easter Egg for an unreleased track that wouldn’t see the light of day for another decade.
I think one of the funniest ones to me was when she talked about writing songs for The Hunger Games film, and she said, “It was an interesting perspective to get into the mind of a character,” vs. her way of typically writing every song from her own perspective. I immediately just thought of Folklore and Evermore and how she would eventually come to make back-to-back albums that were almost entirely character-driven pieces. It’s just so interesting to see the breadcrumbs being laid like that.
Taylor’s vocals here felt especially mesmerizing, too. I’m not even exactly sure what it was, she just sounds absolutely incredible, and it makes hearing her play songs like Ours and Begin Again that much more special. I was especially glad that she played the latter, and talked about the feelings that inspired it, because I once felt that same lost, detached feeling from myself after exiting a horrible relationship in college, and that song was such a comfort to me.
Lastly, I just really appreciated her talking about wanting to continue to play her old hits like Love Story no matter what, because she knows that they’re important to her fans. Over the years, she’s talked about going to see Paul McCartney live with her family, and how that concert gave her an appreciation for artists who are generous with their setlists, and I just love that. It means a lot to know that she knows how we all have connections to her work, no matter how old it becomes.
Finally, some good fucking RED-era content!!! I genuinely think this might be Taylor’s most charming recorded performance ever. Just … wow.
This intimate, college auditorium concert was the result of Harvey Mudd College winning a national contest to host Taylor’s Storytellers special, and the smaller venue and young adult audience resulted in this familiar, conversational tone for the evening that I really loved. Taylor was able to take a lot of time between songs to just talk to the crowd and be herself. Her candid rapport with them was so refreshing, and sets this show apart from any other.
I never caught this special when it originally aired, but I really enjoyed the experience of watching it all these years later, because there are so many moments where she drops hints and alludes to things that Swifties have now been able to see fully come to fruition. It hurt my heart when one fan asked if she ever doubts herself and she talked about how she’s afraid people will get sick of her, because I have the knowledge now that she had already written Nothing New by that point, but it didn’t make the album. She also mentioned songs feeling like “a message in a bottle” twice during the runtime — another Easter Egg for an unreleased track that wouldn’t see the light of day for another decade.
I think one of the funniest ones to me was when she talked about writing songs for The Hunger Games film, and she said, “It was an interesting perspective to get into the mind of a character,” vs. her way of typically writing every song from her own perspective. I immediately just thought of Folklore and Evermore and how she would eventually come to make back-to-back albums that were almost entirely character-driven pieces. It’s just so interesting to see the breadcrumbs being laid like that.
Taylor’s vocals here felt especially mesmerizing, too. I’m not even exactly sure what it was, she just sounds absolutely incredible, and it makes hearing her play songs like Ours and Begin Again that much more special. I was especially glad that she played the latter, and talked about the feelings that inspired it, because I once felt that same lost, detached feeling from myself after exiting a horrible relationship in college, and that song was such a comfort to me.
Lastly, I just really appreciated her talking about wanting to continue to play her old hits like Love Story no matter what, because she knows that they’re important to her fans. Over the years, she’s talked about going to see Paul McCartney live with her family, and how that concert gave her an appreciation for artists who are generous with their setlists, and I just love that. It means a lot to know that she knows how we all have connections to her work, no matter how old it becomes.
