Taylor Swift Brings Her Epic Empath Energy to SoFi Stadium for a Grand Six-Night Stand: Concert Review

《Variety》雜志The?Eras?Tour觀后評(píng)論：泰勒絲帶來史詩般的六日演唱會(huì)體驗(yàn)

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Chris Willman

August 5, 2023

Source: Variety

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導(dǎo)語：the eras tour美巡第一輪落下帷幕，這篇評(píng)論從多個(gè)角度回顧了這場“史詩級(jí)別”的巡演，巧妙地在編排中遵循了巡演的時(shí)間順序，對(duì)karma的討論也饒有趣味。看完之后或許更能體會(huì)作者在結(jié)尾的感嘆：這是她的時(shí)代，也定義了你我的時(shí)代。

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One of the questions raised by Taylor Swift’s recent single “Karma” is whether the titular force is something that can be, like, aggressively courted. And, if so, is writing out $100,000 bonus checks to one’s tour truck drivers a form of metaphysical insurance payment? These are the deep thoughts that may woozily cross your mind on the Eras Tour, as the clock nears midnight while Swift is bringing things to a close by performing “Karma” at the end of a 3-hour-and-25-minute marathon set. It’s a weird, funny finale that leaves an audience with the idea that virtue is even better than revenge, or that maybe these can amount to the same thing. And who’s to argue any of this when you’re witnessing the insane success of the soon-to-be-billion-grossing Eras Tour?

泰勒絲最近的單曲Karma拋出了一個(gè)問題：行善是否真的可以積德？如果答案是肯定的，那么給巡演中的卡車司機(jī)開出10萬美元的獎(jiǎng)金支票是一種形而上學(xué)的“積德”？（注：泰勒絲在美巡結(jié)束后給每位卡車司機(jī)發(fā)放了10萬美元的獎(jiǎng)金，所以作者這么說。）這會(huì)是在觀看 Eras Tour 的過程中可能浮現(xiàn)在你腦海里的萬千想法之一——當(dāng)午夜將近，而泰勒絲正在一場長達(dá)3小時(shí)25分鐘的演出行至末尾時(shí)演唱karma。整場演出至此迎來了一個(gè)古怪而有趣的收尾，讓觀眾們不由得相信行善比復(fù)仇更快意，或者也許這兩者根本就是同一回事。當(dāng)我們目睹著即將獲得數(shù)十億美元票房的eras tour獲得難以置信的成功時(shí)，誰能不同意這一點(diǎn)（即泰勒絲的善舉為自己帶來了善果）呢？

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Swift is paying her good fortune forward with an exhaustive, exhilarating show that is making millions of international fans justifiably joyful. As re-witnessed in Thursday night’s performance at the L.A. area’s SoFi Stadium — the first of a six-night stand in Inglewood, Calif. — the Eras Tour represents the apotheosis of what a pop superstar tour can be. It’s massively overscaled, oddly intimate and even, at its heart, extraordinarily musical in a way we don’t expect, much less demand, out of pop extravaganzas. It feels generous and sweet, and it absolutely flexes like a goddam acrobat.

周四晚在洛杉磯地區(qū)的SoFi體育場的演出（加利福尼亞州連續(xù)六場演唱會(huì)中的第一場）讓我們?cè)俅我娮C，泰勒絲正用一場激動(dòng)人心的超豪華演出，將她的幸運(yùn)回饋給數(shù)百萬國際粉絲，使他們感到真真正正的快樂。the eras tour代表了流行音樂巨星巡演的最高境界。它在保有豪華規(guī)模的同時(shí)擁有一種奇跡般的親密感，更深入、登峰造極的音樂造詣，這是我們對(duì)流行歌手的演唱會(huì)從未敢妄想的。一切都行云流水，絕對(duì)“像一個(gè)專業(yè)雜技演員一樣靈活多變”。（此處化用了karma的歌詞）

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“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Swift told the crowd early in Thursday’s show, “but this is the last city on the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour, and we really wanted to spend it somewhere special.” Flattery will get her everywhere, but there’s an asterisk she could have put on that statement and didn’t, which is that the SoFi run marks the end of just one U.S. run for the tour, as she announced earlier in the day that she is adding North American dates for fall 2024, albeit more in what looks like a regional mopping-up exercise than a full-scale return after the Latin American, Asian and European globetrotting to come in the next year. No matter — Angelenos do like to believe we’re special, and were happy to treat it as a closer to what began in Phoenix four and a half months ago, even if, in the overall picture, she’s only just begun.

“我簡直不敢相信我在說的話，”斯威夫特在周四的演出中告訴觀眾們，“但這是the eras tour美國巡演的最后一個(gè)城市了，我們真的很想把這一站留到一個(gè)特別的地方?！?大家的歡呼讓她有點(diǎn)飄飄然了，不過我還是要說，這句話有一個(gè)漏洞：這其實(shí)只是美國第一輪巡演的結(jié)束，因?yàn)楫?dāng)日稍早時(shí)她宣布了2024秋天北美的二輪巡演，只不過更像是區(qū)域性的查漏補(bǔ)缺（把一輪巡演沒去的地方補(bǔ)上），而不是在結(jié)束明年拉丁美洲、亞洲和歐洲的全球巡演后的全面回歸。不管怎么說，我們洛杉磯人愿意相信自己是特別的，很樂意把SoFi體育館的這六場演出視為她在四個(gè)半月前從鳳凰城開始的巡演的終結(jié)。即便，從更長遠(yuǎn)的圖景來看，這一切才剛剛開始呢。

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Any of the fans who’ve already caught the tour — which, if you count people watching shaky, ?illicit livestreams, means almost all of them — will know not much has changed about the set since the March opening in Arizona. The most overtly autobiographical song about a love affair now known to be broken up, “Invisible String,” was cut months ago, in favor of another great “Folklore” song with nearly the exact opposite viewpoint, “The 1.” “Long Live” was added to the set upon the release of the “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” re-record. Just a week or so ago, “Tis the Damn Season” was dropped from the “Evermore” portion of the set to make room for “No Body, No Crime,” thanks to that song’s featured artist, Haim, coming on for the last stretch of the tour.

任何已經(jīng)看過巡演的粉絲——如果你算上觀看搖搖晃晃的非法直播的人（嗯其實(shí)幾乎就是所有人）都會(huì)知道，自三月在亞利桑那州開幕以來，巡演的編排其實(shí)沒有太大變化。invisible string，這首關(guān)于一段現(xiàn)今已經(jīng)be的戀情的、極為張揚(yáng)的自傳式歌曲，幾個(gè)月前從巡演歌單里被踢掉了，取而代之的是另一首主旨幾乎完全相反的、偉大的、同樣來自folklore的歌曲“The 1”。霉國國歌long live在有屁重錄后被添加到巡演歌單里。就在大約一周前，“Tis the Damn Season”從Evermore era中剔除，讓位給“No Body，No Crime”，這要?dú)w功于這首歌的合作樂隊(duì)Haim，她們?cè)诿姥驳淖詈髱讏鲎鳛榧钨e前來助陣。

Otherwise, the map remains the same, apart from the two surprise songs that arrive as the penultimate section of the show. Thursday, the first of these was the very much anticipated live debut of a Vault track that became her latest single, “I Can See You,” treated in concert as a real rocker, even if performed as a solo acoustic guitar number. The other was a “Midnights” track that hadn’t previously made the grade, “Maroon” — even better on piano than enmeshed in Jack Antonoff’s booming co-production on record.

不過除了這些之外，巡演的一切大體相同，除了倒數(shù)第二部分出現(xiàn)的兩首驚喜歌曲。周四，其中的第一首是飽受期待的Vault（寶庫）曲目“I Can See You”的現(xiàn)場首秀。盡管是吉他伴奏獨(dú)唱曲目，卻在演出中呈現(xiàn)出真正的搖滾風(fēng)格。另一首是來自midnights，未能入選常駐歌單的曲目——“Maroon” ，這首歌用鋼琴伴奏甚至比Jack Antonoff原版咚咚咚咚的制作還好聽。

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The biggest changeup for L.A. might have been something as seemingly basic as the glowing wristbands left on all 70,000 seats or so prior to gates opening, making for a light show far beyond anything seen at the beginning of the tour. When Swift launched into her abbreviated version of “You Need to Calm Down,” perhaps needless to predict, the SoFi audience became a huge, blinking rainbow flag in surround-vision. It would probably not be a spoiler for the remainder of the run to reveal that red gets some special consideration, but clearly a lot of thought as well as expense and effort went into the color-coding for each of the nearly 45 numbers that bring the audience’s wrists into the picture, above and beyond what will seem like glorified glow sticks the next time you see an artist passing these trinkets out. It has a particularly startling effect on the senses at SoFi Stadium, which, built deep into the ground, has such an extreme rake in its medium and upper seating areas that it’s almost like being surrounded by canyon walls, now set aglow by benign alien forces.

洛杉磯場巡演最大的變化或許是一樣看起來十分簡單的東西：于巡演開始前被放置在約70000個(gè)座位上的發(fā)光手環(huán)。這些手環(huán)共同鑄造了一場熠熠生輝的、遠(yuǎn)超任何之前一場表演的燈光秀。當(dāng)泰勒絲開始唱縮略版本的YNTCD時(shí)，整個(gè)體育場的觀眾席理所當(dāng)然地變成了一面環(huán)繞立體的、巨大閃爍的彩虹旗幟。告訴你們紅色得到了特殊對(duì)待應(yīng)該不算劇透吧？（畢竟有同名曲在這里。）不過很顯然，45首歌曲中的每一首歌所對(duì)應(yīng)的腕帶顏色都費(fèi)了很多心思編排，比其他歌手演唱會(huì)發(fā)的熒光棒炫酷多了。這些手環(huán)使得SoFi體育場的視覺效果更上一層樓。因?yàn)檫@座體育場深深地嵌入了地下，其中上層區(qū)域的坡度極大，現(xiàn)在被炫彩的光?；\罩，猶如峽谷巖壁被外星力量照亮一般。

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Swift does her very capable best of making sure the crowd feels part of the show, and not just because of what’s been handed to them: “Is there anyone here tonight who put in an extensive amount of effort to be with us at the Eras Tour?” she asked. And then, even more solicitously: “Did anyone here tonight put a lot of thought and preparation into one of these two things: lyric memorization, and your cute outfit?” As is customary on the tour, only one audience member is allowed near the actual proceedings, typically a tyke brought onto the B-stage for the gifting of a hat during “22.” On Thursday, it was Bianka Bryant, the 6-year-old daughter of Kobe and Vanessa, getting the bestowing.

泰勒絲盡其所能讓觀眾們能有參與感，她所做的絕不僅僅是給每個(gè)人發(fā)手環(huán)而已。“今晚有沒有人是費(fèi)了大勁，好不容易搶到票才來的？”她問道。接著，她更熱切地問：“今晚在座的各位，有沒有人是花了很多心思來記歌詞，或是用心打扮的？”按照慣例，巡演中只有一名幸運(yùn)觀眾有機(jī)會(huì)靠近舞臺(tái)，在“22”這首歌期間于B舞臺(tái)被泰勒絲贈(zèng)予帽子。周四獲得這份榮耀的是科比·布萊恩特和維納莎的6歲女兒，比安卡·布萊恩特。

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Sadly, Taylor Swift doesn’t sing “Mean” on her Eras Tour. Even in a set that now encompasses 45 songs, certain greatest-hits sacrifices must be made. But the show might make you think of that song anyway, because if it proves nothing else — and it proves plenty else — it’s that Swift… can… sing. And that she can provide bravura interpretations of her own deep catalog for a concert that lasts 205 minutes, only about five minutes of which, tops, find her offstage for costume changes. (Many of the outfit transformations happen on-stage, before the crowd’s eyes, saving the band from doing any more instrumental vamping than absolutely necessary.) Few pop stars at her level aren’t giving in to at least a little lip-synching during the heavy choreo moments, but there’s little doubt she’s bringing it all live, even if there are numbers that incorporate some of her own background vocal stacking alongside the in-house vocalists. It’s easy enough to get distracted by how much she puts into visually acting out each number — not to mention the ever changing production design — that you might forget the acting that goes into actually singing this material, flawlessly, across three-plus hours.

可惜的是，mean不是eras tour的常駐歌曲。即使巡演歌單有45首之多，也不得不舍棄某些大熱單（因?yàn)楹酶杼嗔耍２贿^，這場巡演或許還是會(huì)讓你想起mean這首歌，因?yàn)樗鸫a有力地證明了泰勒絲是真的很能唱。（注：發(fā)布于2010年的單曲mean回?fù)袅嗽谇耙粚酶袢R美演出后指責(zé)泰勒絲“不會(huì)唱歌”的樂評(píng)家，因此作者引用了這首歌。）在一場持續(xù)整整205分鐘的演唱會(huì)中，她為自己的藝術(shù)作品進(jìn)行了大膽而深刻的詮釋，在此期間，頂多花了5分鐘更換服裝。（許多換裝的過程就發(fā)生在舞臺(tái)之上、人群眼前，使得樂隊(duì)不必通過演奏一些間奏來填充這段時(shí)間。）很少有像她這種級(jí)別的流行巨星，一邊完成繁復(fù)的舞蹈動(dòng)作，又一點(diǎn)都不偷懶、不假唱；可泰勒絲就做到了，除了有時(shí)候四大護(hù)法會(huì)為她伴唱之外，她整場都是真真切切、親力親為。我們的注意力很容易被eras tour精致獨(dú)特的視覺效果與異彩紛呈的演出設(shè)計(jì)所吸引，但請(qǐng)不要忘了，三個(gè)多小時(shí)的時(shí)間里，泰勒絲片刻不停、完美無瑕地唱好了每一首歌。

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It all adds up to an athletic feat a fan might undervalue just because the audience is busy being self-impressed with its own athleticism — getting into the stadium, walking down those ramps for another 10 minutes if the ducats are floor seats, and then standing from 6:30 p.m., when opening-opening act Gracie Abrams first goes on, until 11:45, when Swift has finally finished her last karmic duty for the night. (Seats, at a Taylor Swift concert, are ways of marking out personal space, not something really intended to bear weight.)

所有這一切形成了一項(xiàng)體育壯舉，粉絲可能自己都沒有發(fā)覺，（泰勒絲的累就不必說了，）觀眾自己都會(huì)不自覺地發(fā)掘出自己的運(yùn)動(dòng)潛能：進(jìn)入體育場，如果票是內(nèi)場前排座位，再花大約10分鐘走下那些斜坡，然后從晚上六點(diǎn)半Gracie Abrams的暖場演出開始一直站到泰勒絲唱完最后一首歌，此時(shí)已經(jīng)五個(gè)多小時(shí)過去，到深夜11:45了。（在泰勒絲的演唱會(huì)上，座位只是用來給人定位的，而不是真正用來坐的。）

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Sitting alone at the production’s mossy piano, Swift explained in the most basic terms, accessible to even the fans Brianka Bryant’s age, what exactly her mojo is. “The reason we didn’t tour for five years — that was not a normal or scheduled thing. We had a global pandemic; we had much more important things that we had to worry about. But I’ve been playing shows sort of as a coping mechanism my whole life, since I was about 12 years old. I go through this process where I feel things, I write a song about that thing, I show it to you and I go, ‘Do you like it? Did you ever feel this way too?’ And so when you guys are at at a show, if you even nod your head or make eye contact with me or sing the words to a song during a show, that to me validates that emotion and makes me feel like I wasn’t alone in feeling it. It’s sort of my coping process in life — so all of a sudden that was gone. And so I decided,” she continued, “in order to keep that connecton going, if I couldn’t play live shows with you, I was going to make and release as many albums as humanly possible.”

泰勒絲獨(dú)自坐在長滿青苔的鋼琴前，用最簡單的詞句解釋了她自己的魔力，即使是和科比女兒的年紀(jì)相仿的霉粉也能理解她的話?！拔蚁牒痛蠹医忉屛覀冋迥隂]有巡演的原因。要知道，這絕非尋常，我們事先也沒想到會(huì)這樣。因?yàn)槲覀兘?jīng)歷了一場全球大流行；因?yàn)樵谶@期間我們有更重要的事情要操心。但我從12歲開始，就一直把演出作為一種（面對(duì)情緒/問題的）應(yīng)對(duì)機(jī)制。當(dāng)我日有所思時(shí)，我就會(huì)將我的情緒與經(jīng)歷寫進(jìn)歌曲。我會(huì)把它放給你們聽，然后我會(huì)說'你們喜歡它嗎？你們也有過這種感覺嗎？'所以當(dāng)你們來看我的演唱會(huì)，甚至愿意在演唱會(huì)中點(diǎn)頭啊、與我進(jìn)行眼神交流或跟唱啊，對(duì)我來說，那是對(duì)情感的驗(yàn)證，讓我覺得我不是唯一一個(gè)有這種感覺的人。這就是我（面對(duì)情緒/問題的）的應(yīng)對(duì)機(jī)制。但這一切突然被掐斷了。所以我決定，”她繼續(xù)說，“為了與你們保持這種聯(lián)系，如果我不能演出，我將在人力所能及的范圍內(nèi)盡可能多地發(fā)專?！?/p>

Hence, she explained, touring behind four new albums instead of one. The thought that kept driving her toward an eventual tour, Swift explained, was: “How cathartic would it be to get to sing ‘Champagne Problems’ with you?” She was even kind enough to call out “Bridge!” just before getting to one of this decade’s oddest pieces of sing-along bait — the forceful reading of a passage describing the spurning of a marriage proposal, including the shout-along line “What a shame she’s fucked in the head!” This is not the portion of what Swift does that she would explain for the pre-teens in the audience, necessarily, but the 30-and-up crowd that’s grown up with Swift certainly recognizes the value in the songwriter being outrageously free in sharing her neuroses, probably most of all in “Anti-Hero.” The day that “Midnights” came out last fall, we confidently predicted that it would be deeply cathartic to hear an entire stadium chanting “I’m the problem, it’s me,” and, dear reader, it feels like as blissful a moment of mass self-effacement as anyone could have hoped.

因此她解釋說，這正是她在四張新專輯發(fā)行后才巡演，而非（像以前一樣）發(fā)一張巡演一次的原因。而一直驅(qū)使著她最終走向巡演的動(dòng)力，她說，是“和你們一起唱‘Champagne Problems’ 該有多愉快?。　彼踔吝€在本世紀(jì)最古怪的合唱段落來臨前好心地叫了一句“轉(zhuǎn)折要來了！”這首歌的橋段描述了女主人公拒絕求婚的過程，包括大叫那句“只可惜她腦子有?。。╓hat a shame she’s fucked in the head!）”。當(dāng)然了，這句話她肯定是不會(huì)和來看巡演的小朋友們解釋的。但對(duì)于與泰勒絲共同成長了這么多年的大齡霉粉來說，他們一定能體會(huì)到你霉有在公開地、不掩飾地通過歌曲分享自己的脆弱、擔(dān)憂與焦慮。在anti-hero中，這一點(diǎn)體現(xiàn)的尤為明顯。在midnights于去年秋天震撼發(fā)行之時(shí)，我們就可以預(yù)見到整個(gè)體育場回響“是我，我是麻煩本身（I’m the problem, it’s me）”的那一刻，該會(huì)是多么暢快宣泄。親愛的讀者啊，這樣坦誠的自我剖析、勇敢的直面自我所造就的幸福時(shí)刻，實(shí)在是大家都?jí)裘乱郧蟮摹?/p>

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What’s startling about the Eras Tour setlist is how many climaxes it has along the way — and with the recent addition of “Long Live,” a song that never did anything but close shows prior to now, it wouldn’t be surprising if some members think that is the lead-in to an encore break, rather than just a casual halfway point in the proceedings.?But what’s especially fulfilling about that is, by the time Swift closes the show with seven selections from last fall’s “Midnights” album, the obvious career bangers are already well out of the way. It feels for that last, looser stretch like we’ve joined the artist at an after-hours joint, with music that happens to feel clubby, even if it includes some of her most sophisticated lyric-writing. The after-party has been built into the fabric of the show. And how many superstars would end a hits-packed extravaganza with “And now here’s a solid half-hour from my new album”— and make it feel like a welcome and even deliriously appropriate conclusion, not a forced one?

時(shí)代巡演還有一個(gè)驚人之處在于它的高潮迭起——最近高潮點(diǎn)又多了long live，一首此前巡演中一直作為收尾曲的歌曲。因此，如果有觀眾把這首歌當(dāng)作返場的前奏而非一個(gè)普通的中場，也就不足為奇了。但關(guān)于這一點(diǎn)，特別令人滿意的是，演唱會(huì)伴隨著midnights era進(jìn)入尾聲時(shí)，我們終于不用聲嘶力竭地吼叫、進(jìn)入一個(gè)又一個(gè)高潮了。感覺就像是我們和泰勒絲一起小憩，耳邊放著夜店歌曲（即使這些歌也有著相當(dāng)精致的詞句創(chuàng)作）。midnights歌曲造就的afterparty也成為了整場演出的一部分。還有，有多少明星能用“現(xiàn)在距離我的新專輯還有整整半小時(shí)”的宣告來結(jié)束一場盛會(huì)——并使它顯得十分恰當(dāng)、引人入勝，而不是草草收?qǐng)瞿兀?/p>

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At the point she kicks into the “Midnights” material, Angelenos may feel tempted to act like Angelenos — i.e., to start running for the car to beat the traffic, like Dodgers fans confident that it’s in the bag and nothing important could really happen in the final couple of innings. But that’d be a mistake at this show: Yes, the show has already climaxed 25 times, and this is the wind-down. But “Karma” — and karma — demand seeing it out to the finish. Chances are we won’t see a life-flashing-before-eyes tour like this again, not even from Swift. The memory of that epic-length bonding will be more than just a relaxing thought, if her Eras are the ones that help define yours, in the way that only great pop can.

當(dāng)泰勒絲在演出末尾開啟midnights篇章時(shí)，洛杉磯人們可能想要發(fā)揮一些傳統(tǒng)藝能——比如跑上大街發(fā)大瘋，像是確信自家贏定了、最后幾個(gè)回合乾坤已定的道奇隊(duì)（美國職業(yè)棒球大聯(lián)盟球隊(duì)）的球迷們。但eras tour可不是這樣：是的，整場演出已經(jīng)有了25個(gè)高潮，正在進(jìn)入收尾階段。但是最后一首歌是“因果循環(huán)（karma）”——是的，Karma，你可得認(rèn)真看好了。我們很可能再也看不到像這樣在我們眼前閃閃發(fā)光的偉大巡演了，泰勒絲自己也不一定會(huì)再開這么宏大的巡演了。對(duì)這場史詩般偉大的巡演的記憶，可不僅僅是放松消遣那么簡單（再次化用karma的歌詞，很美的首尾呼應(yīng)）。

畢竟，這是她的時(shí)代，也定義了你我的時(shí)代。只有最偉大的流行藝術(shù)家才能做到這一點(diǎn)。

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