I saw Taylor Swift’s blockbuster concert movie on a Friday night in October in northern Indiana. We were there visiting our daughter Bridget, her husband Branden and their dog Wrigley. I hadn’t planned on going but I’d heard so much about the Swift phenomenon I figured I’d tag along with the girls and see for myself.
I thought the movie might be a documentary, behind-the-scenes view of her sold-out Eras Tour concerts. Instead, it was a three-hour start-to-finish concert movie.
Half the screens in the 16-auditorium movieplex were showing the movie on Saturday night, and they were all nearly full. They were mostly teenage girls but a fair number of old geezers like myself wanted to see what all the fuss is about.
Tickets cost $19.89 (the year Swift was born) for general admission while senior citizens got in for $13.13 (13 is Swift’s lucky number).
The movie set box office records for the first weekend with $100 million in ticket sales. Demand was huge because millions of Taylor’s fans were unable to get tickets to the live concerts across North America, and also for people like Bridget who was lucky enough to attend the Swift concert in Chicago’s Soldier Field vast football stadium and wanted to re-live the experience.
The Swift phenomenon has gained more traction in recent weeks as she’s been seen at Kansas City Chiefs football games, watching her latest boyfriend Travis Kelce catch touchdown passes. I did not see either of them at the movie.
As in her live concerts, Swift performs non-stop in the movie for three hours, including about a dozen costume changes that seem to happen in the blink of an eye.
I didn’t know the words to any of her songs, but everyone else in the theatre seemed to and sang right along with Taylor. Many dressed like Taylor, wore her merch and ate popcorn out of Taylor Swift souvenir buckets sold at the concession stand.
The movie was filmed during one of her concerts at the SoFi football stadium in Los Angeles early August. It’s amazing the movie could be produced and released so quickly. The camera work and sound are incredible. It’s a first-rate concert film.
It’s a long way from the old standard Woodstock of my generation, which chronicled the 1969 counterculture music festival that attracted 400,000 devotees to a muddy farm field in upper New York State.
For people who criticize me for attending a Taylor Swift movie, I just shake it off.
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