- author, mark savage
- role, music correspondent
-
Taylor Swift kicked off the European leg of her record-breaking Hellas tour in France with a revamped setlist.
Starr cut several songs and reconfigured the concert to perform music from his latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Fan favorites like “The Archer” and “The 1” were removed in favor of new songs like “Fortnight” and “Down Bad.”
The star also debuted several new outfits, including the sparkling red bodysuit she wore in the opening segment of the show and a black dress with silver tassels from her Fearless days.
Swift took to the stage at Paris' La Défense Arena just after 8pm local time, performing songs like Miss Americana and Heartbreak Prince before greeting the packed crowd with a coquettish “Enchantment.”
She added that she feels “incredibly lucky” to be kicking off the European leg of the tour in “the most beautiful and romantic city in the world.”
The 34-year-old remained on stage for more than three hours, performing 45 songs from her 18-year career, ending just after 11 p.m.
The tour is themed around the different “eras” of her time, with separate sets dedicated to each of her 11 studio albums.
The concert in Paris was Swift's first since releasing her 31-song double album The Tortured Poets Department three weeks ago.
To make room for new material, we condensed sister albums Folklore and Evermore (both recorded during the coronavirus pandemic) into a single Folkmore chapter.
All songs added and removed by Taylor
Songs cut from the setlist:
- Archer (lover era)
- Hooray (Speak Now era)
- Part 1 (folklore era)
- Is the Dumb Season (Evermore era)
- Tolerate It (Evermore era)
- The Last Great American Dynasty (Folklore Era)
- But daddy, I love him.
- So high school
- Who's Afraid of Little Old Me
- down bad
- 2 weeks
- the smallest man in history
- Even a broken heart can do it
Surprise song/acoustic set
- Paris (midnight)
- Loml (Tortured Poet Division)
Fans noticed changes to the extravagant stadium show shortly after it started, with the intro music updated to include some of The Tortured Poets Division's music.
But the first real confirmation came when “The Archer” was cut 15 minutes into the concert. It was traditionally the sixth song on the set list.
Swift then pulled another surprise, moving a Red Album-focused sequence to the first half of the show.
While performing these songs, the star wore a T-shirt printed with the statement, “This is not Taylor's version,” which is part of her ongoing re-recording of her first six albums. This is a reference to the campaign.
Swift performed her song “Torture Poets Club” in a billowing cream ball gown, and her onstage visuals featured a new black-and-white theme.
On the downbeat ballad “Down Bad,” she appears on a UFO tractor beam, a reference to the song's opening lyrics: “You really beamed up/Shining dust In the clouds/Just to experiment?”
The new music primarily deals with the breakdown of two relationships: British actor Joe Alwyn and The 1975 lead singer Matty Healy.
On stage, Swift jokingly described this part of the show as “female anger, a musical.”
The final portion of the show (centered on the sheer pop of her 2022 album Midnight) remained unchanged, ending with Swift's hit single “Karma.”
The pop superstar's tours have become a cultural phenomenon on a scale not seen since Madonna and Michael Jackson's concerts in the 1980s.
She has appeared in 152 games at the stadium, with dates booked until December 2024.
When she finishes, ticket sales are expected to reach $1.4bn (£1.1bn), compared to the $939m (£750m) earned by Elton John on his multi-year farewell tour. It became the most profitable tour in history.
The tour will arrive in the UK on June 7th, with dates in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London.