REVIEW: Taylor Swift Is Red Hot At London's O2 Arena!
We catch T-Swizzle in action on the third night of her Red tour...
London's Underground network may have been on strike, but proceedings at London's O2 Arena were still very much in action as Taylor Swift brought her epic Red world tour to the capital for the third night (Tuesday, February 4).
After welcoming the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith at her previous gigs, we waited in anticipation to see what T-Swizzle had in store for us this time around...
Feeling: MTV Brand New For 2014 champs The Vamps kicked off Swift's show with a storming set, including hit singles Wild Heart and Can We Dance, as well as a rendition of The Killers' Mr Brightside - which sent Taylor's Swifties into a screaming frenzy.
The stage was now set for Miss. Swift, as the crowd lit up The O2 with LED light signs baring various messages for the 23-year old star as they cheered Taylor on before her grand entrance. Her silhouette then emerged behind a red curtain - with the screams from her adoring audience almost lifting the roof off the arena, giving Tay an overwhelming welcome - which appeared to leave her lost for words.
The Look: Not one to be outdone by her popstar rivals Beyonce and Rihanna - Taylor made many 'swift' changes throughout her set, with each outfit having one colour in common... Red! While Beatles themed t-shirts and hot pants were firmly on the agenda, our favourite look was her now infamous sequinned ringmaster outfit, complete with top hat for We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
As for the stage, pyrotechnics were a must - especially for her appropriately named track Sparks Fly, as well as the colour red featuring heavily - from the red drapes to Taylor's glitzy red microphone.
Tunes: Swift took her fans on a journey through her No.1 album Red, with the title track, 22, I Knew You Were Trouble and piano ballad All Too Well going down a storm with the crowd. Old favourites such as You Belong With Me and Love Story also took the audience on a trip down memory lane, while smash hit single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was an appropriate way to bring her show to an end, resulting in a mass sing-a-long and of course, a stage filled with circus performers with Taylor as their ringmaster.
Special Guests: As well as The Vamps, Taylor had a surprise up her sleeve in the shape of Danny O'Donoghue from The Script - welcoming him on stage to sing his hit track Breakeven. The pair later high-fived as the Irish singer left the stage - with their duet becoming a highlight of the night.
Banter: Swift often interacted with crowd, explaining how she writes her own songs - even venturing to the back of the arena via piggyback for some "one-on-one time" with her fans. Taylor seemed emotional at times, especially when talking about being bullied at school before singing Mean and how she penned track All Too Well when not being able to sleep after a break-up. This made Swift incredibly relatable to her fans, creating the impression of a highly intimate gig within the walls of the 20,000 capacity O2 arena.
Celeb Spots: Taylor's mum Andrea caused quite a stir after visiting fans inside the arena - even handing out passes to Club Red to meet her daughter backstage. Unlike Niall Horan's visit to see Swift on Sunday - we were out of luck in spotting any celebs in the crowd. On this night, it was all about Taylor!
Sweat Factor: Not too sticky, however, Taylor turned up the heat in other ways - decorating the O2 in fiery red, which she explained was symbolism for many emotions, including love, danger, jealously to name but a few.
Summary: Swift put on an incredible performance, proving why she's one of the hottest acts around. She showed her ability to create an small gig scenrario in a huge venue and still came across likeable, sincere and just an all round nice girl from Nashville, Tennessee, who despite reaching the dizzy heights of fame, hasn't forgotten her country roots. You'll never ever see a more entertaining show and we mean like, never everrrr.
MTV Rating:
By Joanne Dorken @mtvuknews
Set List:
State of Grace
Holy Ground
Red
You Belong with Me
The Lucky One
Mean
22
Ours
Sparks Fly
Breakeven - (The Script cover with Danny O'Donoghue)
I Knew You Were Trouble
All Too Well
Love Story
Treacherous
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together