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Taylor Swift, with NEEDTOBREATHE
Staples Center
Aug. 28
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Taylor Swift is notorious for writing songs about her ex-boyfriends and including names in her lyrics. It makes fans more eager to get a hold of her album and figure out whom some of her tracks are about. Last Sunday, Taylor Swift performed her fourth sold-out show at the Los Angeles Staples Center with a few of her ex-boyfriends and good friends in attendance. The show featured pyrotechnics in the opening number and surprise guests throughout the show.

As the supporting act on Swift’s Speak Now World Tour, NEEDTOBREATHE played an incredible eight-song set that left concert goers, well, needing to take a second to breathe. Before coming out on stage, the band members walked out into the dark arena shining spotlights into the crowd. They aimed high into the nosebleeds and also reached those with floor seats to let them know that no matter what seat they had, they were seen.

Once the spotlights disappeared behind the stage, the band opened up with a snare drum that led into the first song, “Keep Your Eyes Open.” Fans in the crowd automatically had their glow sticks twirling and were bouncing to the beats.

One song in particular, “Drive All Night,” explicitly shows how similar NEEDTOBREATHE and Taylor Swift are and could explain why Swift chose them to open up for her. The new single includes banjo-strumming by guitarist Bo Rinehart that tips the song onto the country side. The song then switches into a rock ‘n’ roll ballad with the addition of the keyboard, bass and guitars. The song’s melody somewhat resembles Swift’s “Love Story,” but still maintains an entirely different sound with the loud bass and guitars.

The performance included opportunities for the crowd to dance, jump, stomp, clap and scream lyrics back at the performers. The stage space was used well and bassist Seth Bolt took occasional trips to the side of the stage to interact with the crowd.

NEEDTOBREATHE closed out the show with “Let Us Love,” an inspirational song about going after what you want and refusing to settle for less. The performance was a great way to lead into Swift’s set.

Swift’s set opened with a song off of her “Speak Now” album called “Sparks Fly.” The opening song set the bar for the rest of the show incredibly high when fireworks shot out the stage only a few minutes into the show. After Swift performed the opening number, she stood at the end of the catwalk to acknowledge the 15,000 people in attendance by removing her in-ears and listening to the screams from the crowd.

With a 20-song setlist, Swift’s performance included an extravagant stage that included a life-size bird cage and a staircase that always fit the different backgrounds used in each song.
With the MTV Video Music Awards taking place across the street, Swift’s concert featured several celebrity guests that joined her on stage. During her performance of “Our Song,” Swift brought out comedian and talk show host Ellen Degeneres to join her while singing.

Halfway through the show, Swift made her way through the crowd to the back of the arena and sat on a lit up tree that descended from the ceiling. There, she performed for fans with seats farther away from the stage, as if to show her appreciation for their loyalty and dedication. She performed “Fearless” on the ukelele and turned it into a medley with Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister.”

After she finished performing in the back, Swift got down from the tree to make her way to the stage. The jumbo screen above the stage showed that Taylor managed to say hello to a few of her friends, including Reese Witherspoon, Colbie Caillat and ex-boyfriends Joe Jonas and Taylor Lautner.

Swift performed the slow and calm “Dear John” and had part of the crowd sitting back in their seats after standing for most of the concert. After the song ended, she took the crowd by surprise when she had Nicki Minaj come out and perform “Super Bass” with her on stage.

Swift’s two-and-a-half hour set ended with an encore that included both of her singles, “Fifteen” and “Love Story.” Between the speed-of-light costume changes and the altering of lyrics, Swift managed to put on a remarkable show that left fans singing her songs even after it had ended.

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