Rep Tour
Isabella Garratt
I raced down the aisle of Target. Where is it? I thought. Well, it had to be in the vinyls and cd section. Then, I spotted it, in all its glory. Its cover had hues of gold and yellow. I picked it up: It was the Fearless (Taylor’s Version) vinyl.
“When did you become a Swiftie?” is one of the most commonly asked questions I get from my friends. They also ask me, “Why Taylor? There are so many other good artists to listen to.” A lot of people don’t know why I chose to listen to Taylor’s music in the first place, and what my path was to becoming a Swiftie. It all started with Rep Tour.
The first song I ever heard with Taylor was “Highway Don’t Care” by Tim Mcgraw featuring Taylor (obviously) and Keith Urban, followed by her most well known song, “Shake it Off.” I was only about 7 years old when I heard these songs. At that point, I didn’t care for her music that much. My whole family on my mom’s side are Swifties. It runs in my family.
It was November 10th, 2017, and Reputation was officially announced, and on December 1, 2017, it was made available on major streaming platforms. I remember listening to the album the first time in my room. I was sitting on the floor, with my volume on max. The bass of the first track, “…Ready for It?”, vibrated through the room. Baby let the games begin, let the games begin, let the games begin (oh).
On May 8, 2018, Rep Tour dates were announced. My whole family was frantically texting each other to book dates. Tour dates sell out really quickly! 2.88 million Swifties, including me, attended the tour, making it the highest grossing tour ever in the USA. The tour sold out, actually, and it was her most successful tour yet.
On June 30, 2018, my family was getting ready for the Rep Tour! The sun was bright, and excitement filled the air. My family and I were tie dyeing our shirts outside. The Kentucky air was hot and humid on my face. I felt the soft grass under my feet as I walked toward the entrance of my Grandma’s house to ask my mom if our homemade tie dye shirts had dried for tour.
“Is my shirt done drying?,” I asked my mom excitedly.
“It’s not, sweetie. I’d say about 10 more minutes in the dryer,” she said.
“Aw man, I’ve been waiting a while.”
Ten minutes later, my shirt was dry. I loved that shirt. It had a spiral pattern with watermelon red, indigo, and bleu de France blue splotches.
“Come on, let’s go to the car,” yelled my Grandma, Bella.
My cousins, mom, aunts, grandparents, sister, and I got in the car. We listened to Rep the whole way there, and so far my favorite song on the album was “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” track 13 (what a coincidence!). I could probably go on forever about this topic because of its importance for Taylor, but in short, 13 is Taylor’s lucky number.
The drive felt so long, but we finally arrived at the stadium. My family and I were sitting in our seating aisle, our hands were loaded with snacks and our hearts beat fast with excitement, as we anticipated the beginning of the tour. I saw the preview on the main screen, and “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts was playing.
Then, all of a sudden I saw a video on the main screen. The tour opened with a video that showed pictures of her when she was younger, and quotes and criticism from interviews. Taylor speaks out about sexism a lot, and the video on the main screen was showing how she experiences that in her life. The video was showing her past experiences and how it has affected her reputation, hence the album name. The tour opened with audio with quotes from interviews. Here are some of them: “Is there bad love?” “Taylor Swift is on top of the world, but has she done some sketchy things to get there?” “I felt like she was a little angry.” “She holds too many grudges.” “What Swift did was not enough.” “I hate to say this, but I think Taylor is learning a few lessons in life.”
Then, I heard in between sentences: “Reputation,” coming from the speakers. The audio then paused, and repeated this over and over until the music started. The music started and Swifties cheered as Taylor came out on the stage with a black sequined hoodie bodysuit, fishnets, and custom Louboutin boots. When she stopped in the center of the stage, she sang, “...Are you ready for it?” as she dropped her mic. The beat drops. The music was so loud, and I remember covering my ears.
Taylor sang,
“Knew he was a killer first time that I saw him
Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom
Holdin' him for ransom..”
Then, Taylor started to sing one of her most popular and iconic songs, “Love Story”, which at the time wasn't (Taylor’s Version), meaning she didn’t own the rights to it yet. I recognized it immediately, and as soon as she started singing, all the Swifties started to sing and dance to the music. Everybody’s glow-up bracelets were flashing, in sync to the beat. The bracelets were light-up plastic bands that were given to you at the entrance, and matched the color of the main screen when they lit up.
Taylor sang,
“We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standin' there…”
The last performance that I remember was when she performed “Call It What You Want To”, which is track fourteen on Reputation. She was wearing a black sparkly dress and gold heels. I remember her singing,
“My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took the crown, but it's alright…”
At the end of the night, we were all exhausted from dancing and singing. I don’t really remember coming home because I was too tired. However, I do remember walking to the car to go home and I even got a Tour shirt, which I later lost, unfortunately!
I have to admit that at the time I didn’t truly appreciate the tour like I should’ve. It wasn’t until December, 2021 when I started listening to Taylor’s discography. For a while Lover was my favorite album (it will always hold a special place in my heart, and it’s not my favorite album, but it’s my favorite era), but I started to listen to Folklore and Evermore, and I was immediately in love with them. They’re just so beautiful, and are considered (before Midnights) some of her most mature albums. One day, when I was in my room I was looking through my photos, and I saw some pictures from Rep Tour. I started watching them, and it immediately took me back to that moment. I saw Taylor in her black outfit, as fans cheered with their light up bracelets. The memories were flashing in my mind of Taylor, coming up to our seating aisle, in a sparkly black outfit. I realized how lucky I was to have gone to it. I really wish I can go to one of them soon, when she releases the dates.
Taylor is an amazing person, and her songs are just as much. There are so many reasons that I’m drawn to her. The first reason is she’s an incredibly talented lyricist and Taylor follows her own path no matter what anyone tells her. She’s hilarious and really relatable, and always cracks me up. She is one of the first people to record her music so she owns the rights to it, known as (Taylor’s Version). Taylor cares so much about her fans, and even proceeds to invite them to her house, listen to her albums before they’re released, and then bakes cookies for them. Her cats are so cute! She's so kind and she’s really close to her mom. She leaves clues in her interviews, music, outfits, and lyrics, known as easter eggs that give you behind the scenes information about an album, upcoming event, etc. Lastly, Taylor says that she does believe in forgiveness, but you don’t have to forgive to move on.
Rep Tour is an important part of my identity, because as a Swiftie, Taylor Tours are very important to me. I’m incredibly grateful that I got to go. That tour is probably one of the most special nights of my life, and I would give a lot to go again.
