Originally posted by Rolling Stone

Seeing Taylor Swift live in 2013 is seeing a maestro at the top of her or anyone's game. No other pop auteur can touch her right now for emotional excess or musical reach – her punk is so punk, her disco is so disco. The red sequins on her guitar match the ones on her microphone, her shoes and 80 percent of the crowd. Her set is mostly new songs from Red, the slickest, smartest and just plain best mega-pop statement of our time. She's a master of every rock-star move, except the one about dialing it down a notch. But who would ever want that? (Besides the whiny exes she keeps writing songs about?) "Hi, I'm Taylor," she said by way of an introduction. "I write songs about my feelings. I'm told I have a lot of feelings." You are told this accurately, Taylor.
Nobody can touch her for fan hysteria, either – when Taylor announced, "Thirteen thousand of you opted into hearing about my feelings for the next two hours!," she set off the loudest screaming I've heard since the last time I saw her, at the end of her 2011 tour, reaching ungodly levels of girl-shriek saturation.
But the best moment was the double-shot of "I Knew You Were Trouble" into "All Too Well." She turned "Trouble" into a blast of razzle-dazzle choreography in fancy-dress masquerade-ball mode. Then she sat alone to play "All Too Well," her most majestic ballad, just a girl and her piano and several thousand other girls singing along. It was the highlight of a show that was nothing but highlights.
Seeing Taylor onstage now is just like seeing Morrissey in 1992 – that same level of total commitment, total fan fervor, total connection between audience and performer. I've compared Taylor to Morrissey many times, but no other performer really hits that same pitch of happy/free/confused/lonely hormonal anguish with so much wit and empathy. Moz sang "the sun shines out of our behinds," Tay sings "people throw rocks at things that shine," but they're coming from the same place. (People said lovin' you was red, and they were half right.) They share the conviction that their moods are the universe and expressing them is the reason the universe exists. This is a useful conviction for a singer to have, even if it's more dangerous for the rest of us. But Taylor wears it like a true arena-rock goddess at an amazing peak.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/...to-22-20130328

Originally posted by NY Times

On record, that range was distracting, but in a king-size spectacle, the juxtapositions have power, one theatrical scene after the next. Visually, the themes are still drawn from a young person’s fantasy — music-box figures coming to life, a gaggle of floating percussionists that suggest Cirque du Taylor, the Mad Hatter in an “Alice in Wonderland” motif. Throughout the show, her male dancers were often chasing her but only barely touching her when they caught up. She does not return their affections. She is not yet a figure of proactive libidinal agency.
As in her songs, she is reactive. “I’m Taylor,” she said early in the night. “I write songs about my feelings.” On “Red,” those feelings run hot: enticing danger on “Treacherous,” joyous resentment on “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” resparked optimism on “Begin Again.” All of those song stood out here, as did “22,” about throwing caution to the wind. (Only a handful of songs lagged, including “Starlight” and “The Lucky One.”)
Ms. Swift’s voice is stronger than it’s ever been, and also sturdier; the vocal slips of old are all but gone. Over the course of the show, she played electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, banjo, piano, and a big floor tom. But for someone who can do so much, it can be surprising to realize just how few places there are to go. She stands atop a tall peak with potential missteps in every direction. As a young woman making mostly wholesome songs loved by young girls, Ms. Swift has to find ways to grow up that don’t leave those who follow her in the lurch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/ar...teel.html?_r=0

Originally posted by NJ

"Red" was my favorite album of last year, and I've probably driven my neighbors crazy by playing it over and over ever since its release. I faced down Hurricane Sandy to that album. I pull-quoted its songs in e-mail messages; I talked it up to friends and family and to the poor listeners of Rich Russo's radio show who were probably expecting a rock critic to talk up Tame Impala instead. When I needed confidence; when I worried; when I wanted to dance like I was 22 (and I haven't been 22 in a very long time); it was Taylor Swift's "Red" I turned to. Nothing's changed -- I had a doctor's appointment in New York City a week ago, and no analgesic could have steadied my nerves or soothed my pain any better.
When I listened to her first three sets, I thrilled to the proprietary undertones of Swift's songs: Her appetite for love and romance was immense, and that made my heart flutter. I didn't think it was possible, but "Red" upped the ante. "Don't you dream impossible things?," she sings on "Starlight," and it sounds as if she's coming apart with desire -- like she'd stuff the whole world in her pocket if she could. The whole world should be so lucky. Swift has never been the most confident stage performer or the strongest live singer, but my expectations for the Red Tour were lofty anyway. Did Taylor Swift live up to them? Let's go song by song, just as we did after the Newark stop on the Speak Now Tour nearly killed her.
...
This story might be apocryphal, but I'll bet it's true: Back in 1985, Bob Gibson took a look at Dwight Gooden and told the Mets' coaches that he would never be any better than he was right then. Gooden was practically a baby, and Mets fans had dreams that he could somehow develop further; that he would be part of a bright future that would last forever. That's not the way it worked. This isn't baseball, and I'm no Bob Gibson, but still, Taylor Swift is never going to be any better than she is right now. She's not under development, or promising, or an artist who will be a wonder when she grows up -- she is who she is, fully formed, and at the peak of her powers. She is who she was always going to become, and the time to engage with what she's doing is now.
Taylor Swift looks built to last, and I hope that we'll be hearing from her for a long, long time. But talent is a fickle suitor, times change, and most of all, youneverknow. If you're denying yourself the pleasure of listening to the world's greatest pop star because you think she's for little kids, or because you don't like who you think she's dating, or, most of all, you think you'll catch up with her when she matures, I urge you to stop sitting on your hands and get with the program. It's 2013; it's her day. This is the golden age of something good and right and real. It won't last forever.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/musi...rudential.html

Originally posted by NY Post

But when it comes to performing live, the haters have got nothing on her, and that blossoming confidence was on show in all its multifaceted glory last night at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The show that Swift has put together to promote the “Red” album is so much more than a mere pop concert. Through her various costume changes, choreographed set pieces and even the odd magic trick, the native Pennsylvanian has created something closer to a giant musical carnival.
Almost as impressive as her Barnum & Bailey world is Swift’s power and surprising versatility as a musician. It was apparent from the start as she and her band assuredly delivered “State of Grace” in a way that had more in common with radio-friendly alternative rock. For a moment, you could close your eyes and quite easily think you were at a Killers show.
That flexibility was almost constantly in evidence, whether it was through the girl-group reworking of “You Belong With Me” or even the dubstep touches applied to “Trouble.” No matter what she did or where she went, Swift’s often-criticized vocals never seemed to waver. The fragile acoustic county starlet of years gone by seems to have been all but buried and you get the feeling that if Kanye tried to invade her stage now, Swift would not only put a boot in his behind, but write a megahit about it and the send him the platinum disc, signed “Screw You. Kisses, Taylor.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...XaEd0E1mMacwiP

Originally posted by Village Voice

Like any 23-year-old, Swift is not afraid to tell you what she thinks about the Important Things in life. Between songs, she took a few minutes and shared inspirational stories of growing up and getting picked on. She'd go on to explain how the cycle of love works, and how we shouldn't get down on ourselves because things will eventually "just work out." She clearly recognizes her role model status, and encouraged fans to be themselves and not be afraid of mean people.
If this were any other punk-ass twenty-something telling you how to live your life, you might want to kick them in the face. But strangely, Swift's preachiness doesn't come off as arrogant, which speaks further to her endless appealing nature as a performer. The Red Tour, no doubt, has been orchestrated and choreographed down to the last sparkle on her bright red guitar. But, somehow, through the controlled presentation of it all, Swift remains genuine. Or, at least, it seems so.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/...our_review.php

Originally posted by Charlotte Observer

But her vocals were clearer and more confident this time around (all live, best I could tell). And at just 23, she’s wise beyond her years when it comes to planting little moments into a performance that at least feels organic, whether it’s setting off a near-riot by suddenly tossing her top hat into the first few rows or “crowd-surfing” from the forward to the rear stage (hoisted by her dancers).
Another example: After “Sparks Fly” – among the few “older” hits she trotted out – Swift pulled onto the stage a girl named Emma Routh, who I learned afterward suffers from a rare bone marrow disease and has met pop stars Justin Bieber and Christina Aguilera. I’m sure this was not spontaneous; at the same time, it felt spontaneous, and the masses ate it up.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...han-happy.html

Originally posted by NY Daily News

Swift's message has resounded with teen girls and made her the ultimate incarnation of both their frustrations and their aspirations. They'll be on hand to hear her preach her gospel over the next two nights at the Prudetial Center.
Clearly, we're witnessing a woman who knows the value of staying on message — a point her lyrics have driven home for years. Nearly every song last night found Swift singing about love that hurt her, only to empower her.
"Love is a ruthless game," she sang in the first song of the night, "State of Grace." "Unless you play it good and right."
It's a winking message that has resounded strongly enough to make Swift the single most identifiable figure for teen girls in modern pop. She's the ultimate incarnation of their frustrations and aspirations.
Swift personalized her broad new pieces with her usual cheeky clues about men they address. “I Knew You Were Trouble,” for one, supposedly references her fleeting romance with One Direction’s Harry Styles.
It's a smartly mixed message such songs offer. On the one hand, the coded star allusions feel elite. But they also bring her fans into an exclusive circle. That mix of privilege and candor has emboldened Swift's brand as the modern singer who best bridges high romance with every-day, teenage dreams
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1300973