“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” Movie

On Saturday, I saw Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie. I'm not a Swiftie, but I had previously thought her "Love Story" was the best-crafted pop tune of all time. I liked how she was working with Jeff Bhasker (from Socorro, NM, so basically a hometown boy). I worried about the lyrics of her various songs (maybe showing mental disturbance). A little scary. Still, in general, I was favorably disposed to her. Clearly incredibly talented. 

My first impression was that her concert was strange. I thought her style of music was better-suited for a more-intimate setting, not for a huge space. At the same time I was amazed by the concert technology. The technology gives you lots of options (like effectively-using a huge space for music that might not otherwise be best-suited). 

The choreography was strange too, with Taylor and her dancers striding in unison. Reminded me of high school: Taylor and her friends, heading in unison to the cafeteria at lunchtime. Mandy Moore ("La La Land") was apparently chief choreographer. 

What a good concert! (Or the best parts of several concerts at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA). There were several teenage girls seated near me. The closest girl seemed unmoved by the concert (maybe a Goth sensibility, or just reserved?), but her two friends were singing all the songs and dancing when the spirit moved them. 

On Sunday, I talked with a woman whose Swiftie daughter attended two of the concerts, including spending one evening at stage side. Not only did she get some of the best videos ever, which she can match exactly with the movie, but she was featured in an audience-reaction shot for a full five seconds of the movie (Birthday Girl). Girls she hasn't talked to since elementary school are getting in touch! Life-changing stuff. This woman filled me in a bit on the fandom, in particular, with the friendship bracelets. No question, Taylor Swift takes her fans seriously! 

Here is more on SoFi Stadium - the unsung hero of the movie:

“It’s becoming an identifiable place for music globally,” said Christy Castillo Butcher, SoFi Stadium’s senior vice president of programming and booking. “The shots filmmakers can achieve here are gorgeous. It becomes another character in these films.”

...“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” will easily place among the year’s top grossing films. One guest at Swift’s doc premiere at the Grove last week? Beyoncé, who will debut her own “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” on Dec. 1.

...The still-gleaming SoFi doesn’t have the same mystery of a Colorado sandstone crevasse, nor is it a technological marvel like the newly opened Sphere in Las Vegas. But when SoFi debuted to the public in 2020, fans noticed the surprising intimacy of it, as far as 70,000-capacity stadiums go. The main floor is built well below ground, and the vertical rake of the seats puts more fans closer to the action. The semi-enclosed roof adds some punctuation to the scene. If you’re a performer, it creates more of a wall of bodies than a sea of them.

For a filmmaker trying to lend intimacy to the biggest pop shows on the planet, that’s an invaluable asset.

“There is a thoughtfulness at SoFi that really added architectural texture and class to the world of our film,” said Micah Bickham, director of “The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium.” “Rather than at an older stadium with a tremendous first section, SoFi has all these different levels; it’s more of a cascading effect where the camera’s almost climbing a wall.”