By Kate Huneke, Senior Editor
The pure love and enthusiasm of Taylor Swift’s legions of fans seemed to burn away the clouds that filled the sky on April 11 at the HP Pavilion. Swift shines, from the brass buttons on her opening bandleader outfit to the brilliant facets tacked onto her signature acoustic guitar. Her opening number, the hit single “You Belong With Me,” satisfied the adolescent, adoring fans, and corresponded with the perfect pitch of the recorded version.
Swift's performed songs alternate between adolescent love stories and tales of relationships gone wrong at the hands of uninterested or dishonest boys. Her singing voice was clear and on pitch, and in response to the skeptical, clearly not lip-synced. Her vocal range is limited and she plays it safe for the most part, sticking closely to her recorded performances, but when she's in her comfort zone, her voice has a sweet, airy tone that works nicely to support the music she writes.
Every second of the show was scripted. Even moments intended to appear spontaneous gave themselves away when interspersed with video clips. What made it work was that Swift, her band and her dancers were fully committed to the performance and that they all seemed to genuinely appreciate the wild enthusiasm of the audience.
The musicians were solid, versatile and did a good job of preserving the spirit of the songs in an arena setting. Some of the more popular material suffered for lack of the polished production of the studio releases, most notably "Fearless," "Our Song" and "Love Story," but for the most part the band delivered, as did Swift.
The night was structured in three acts. The show opened with a dazzling production of the misfit anthem "You Belong With Me," satisfying the many fans who came dressed as the nerdy protagonist from the video. A set of full band hits followed, then, after a brief pause, Swift appeared in the middle of the crowd for a more intimate acoustic set.
Over the course of four songs, she worked her way through the audience and back to the stage, mingling with her adoring and awestruck fans, and finished with a solo rendition of "White Horse." The band returned for an impressively theatrical "Love Story," in which the visuals overshadowed the music. The set closed with Swift drifting through some of her weaker material, ending with a forgettable rendition of "Picture to Burn."
The encore brought the crowd fully back to life with a heart-shaped confetti-drenched rendition of the new single "Today Was a Fairytale," which Swift sang dressed in a San Jose Sharks jersey. The final encore, "Should've Said No," featured a fierce drum battle between Swift and one of her backup singers and ended with Swift singing while being drenched with sheets of rain that somehow spelled out key lyrics to the chorus of the song.
Swift uses her hair more than her voice for emotional emphasis, a move that wore thin as the night went on until, toward the end of the evening, it bordered on silly. The pained ballad "You're Not Sorry" climaxed with Swift tossing her head wildly in all directions as she sat at the piano, in a way that was both trite and contrived.
That said, she is young, gorgeous and has a lot of raw talent and the means to partner with songwriters and producers who can help her take the next step.
The most memorable part of the evening was not the high-production technology or the energetic performances, but rather the small slot of time when Swift stood on stage, marinating in the worship and affection of her fans’ roaring applause.
