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Taylor Swift · S5 E7
The Red Tour
66 cities, 1.2 million tickets, and the last country tour she ever plays.
On March 13, 2013, Taylor Swift opens the Red Tour in Omaha, Nebraska, with a setlist that spans three albums and four years. She does not know it yet, but this is the last time she will ever tour as a country artist.
"Bad Blood" -- Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar, official music video (2015). A cast of famous women assembles for what looks like a spy movie directed by a pop star. The Squad era this video crystallizes begins during the Red Tour, where Taylor starts building the famous friend group that will define her public image for the next two years.
Bad Blood
Max Martin and Shellback build the track on a synth-brass riff and a marching rhythm that sounds like a declaration of war. When Kendrick Lamar enters, Martin strips the beat to its bones, giving his verse space to breathe before rebuilding to the final chorus. It is a production move Nashville would never attempt: feature a rap verse, let it shift the song's center of gravity, then reassemble.
The Red Tour by the Numbers
“There's a moment every night on this tour where I look at the crowd and think: this is the last time it will feel exactly like this. You can't hold on to an era. You can only play it one more time.”
— Taylor Swift, on the Red Tour, various interviews, 2013
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Ed Sheeran gain from opening for the Red Tour?
Starlight (Taylor's Version)
A song about meeting someone and dancing like nobody is watching, inspired by the early romance of Ethel and Bobby Kennedy. It captures the exact energy of a Red Tour show: bright lights, a packed room, and the feeling that this particular night will never happen again. Play it as the credits roll on the Red era.
The Red Tour set a touring record when it concluded in 2014. What was it?
The Red Tour ends, and Taylor Swift closes the book on country music for good. Next season: 1989, the album with no Nashville, no hedging, and no half-measures that turns a country singer into the biggest pop star on the planet.
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To be continued
Season 6: 1989
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