Review and photos: Taylor Swift sparkles in tour debut in Tampa
After months of hype and debate, Taylor Swift's much-anticipated spring tour kicked off Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.
More than 15,000 wild-eyed fans packed in to watch the 20-year-old country-pop singer-songwriter perform a setlist full of hits like You Belong With Me, Love Story and Today Was a Fairytale (featuring a surprise onscreen cameo by Taylor Lautner!)
As for Swift's performance on the mic? Sean Daly was there, and he writes in his concert review:
If you're still
wondering: No, there weren't any caterwauling catastrophes a la her
unfortunate Grammys duet with Stevie Nicks. ...To shush the haters who claim she's all studio sheen, Swift played a
short acoustic set on a small stage in the back of the venue. For Hey Stephen, Fifteen and White Horse
— all cozy diary entries from a prodigious talent — she performed and
picked unaccompanied. Is she Streisand? No. But what she lacks in vocal
chops, she more than makes up for in star power.
Click here to read Sean's full Taylor Swift concert review, including how exactly that Twilight werewolf fit into the show. And after the jump, get more photos of Taylor Swift's concert in Tampa.
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Our 2010 Ultimate Local Music Guide was our biggest to date, featuring 180 bands, singers, rappers, DJs and artists across all genres.
In 2009, our Ultimate Local Music Guide spotlighted 150 of Tampa's Bay's top artists. To celebrate, we launched Soundcheck -- the blog you're reading now!
Our 2008 Ultimate Music Guide featured the 10 best local bands, 130 more artists that we love, a SXSW photo gallery by Giddy Up Helicopter and more.
In 2007, we profiled nearly 100 of the Bay Area's best music acts. See who was hot back then. Chances are, you're still rocking out to them today!
Why would anyone voluntarily attempt to see 50 concerts at 50 different venues in a single summer? Jay Cridlin shrugged and thought: