I think one of the saddest things about being a Taylor Swift fan is never being able to see what could have been the Lover world tour. Following the mixed reception to Reputation, Swift followed up with a complete tonal one-eighty. From her darkest and angriest album to her most optimistic and fun, it didn’t get as much traction as her previous releases on release, and then the tour was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That brought its own blessings with Folklore and Evermore, and then eventually The Eras Tour, but Lover’s moment in the spotlight was unceremoniously cut short.
City of Lover presents a handful of songs from the Lover album played live for the first time in Paris shortly after the album’s release; in a stripped back and more intimate performance than any of Swift’s other concert films.
The most striking thing about City of Lover is just how small the whole thing is. Most of the time it’s just Swift and a guitar or piano, with a couple of songs having a slightly more extravagant setup of her band and a couple of backup singers & dancers. Performed in a small venue in front of a couple of thousand fans, it’s a stark contrast to the highly choreographed, massive in scale, and overly dramatic Reputation tour. Obviously, this is a totally different thing, it’s essentially a launch party, which Swift acknowledges at the start of the show. This was never meant to be the Lover concert, but this is all Lover ever got until The Eras Tour.
City of Lover presents a handful of songs from the Lover album played live for the first time in Paris shortly after the album’s release; in a stripped back and more intimate performance than any of Swift’s other concert films.
The most striking thing about City of Lover is just how small the whole thing is. Most of the time it’s just Swift and a guitar or piano, with a couple of songs having a slightly more extravagant setup of her band and a couple of backup singers & dancers. Performed in a small venue in front of a couple of thousand fans, it’s a stark contrast to the highly choreographed, massive in scale, and overly dramatic Reputation tour. Obviously, this is a totally different thing, it’s essentially a launch party, which Swift acknowledges at the start of the show. This was never meant to be the Lover concert, but this is all Lover ever got until The Eras Tour.
It’s short, really short actually. Clocking in at just over forty minutes, City of Lover features eight songs; Me!, The Archer, Death By A Thousand Cuts, Cornelia Street, The Man, Daylight, You Need To Calm Down, and Lover. The fact that it’s not even the whole album comes as a bit of a blow, and it’s not even the full show we get to see (as that featured a handful of performances from Swift’s back catalogue).
However, City of Lover is an excellent watch because it allows the focus to be directed towards Swift’s vocal abilities and songwriting rather than her grand theatrics.
Whilst it might be brief, City of Lover might actually be the perfect introduction to Swift’s concert filmography for the uninitiated. Whilst it doesn’t cover the whole album it does present an excellent variety of songs from it (even if I’m not particularly keen on The Archer), and the stripped back approach presents a much more intimidate performance and forces Swift to rely on her talents as an artist over anything else. If you fall in love with City of Lover, then I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to see everything else she’s done. It’s just a shame that Lover Fest never saw the light of day.
However, City of Lover is an excellent watch because it allows the focus to be directed towards Swift’s vocal abilities and songwriting rather than her grand theatrics.
Whilst it might be brief, City of Lover might actually be the perfect introduction to Swift’s concert filmography for the uninitiated. Whilst it doesn’t cover the whole album it does present an excellent variety of songs from it (even if I’m not particularly keen on The Archer), and the stripped back approach presents a much more intimidate performance and forces Swift to rely on her talents as an artist over anything else. If you fall in love with City of Lover, then I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to see everything else she’s done. It’s just a shame that Lover Fest never saw the light of day.