Having won her first Album of the Year at the Grammy’s in 2010 for Fearless, the pressure was on for Taylor Swift’s third album, Speak Now, that was to release later that year. Whilst Speak Now wouldn’t go on to achieve the same critical acclaim as Fearless, it did continue the young country singer come pop star’s exponential growth.
Being one of my personal favourite Taylor Swift albums, I was excited to see Speak Now’s recorded world tour and see just how Swift had grown the show from Fearless. Generally, I wasn’t disappointed.
Speak Now World Tour Live presents a super cut of all the best performances from the aforementioned tour that ran from February 2011 to March 2012. Presenting the full setlist which combines the American, Asian, and European legs, this film showcases the most extensive and intimate version of the Speak Now World Tour.
Unlike Journey to Fearless that explored the creation of Swift’s first world tour, Speak Now World Tour Live is a traditional and straightforward filming of the live show. It does cut together multiple shows from multiple countries to present the best possible versions of each song, but it never strays from the traditional concert film experience.
Being one of my personal favourite Taylor Swift albums, I was excited to see Speak Now’s recorded world tour and see just how Swift had grown the show from Fearless. Generally, I wasn’t disappointed.
Speak Now World Tour Live presents a super cut of all the best performances from the aforementioned tour that ran from February 2011 to March 2012. Presenting the full setlist which combines the American, Asian, and European legs, this film showcases the most extensive and intimate version of the Speak Now World Tour.
Unlike Journey to Fearless that explored the creation of Swift’s first world tour, Speak Now World Tour Live is a traditional and straightforward filming of the live show. It does cut together multiple shows from multiple countries to present the best possible versions of each song, but it never strays from the traditional concert film experience.
Speak Now World Tour is a much grander spectacle than what was achieved with Fearless World Tour. Swift presents almost the entirety of the Speak Now album alongside some of her biggest hits from her debut album and Fearless, as well as a couple of acoustic covers of popular songs such as ‘Apologize’ by OneRepublic, ‘Hey Soul Sister’ by Train, and ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz.
The actual production is significantly larger in scale too with Swift showing off her theatrical tendencies with grand set-piece designs on the main stage, such as arial dancers, elaborate changing sets, and dazzling quick changes; as well as a smaller secondary stage located in the middle of the stalls where she performs her acoustic set.
When compared to what we saw of the Fearless tour in Journey to Fearless, Speak Now World Tour Live is an all-round improvement, at least to me. I prefer the songs of Speak Now over Fearless, and the few returning songs from her previous two albums are strong crowd pleasing choices.
In addition to this, Swift’s performative skills have improved massively. Whilst there was never any doubt about her singing capabilities or the way she interacted with the audience, it was the way she moved around the stage and how inept she was at conveying rhythm through movement that were lacking.
Whilst she’s still got a long way to go, there are signs of improvement here, as well as better accommodations for her in the choreography. For half the concert Swift is sat down, and the times where she is moving she does at least have a better sense of rhythm even if the movement itself isn’t great.
Ryan Polito returns as director following Journey to Fearless and I have to say the result is kind of bland. It feels awkwardly cut together, and so much of the footage is shot on low quality cameras from in the pit or zoomed in from really far away. Honestly it’s kind of embarrassing to see a show this big filmed so poorly.
Despite these shortcomings I still had a great time with Speak Now World Tour Live, and a lot of that comes from my adoration of the album. A lot of these are among my favourite songs of Swift’s, and the show itself looks great. It’s just a shame that the film package isn’t crafted with anywhere near the same level of care or ingenuity.
The actual production is significantly larger in scale too with Swift showing off her theatrical tendencies with grand set-piece designs on the main stage, such as arial dancers, elaborate changing sets, and dazzling quick changes; as well as a smaller secondary stage located in the middle of the stalls where she performs her acoustic set.
When compared to what we saw of the Fearless tour in Journey to Fearless, Speak Now World Tour Live is an all-round improvement, at least to me. I prefer the songs of Speak Now over Fearless, and the few returning songs from her previous two albums are strong crowd pleasing choices.
In addition to this, Swift’s performative skills have improved massively. Whilst there was never any doubt about her singing capabilities or the way she interacted with the audience, it was the way she moved around the stage and how inept she was at conveying rhythm through movement that were lacking.
Whilst she’s still got a long way to go, there are signs of improvement here, as well as better accommodations for her in the choreography. For half the concert Swift is sat down, and the times where she is moving she does at least have a better sense of rhythm even if the movement itself isn’t great.
Ryan Polito returns as director following Journey to Fearless and I have to say the result is kind of bland. It feels awkwardly cut together, and so much of the footage is shot on low quality cameras from in the pit or zoomed in from really far away. Honestly it’s kind of embarrassing to see a show this big filmed so poorly.
Despite these shortcomings I still had a great time with Speak Now World Tour Live, and a lot of that comes from my adoration of the album. A lot of these are among my favourite songs of Swift’s, and the show itself looks great. It’s just a shame that the film package isn’t crafted with anywhere near the same level of care or ingenuity.