Watch Taylor Swift give ‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ its live debut
Taylor Swift has given ‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ its live debut in Amsterdam, and performed ‘Mary’s Song’ for the first time since 2008. Find footage of the moments below.
It took place as the pop star took to the stage in the Netherlands, for the final of her three nights at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
“I can’t believe this but I haven’t played this song yet on the ‘Eras Tour’, so that’s fun,” she said, before breaking into ‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ during the ‘Surprise Song’ segment of her 45-track setlist (Saturday, July 6).
The song was written by Swift and produced by longtime friend, collaborator and producer Jack Antonoff in 2013. It was developed while the singer was on tour, supporting her ‘Red’ album, and it was created as part of the soundtrack to the film One Chance, which was about opera singer and Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts.
The song was the first of two tracks performed as part of the surprise section, and was soon followed up by Swift’s first performance of ‘Mary’s Song’ in 16 years.
“You get bonus points if you know the words to this song that I’m about to do because it’s from my first album,” the pop star told the audience as she put down her acoustic guitar and made her way over to a piano. “I’ve never performed it on the ‘Eras Tour’, so bonus points for you if you know the words to this one.”
It marked her first time breaking out the sing since 2008, and she performed it as a mashup of ‘So High School’ and ‘Everything Has Changed’.
She also subtly remixed the lyrics towards the end to make a nod towards her relationship with Travis Kelce. “I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89 / I’ll still look at you like the stars that shine / In the sky, oh my my my,” she sang – with the 87 being a reference to the Kansas City Chiefs player’s jersey number and the 89 being a nod to both her birth year and 2014 album.
Find more footage of the gig below, as well as the full setlist.
Taylor Swift’s setlist was:
‘Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince’
‘Cruel Summer’
‘The Man’
‘You Need to Calm Down’
‘Lover’
‘Fearless
‘You Belong With Me’
‘Love Story’
’22’
‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’
‘I Knew You Were Trouble’
‘All Too Well’
‘Enchanted’
‘…Ready for It?’
‘Delicate’
‘Don’t Blame Me’
‘Look What You Made Me Do’
‘Cardigan’
‘Betty’
‘Champagne Problems’
‘August’
‘Illicit affairs’
‘My tears ricochet’
‘Marjorie’
‘Willow’
‘Style’
‘Blank Space’
‘Shake It Off’
‘Wildest Dreams’
‘Bad Blood’
‘But Daddy I Love Him / So High School’
‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’
‘Down Bad’
‘Fortnight’
‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’
‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’
‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ / ‘Holy Ground’ (‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ live debut)
‘Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)’ / ‘So High School’ / ‘Everything Has Changed’
‘Lavender Haze’
‘Anti‐Hero’
‘Midnight Rain’
‘Vigilante Shit’
‘Bejeweled’
‘Mastermind’
‘Karma’
One night prior – during the second of her three Amsterdam shows – Swift also surprised her audience by playing ‘imgonnagetyouback’ for the first time live on the ‘Eras Tour’.
The song, taken from Swift’s latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ appeared within a mid-gig medley of songs that also featured ‘Reputation’ song ‘Dress’. After that, Swift followed with ‘You Are In Love’ from ‘1989’ which segued into ‘Cowboy Like Me’ from ‘Evermore’.
In other Taylor Swift news, last month songwriting legend Patti Smith referenced her namecheck from Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ on stage in Dublin.
The New York punk icon was playing in the city’s Vicar Street venue on June 28 when she alluded to her connection to the title track of one of the year’s most successful records.
On the song in question, released in April, Swift makes a specific reference to Smith, as well as Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and the iconic bohemian hotspot, Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel.
“I laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel / We’re modern idiots’,” she sings, in what is widely thought to be an allusion to her short-lived relationship with The 1975‘s Matty Healy.
Smith then brought the reference full circle this week, as seen in fan-captured footage from the Dublin show. Smith said: “Well, I’ve a small confession to make. I am no Dylan Thomas, but I AM Patti Smith!”, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.
Shortly after the song first came out, Smith responded with a social media post in which she is seen reading a book of Thomas’ poetry. “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor,” she wrote.
The post Watch Taylor Swift give ‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ its live debut appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
