New York Times Review- In an Arena Performance, Taylor Swift’s Nerves of Steel
NEWARK — An arena show, for all the planning that goes into it, is still a tightrope walk — there is nowhere to hide once the lights go up. So when things began to go wrong for Taylor Swift about midway through her Wednesday night concert at the Prudential Center here, the question wasn’t whether she’d sweat, but would it show. She’d just begun to perform “Everything Has Changed” with Ed Sheeran, the cheeky British singer-songwriter who is also one of her opening acts, when the sound slowly began to melt — Ms. Swift in one direction; Mr. Sheeran in another; the band, all the way at the other end of the arena, in a third. Technology, the kind that lets performers hear one another in loud rooms, was failing them. For his part, Mr. Sheeran looked despondent, or distracted, or just dopey. Ms. Swift was having none of that. She leaned in to him, whispering encouragement or direction or both, and steadied the performance, keeping it afloat amid the warring scores until the song ended, and Mr. Sheeran ambled off with a shrug.
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