Taylor Swift’s second concert in Madrid: the power of the normal girl that hypnotizes the masses

Much is said about the noise suffered by the residents of the Bernabéu and little about the heat that is spent watching a concert on the court of a field – roof closed to avoid complaints and fines – packed with fans to attend the second and last concert that Taylor Swift has offered in our country, a colossal event by a global artist. The most important of our days. The most influential of a generation. And a real money-making machine.

Whether you understand this girl’s phenomenon or not, Taylor Swift’s concert was the place to be. The event of the year. That feeling that something unique is happening in the world and you are witnessing it as one of those 65,000 people – most of them with fans in hand – who are experiencing what the entire planet wants to see. Although there is little that is unique, because Taylor is traveling half the world with that same show. He started his tour a year ago and is expected to extend it until 2025.

“Welcome to The Eras Tour,” Taylor Swift said in Spanish shortly after starting this Thursday’s concert and beginning the setlist of 45 songs that review their entire discography, because although the Swiftie craze seems recent, the truth is that it was unleashed more than 15 years ago. There are several things to thank Taylor for: Let your concert start on time (at 8:00 p.m.)because there are divas who delay it up to an hour; let him talk little between songs, without tormenting the attendees with unnecessary speeches; and let it be generous with her audiencealways smiling, with a good attitude and moving non-stop throughout the stage and through every corner of an endless catwalk. You have to be seen and photographed, especially if your tickets have been sold for up to 500 euros.

The three and a quarter hours of the concert are a walk through each of their Eras, starting with Lover, Fearless, Red or Reputation, one of the high moments, although it is somewhat visually dulled by the light – half of the concert is during the day. Iberian of our summer schedule. Concerts in Spain should not be held following Anglo-Saxon schedules. “Are you okay?” he asked halfway through the concert. “You are wonderful”, he said after receiving an ovation of more than two minutes after singing Champagne Problems, in the Folklore era. He then went on to release Evermore and 1989, an album with songs dedicated to his ex, Harry Styles. In The Torturets Poets Department he lowers the bar somewhat, but he recovers it again when he reaches the Midnights era, the last one.

The concert is really impeccable (and the sound at the Bernabéu, better than expected), although sometimes it feels like there is a lack of sophistication in the staging. And no matter how much visual display it has, it does not reach the technological level and the waste of other artists like Beyoncé in that sense.

But the key is that she doesn’t need it either, because the real value of Taylor Swift – the normal and imperfect girl – lies in the power of her lyrics and in its ability to create a unique climatehypnotize the masses and create moments of unanimous communion among a dedicated audience that today struggles to overcome an emotional hangover that will take days to disappear.