Speak Now Tour review - Taylor Swift

When Taylor Swift wrote the hit ”Today Was a Fairytale,” she totally wasn’t kidding. For Swift, every day is a fairy tale, and her Speak Now Tour is no exception. During a July 20 stop in Newark, Our Lady of Nice-Girl Pop played ”Long Live,” a song about kings and queens who slay dragons, for a crowd of 10,000 screaming munchkins. Ball gowns were donned. Staircases were slowly descended. A chapel wedding was staged. For the grand finale, ”Love Story,” Swift even performed from a balcony that floated up on wires and swooped over the nosebleed seats. It was kinda like magic. When she sang ”Sparks Fly,” they actually did. (Cue the fireworks.)

Whether strumming the ukulele under a twinkling tree (”Fearless”) or pounding the piano during a faux snowstorm (”Back to December”), the 21-year-old captures all the OMG wonder and I’ll-just-die darkness of adolescence. Every first date warrants harps and violins; every feeling is blown up to Jumbotron size. Those past the unicorns ‘n’ hearts stage may roll their eyes — but really, they’re not who Swift is speaking to. And considering how convincingly she sings about freshman-year angst on ”Fifteen,” it’s a little sad to think that she will never be that age again. Maybe that’s why she covered Bruce Springsteen’s ”Dancing in the Dark” and Bon Jovi’s ”Livin’ on a Prayer” in tribute to her Jersey audience: Both songs are about how things get harder when you get older. All the more reason to give yourself over to Swift’s girly fantasia. Today might’ve been a fairy tale, but you’ve gotta have something for tomorrow. (Through Nov. 22; for info, go to taylorswift.com) A-