Few hits were left unsung in the two hours that country-star-turned-pop-darling Taylor Swift stormed the main stage at Rock in Rio Las Vegas. A huge headliner, who has just began touring her acclaimed "1989" album, Taylor Swift took the festival show to another level. In fact, she performed as if this wasn't a festival at all, and that proved to be too much for festivalgoers.
The singer's voice was flawless from the get-go, starting with "Welcome to New York." The show had everything one can imagine in a pop concert, from male dancers in various attires to umbrellas that light in the dark and moving doors. It had dancing, videos from Swift's best girlfriends, ballads and personal stories. So many stories it got weird at some point, like when she told how the "Love Story" song came about. She made numerous outfit changes over the course of two hours and was unable to retain the crowd that flocked into the main stage for the duration of the show.
Halfway through the show, it was possible to move forward continuously, as more and more people left the concert.
The performance just wasn't appropriate for a festival, with people from all backgrounds, who bought tickets to see a multitude of artists and were just curious to see Taylor Swift. The singer had white wristbands distributed earlier on to all the attendees and they all lighted in unison multiple times throughout the concert.
Her diehard fans were in for a treat as the singer performed fiercely and with an elaborate set. She performed songs from all of her albums, including "I wish you would," "Wonderland" and "Style," but left some hits out, like "22." She also told lots of stories about them, and for the average festivalgoer, who doesn't know those new songs or doesn't have knowledge on her love life (very influential on her writing), it was off putting.
People were leaving the concert dumbfounded, despite the artistry on stage and the well constructed concert (it's safe to say Swift took a chapter or two from Madonna's book).
Even the duet with Ed Sheeran, who had just performed before her, didn't do much for the crowd's reaction. They sang "Tenerife Sea" and gushed about their friendship. In the end, another video showed Taylor Swift with her two cats, while people were leaving in hordes because it was way past 1am. Those who stayed got to see an energetic performance of the hit "Shake it off", as confetti dropped from the skies and the wristbands were lighting one last time. In the end, it wasn't the concert most people expected.