Cleveland, Ohio -- In the good ol' days -- or so some would have you believe -- music alone was enough to carry a concert.
Taylor Swift, who packed nearly 15,000 into a sold-out Q Saturday night, can do that. But Swift, who's not even 22, has more as much business savvy as musical talent. She turned her "Speak Now" tour date into a Broadway revue, complete with dancers, pyrotechnics and a stage that among other things segued between Victorian pub, a 1930s Appalachian bandstand, a church and a wintry concert hall featuring a begowned Swift on a snow-white grand piano.
That's why she created a show that was not a melange of songs, but a collection of musical one-act plays, complete with costume changes and choreography ranging from barn-dancing to tap to modern jazz to full-blown ballet on "Enchanted."
"Back to December,'' the song using the grand piano set, showed that -- sniff -- our little Taylor has grown up. Yeah, she threw out the usual hits, "Mean,'' "Sparks Fly,'' "You Belong,'' "Mean'' and more. But it's the appearance of the "December'' ballad early in her show that indicates the kid with the middle-school yearbook lyrics has become a woman. A gifted, beautiful woman.
Oh, and a woman who's "Fearless.'' It would take someone with that kind of courage to use a UKELE to sing one of her biggest hits after navigating through the crowd from one end of The Q to the other. Beefy security guys can only do so much, ya know? And let's not even talk about the guts it takes to circumnavigate The Q suspended in a prop balcony for her "Love Story'' finale.
Swift is one of those songwriters who thrives on pain. "Last Kiss'' is a classic example. The song was simple, and simply elegant, down to the spot-on harmonies and especially a beautiful harp interlude that showed a new depth to her ability to interpret and RE-interpret her own work.
Re-imagining "Haunted,'' for example, into a Cirque de Soleil event -- complete with dancers suspended on elastic ropes from huge churchbells -- isn't something that would occur to the typical country artist. Heck, Criss Angel might have trouble coming up with such a concept.
It wasn't perfect; intermittent muddy sound throughout the 15-song and two-encore show took away a lot of the nuances that make Swift's innocent voice unique. But it was close enough that it's pretty clear this isn't her last sold-out concert tour. But more than that, she may have changed the way country concerts will be staged.
Bear Rinehart, the raspy voiced lead singer for South Carolina power pop Needtobreathe, channeled his inner Bono (down to the fedora but minus the cool yellow specs) for a 30-minute set. About the only thing country about them is the boots Bear and his little brother, guitarist Bo, and the rest of the band were sporting.
Now the other opening act is a little -- OK, a LOT -- different. If a mad scientist took Swift's DNA and created a male version, it'd be Hunter Hayes. Four songs, including the title cut off his "Storm Warning,'' made it clear that the kid (at 20 he's a year younger than Swift) from Breaux Bridge, La., has a lot of same songwriting style -- and gift.
But if what Swift did is any indication, he'd better brush up on his tap and ballet.
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