Big screen concert Taylor Swift makes Zurich movie theater dance
The Taylor Swift concert film can now be seen in cinemas. Could this be a consolation for those who weren't lucky enough to buy tickets? Here's how Swifties in Zurich can experience the megastar's big-screen concert.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Taylor Swift's concert film for her "The Eras Tour" is showing in cinemas around the world.
- Thousands of Swifties are also gathering in cinemas in Switzerland.
- Dancing and singing along during the movie is encouraged by Taylor Swift and the cinema owners.
Information
This text was first published on blue News on October 14.
Shortly before 8 p.m. at the blue Cinema Abaton in Zurich-West on the premiere evening. The foyer is filling up. The screening in the largest auditorium with over 400 seats is sold out.
The Swifties, as Taylor Swift's fans call themselves, are recognizable thanks to their tour shirts and friendship bracelets. A photo in front of the movie poster is a must for most of them.
Even for Barbara, who, like many of the women present, grew up with the singer and admires her as a storyteller. Julia has been a Taylor fan since she was 12: "A bit longer than that". Wearing red lipstick and a black hat, she copies the look of one of Swift's album covers.
Julia is not the only one dressed for the occasion that evening. Pietro wears silver snakes in his ears as a reminiscence of Swift's furious "Reputation" phase. Others wear cowboy boots from the time when she was still considered a country singer.
Singing and dancing expressly encouraged
The concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is already a lucrative phenomenon even before its theatrical release. The almost three-hour film is made up of footage from three of her six concerts in Los Angeles at the beginning of August 2023.
With advance ticket sales of 100 million dollars worldwide, the film has already made more money than any other Marvel blockbuster. Thanks to an unconventional deal with the US cinema chain AMC, Taylor Swift also brought the concert film to cinemas without the support of a film studio.
The US superstar is also flexing her muscles in Switzerland and is only allowing screenings from Thursday to Sunday in order to avoid evenings with a smaller audience and a correspondingly smaller atmosphere in the cinemas.
When announcing her film, Swift encouraged her fans to behave as if they were at a concert: Singing, dancing and taking selfies are expressly encouraged.
But will the Swifties also break with cinema conventions in Switzerland and sing along at the top of their voices? Julia "will certainly be singing along" and hopes that she won't be alone. And Pietro's companion Matteo is convinced that people will join in.
He himself has already experienced in the USA how loud it can get in the stadium. And he is by no means the only person in the Abaton to have attended one of the US concerts.
Everyone blue News spoke to has tickets for her two Taylor Swift concerts at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich next summer anyway.
Are these the inhibitions that Mani Matter sang about?
As the movie starts, Taylor Swift looks into the sea of lights in the stadium ring on the giant screen and lets herself be celebrated. The grandeur that both Swift as a personality and the football stadium in Glendale exude when she appears on stage for the first time is impressive - even her Zurich fans.
For now: quiet enjoyment and shy applause. Is the Swiss reserve showing through? Are these the inhibitions that Mani Matter sang about?
During the first few sets, you can still hear some quiet singing along. But the movie theater sound is still strong enough to drown it out.
The audience stands up and sings along loudly and confidently
The obligatory movie break puts an abrupt end to the occasional indulgence. Unprofessionally placed directly in front of the pièce de résistance of the concert evening, the Swifties are told to fortify themselves again at the kiosk before the over-ballad "All To Well".
And lo and behold: the break has an effect.
Whether it was the invigorating power of the snacks or the joint decision to rebel against cinema conventions remains to be seen. When Taylor Swift, in a cone of light, with guitar and red and black glitter cape, asks after the break if everyone has ten minutes for a very specific song from her album "Red", all the dams break.
The audience stands up and sings along loudly and confidently. The rest of the concert then fluctuates between soulful fervor while singing along and passionate dancing between the rows.
Anyone still sitting down is revealed to be a dad who has been dragged along. And at certain points in the choruses, the hall even drowned out Swift's voice from the loudspeakers.
Taylor Swift is the measure of all things
The great atmosphere that gripped countless North American stadiums last spring thanks to "The Eras Tour" is perfectly conveyed via concert film. Taylor Swift is rightly the measure of all things at the moment.
The fact that the coronavirus pandemic made one of her planned world tours impossible and two Swift albums were written during the lockdown now allows her to bring a special concert experience to the stage that combines different musical styles from an even broader discography.
Varied and technically perfect with an almost infinite amount of effort, she looks back on her career spanning almost 20 years. And in doing so, she lets her fans share in her great appreciation.
They thank her with full movie theaters - also in Zurich-West.
"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is showing at blue Cinema and other Swiss cinemas from Thursday to Sunday until 5.11.12023. Further information can be found here: https://bluecinema.ch/de/movie/taylor-swift-the-eras-tour/