The Speak Now World Tour was the second concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). It began in Singapore, on February 9, 2011, and concluded in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 18, 2012. Visiting Asia and Europe before kicking off in North America on May 27, 2011, the tour covered 110 shows across 19 territories.
The set list consisted mostly of songs from Speak Now, with a few numbers from Swift's first two albums, Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). "Back to December" was performed as a mashup with "You're Not Sorry" and OneRepublic's "Apologize", and "Fearless" with Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours". The stage decorations featured Broadway-inspired elements such as lighting, choreography, and costume changes. On several US shows, Swift invited special guests to perform duets onstage with her. Multiple shows were recorded for a concert film and live album, both titled Speak Now World Tour – Live, released on November 21, 2011.
Music critics generally praised the production and Swift's showmanship and interactions with her audience. The North American shows were met with high demand that led to tickets being sold out within minutes. According to Pollstar, the Speak Now World Tour was both the highest-grossing by a female and solo artist and the fourth overall of 2011; in North America, it was the year's second-highest-grossing tour. Billboard ranked it fifth on their list of the top tours of 2011, with estimated total gross of $123.7 million and attendance of 1.6 million.
Background and development Big Machine Records released Taylor Swift's entirely self-written third studio album, Speak Now, on October 25, 2010. Speak Now sold over one million copies after one week of release in the United States, leading The New York Times to comment that Swift "has transcended the limitations of genre and become a pop megastar".
To promote the album, Swift planned to embark on a world tour. Immediately after the album's release, she announced on CMT that she had finalized the first tour dates in Japan in February 2011, followed by Norway, Germany, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom in March. Prior to an official concert tour, Swift had headlined festivals worldwide, including the V Festival in the United Kingdom and the CMC Rocks the Snowys in Australia in 2009, and the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan in summer 2010.
On November 23, 2010, Swift officially announced the Speak Now World Tour as her second headlining concert tour, following the Fearless Tour (2009). This announcement revealed the first 87 scheduled shows in 19 countries; the tour was to kick off in Asia, visiting territories including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, in February and then visited Europe in March, before taking place in North America from May until October 2011, kicking off in Omaha on May 27. Needtobreathe was confirmed as the opening act for the North American shows in December 2010.
In March 2011, Swift announced 16 additional dates for the North American leg, which was sponsored by CoverGirl and produced and promoted by The Messina Group (a partner of AEG Live), extending its run until November 2011. Additional opening acts included Frankie Ballard, Danny Gokey, Hunter Hayes, Josh Kelley, Randy Montana, James Wesley, Charlie Worsham, Adam Brand, and David Nail. The final dates of the Speak Now World Tour were for Australia and New Zealand, which were announced for March 2012. Hot Chelle Rae was confirmed as the opening act for the Australasian shows shortly prior to their commencement.
Concert synopsis Each concert in the North American leg lasted nearly two hours. Most songs on the set list were from Speak Now, with a few being from Swift's first two studio albums, Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). Swift used Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers's "American Girl" (1977) as her entrance song prior to the show. Each concert incorporated a range of aesthetic decorations and visual elements, including large video screens, elaborate lighting systems, pyrotechnics, set changes, confetti, a satellite stage, and nine costume changes. Swift said that these stage elements were inspired by her favorite Broadway plays like Wicked that she saw in her childhood.
The show began with Swift's recorded voice saying, "There's a time for silence and a time for waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it. I don't think you should wait, I think you should Speak Now." Swift then appeared onstage amidst thick fog, dressed in a gold-fringed dress and black boots, and performed the opening number, "Sparks Fly", with her band playing on a three-staircase stage. She sang the second number, "Mine", playing a red Les Paul electric guitar as her band members also strummed guitars. She paused to greet the audience before resuming the show with the third song, "The Story of Us".
For the next numbers, "Our Song" and "Mean", the stage setting incorporated imagery of an American back porch to complement the songs' country sounds. Swift performed these songs playing a banjo-guitar, while a band member played a fiddle and dancers acted out using washboards, goats, and moonshine. The stage scenery then changed to a snow-covered one, with tuxedo-wearing dancers performing a choreography on a bridge that was lowered onto the stage as Swift, donning a long gown, sang "Back to December" in a mashup with "You're Not Sorry" and OneRepublic's "Apologize" while playing a baby grand piano, backed by nine violinists. It was followed by a performance of "Better than Revenge", which began with a voicemail saying, "Leave me a message and make it hot." Swift then appeared onstage in a red sequined mini-dress and cowboy boots, singing the song while standing on the bridge and play-fighting with a backup dancer. The number ended with an electric guitar solo that made room for Swift to disappear from the stage.
The next number was "Speak Now", for which the stage was decorated to resemble a wedding ceremony in a church, with pews, a groom, and a bride. Towards the end of the song, Swift walked with the groom across the venue towards an auxiliary stage (the B-stage) at the other end of the venue, where she continued with an acoustic segment, consisting of a mashup "Fearless" / Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" / Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" on ukulele, and "Last Kiss" on guitar, performed with Swift sitting under an illuminated tree. The last song she performed on the B-stage was "You Belong with Me", for which she then returned to the main stage to join her band members dancing. Next, she sang "Dear John" as fireworks accompanied the song's chorus.
For the next number, "Enchanted", Swift performed standing on a winding staircase as her backup dancers reenacted a ballet. Before singing the next song, "Haunted", Swift used a mallet to strike giant bells. As she sang the track, the bells rose up off the stage and from which acrobatic dancers appeared, performing on trapezes. Swift then dedicated the next number, "Long Live", to her band and audience. During the encore, Swift sang "Fifteen" alone on guitar, sitting by herself on a sofa, as the video screens showed images of her touring band's members at 15 years old. She closed the concert with "Love Story"; she sang the song while standing on a suspended platform that resembled a balcony, whisking around the venue as confetti fell down.
Alterations
The set list for the Asian and European legs was shorter: each show lasted for nearly 90 minutes, omitting several songs. "Ours" was added to the encore starting from the concert in Denver on September 27, 2011, and was performed during subsequent shows of the North American and Australasian legs. For the Australasian shows in March 2012, Swift added "Safe & Sound" during the encore. During the second Auckland show, she sang "Eyes Open" in place of "Safe & Sound".
Starting from the first North American show, Swift wrote different song lyrics and occasionally quotes from famous speeches and movies on her left arm for each show using a Sharpie marker. At a rehearsal for the tour in Nashville on May 21, 2011, Swift wrote a lyric from Selena Gomez's "Who Says" onto her left arm to cope with "a rough day", and she thereafter wrote different lyrics onto her arm "like a mood ring" for each show. Taste of Country thought that this practice demonstrated Swift's "mischievous habit of slipping encoded details of her personal life" into her music and performances, while The New Yorker cited it as an example of Swift's practice to increase "fan obsession" of "a desire for intimacy between singer and listener" by allowing her audience to get involved in her personal space.
Also on the North American shows, Swift performed many acoustic cover versions, and on each show she paid tribute to a homegrown artist. She stated that the cover versions allowed her to be "spontaneous" in an otherwise well-rehearsed show: "You'll have a lot of people who will come to more than one show, and I want them to get a different experience every time." On certain shows, Swift invited special guests such as Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Usher, T.I., Jason Mraz, among others, and duetted with them.
Critical reception The first shows of the Speak Now World Tour in Asia and Europe received positive reviews. Reviews of the first show in Singapore by AsiaOne and The Straits Times highlighted Swift's sincere interactions with her audience. Reviewing the show in the Philippines, The Manila Bulletin wrote that it demonstrated Swift's "global appeal" that could attract "kids ... and their parents, ladies and their boyfriends ..., circles of friends, foreigners, and local celebrities all in one venue" and the Philippine Daily Inquirer complimented her musicianship demonstrated by the mashups and acoustic numbers. The Korea Times opined that despite performing in a half-full venue, Swift gave an entertaining show with well-produced visual accompaniments, her "charming qualities", and the "intense devotion" of the crowd. A review of the show in Germany by Soester Anzeiger described it as "bombastic American-style entertainment" with captivating theatrics and visuals. In a four-star review, The Guardian wrote: "Swift has the ability to flirt with 20,000 people at once, and so likably that you can forgive the occasional bit of shtick."
Reviews from the North American press were generally positive. The Village Voice, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Boston Globe, and Billboard applauded the performance for demonstrating Swift's songcraft about relatable subject matters that resonated well with her audience, while The Washington Post and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette attributed Swift's relatability to her genuine and authentic stage persona. Entertainment Weekly complimented the set list for allowing the audience to give in to Swift's "girly fantasia" with songs about nostalgia and hopes: "Today might've been a fairy tale, but you've gotta have something for tomorrow."