TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
In Jakarta, Taylor Swift paints the town 'Red'
Taylor Swift: (Courtesy of EC entertainment/Rendha Rais)American country-pop sweetheart Taylor Swift rocked thousands of her fans at the Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS) in Ancol, North Jakarta, on Wednesday night, on her first visit to Indonesia
Change Size
Taylor Swift: (Courtesy of EC entertainment/Rendha Rais) (Courtesy of EC entertainment/Rendha Rais)
Taylor Swift: (Courtesy of EC entertainment/Rendha Rais)
American country-pop sweetheart Taylor Swift rocked thousands of her fans at the Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS) in Ancol, North Jakarta, on Wednesday night, on her first visit to Indonesia.
The concert also kicked off the Southeast Asia leg of a tour to promote her fourth album, Red.
At 8:30 p.m., Swift's giant shadow appeared behind a red curtain, immediately generating loud screams from the crowd, which consisted mainly of teenagers.
The curtain then lifted, showing a black-and-white-attired Swift who proceeded to rock the arena with 'State of Grace', a song from her latest album.
'Terima kasih [thank you],' Swift said, which, of course, was met with more loud screams from the so-called Swifties, the name given to Swift's fans.
She continued to dominate the stage with another country rock song, 'Holy Ground', heating up the night by dancing around the stage and playing drums together with her dancers.
'Selamat malam [good evening]. I'm Taylor. Welcome to the RED Tour. This is the first crowd I've ever played for here and you've quite made the impression,' she said, greeting her fans.
Swift then disappeared backstage to change into a long red dress with gloves and reappeared to sing 'The Lucky One', hamming it up as a Hollywood superstar hounded by paparazzi. The 24-year-old Swift is a seven-time Grammy winner.
In 2012, she released Red, making her the first artist since The Beatles to log six or more weeks at number one with three consecutive studio albums.
Red topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for seven weeks, following her other albums, Fearless, which topped the charts for 11 weeks, and Speak Now, which stayed at the top for six weeks.
Back in Jakarta, Swift turned down the heat for a while with a banjo performance on 'Mean'. The song was taken from her third album and won best country song and best solo performance at the 54th Grammy Awards.
As it ended, screens displayed a video showing musical moments since she was very young. When the footage displayed the time she turned 22, the crowd went wild, as it was the cue for her next song, the worldwide hit '22'.
The crowd grew even wilder when Swift came down from the main stage and crossed a passage through the crowd, heading toward a smaller stage.
The lucky fans in the standing sections could reach out to touch her hands and take her photo from close range.
She stayed on the small stage for two more songs, 'Fifteen' and 'You Belong with Me', and when she returned to the main stage while singing 'Sparks Fly', the crowd went crazy once again.
For almost two hours, she not only had fun singing and strutting her stuff with the dancers on the stage, but she also showed off her instrumental skills by playing electric guitar, banjo and piano.
She also interacted with her fans, telling them the stories behind several songs and herself. The audience, most attired in red, also played a part throughout the show. With glow sticks and flashy placards, they lit up the arena. Many had also written '13' on their cheeks or hands.
'Thirteen is Taylor Swift's lucky number and it is also the date of her birthday,' said seventh grader Nesya, who attended the concert with her sister.
Swift closed the night with her number one hit, 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', which was also accompanied by an entertaining stage act.
'Indonesia, it's been a wonderful night ' a night I will never forget,' she said at the end of a bravura performance.
