Fearless Tour

The Fearless Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, launched in support of her second studio album Fearless (2008). It began on April 23, 2009, in Evansville, Indiana and concluded on July 10, 2010, in Cavendish, Canada. Kellie Pickler, Gloriana, and Justin Bieber were supporting acts for the tour.

Fearless Tour

Tour by Taylor Swift
Location	North America Europe Oceania Asia
Associated album	Fearless
Start date	April 23, 2009 (2009-04-23)
End date	July 10, 2010 (2010-07-10)
Legs	4
No. of shows	118
Supporting acts	Kellie Pickler Gloriana Justin Bieber
Attendance	1.2 million
Box office	$66.5 million (99 shows)[1][2] ($79.25 million in 2019 dollars)[3]
Taylor Swift concert chronology

During the tour, Swift performed with guests such as John Mayer, Katy Perry, and Faith Hill. It grossed $63,705,590 from 89 reported shows and an audience of 1,138,977.[4][5][6][7] Several shows were recorded and released for a concert series, Journey to Fearless, on The Hub; it aired from October 22 to 24, 2010.[8]

Pre-tour activity

Swift performing "Tim McGraw" during the Fearless Tour in 2009

Prior to the launch of the tour, Swift played several shows in the US, including two sold-out performances at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in early 2009. Swift also played several dates in the UK and Australia, including two shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.[9]

Also, in the midst of her own tour, Swift began opening shows in select cities for Keith Urban on his Escape Together World Tour 2009.

Background and development

The tour was announced on January 29, 2009, via her official website.[10] The initial press release announced that Swift would visit 54 cities in 39 states and provinces in the United States and Canada. Joining her on the tour would be a new country music group, Gloriana, as well as former American Idol contestant, Kellie Pickler.

The tour kicked off in Evansville, Indiana on April 23, 2009 at Roberts Municipal Stadium. In honor of the kickoff of the sold-out tour, Swift was presented the key to the city of Evansville and the City Council President declared Thursday, April 23, 2009 Taylor Swift Day.[11]

The tour featured a theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements all designed by Swift. The show runs nearly 90 minutes and showcases Swift playing five different guitars as well as the piano. The show featured multiple costume changes and a fairy-tale castle illuminated by more than a million lumens of light.[10]

In late June, a new tour date was announced for November 23 at the Wembley Arena in London. However it became apparent that neither Kellie Pickler nor Gloriana would be joining her on the UK part of the tour. Taylor Swift announced another date in the UK at the Manchester Evening News Arena on November 24.[12] This was the final and second tour date in the UK. The shows at Wembley and Manchester will be the only two concerts for the Fearless Tour in Europe. It was announced later that singer Justin Bieber would join Swift on the two UK dates.[13] While performing at Wembley Arena, Bieber broke his foot while he performed the opening lines of "One Time", but still finished the song. Despite his injury, Bieber confirmed that he would still perform in Manchester with Swift the following day, although the Wembley concert was cut short as he could not perform the encore. Bieber then went on to perform at the Manchester performance with an encore, he sang "With You" a cover of the original version from Chris Brown. Following a 10-minute applause after she had sung "Tim McGraw", Swift told the Manchester audience "Everytime I hear the word Manchester, I won't be able to stop smiling...I love you!".[14] According to a German magazine, Swift was supposed to play three shows in Germany. However, tickets for those concerts never went on sale.

On September 30, it was announced that Swift would return to Australia in February 2010 to play another series of concerts, but now in arenas.[15] On October 8, it was announced that the tour would be extended through June 2, 2010 to include 37 additional shows in North America.[16] It has been confirmed that Justin Bieber will be performing at the Gillette Stadium on June 5, 2010 with Swift.[17]

Concert synopsis

The show opens with the stage decorated as a school hallway. Swift appears at the top of the stage, in a band uniform, and sings "You Belong With Me". During the climax of the song, dancers remove Swift's outfit to reveal a sparkling, silver dress. "Our Song" and "Tell Me Why" are performed next, and then Swift gives a speech about her high school crush and his girlfriend. The backdrops of the stage turn into a library where Swift performs "Teardrops on My Guitar". She then sings "Fearless" and exits for a costume change.

The next segment begins with Swift, in a red dress, and a male dancer on red armchairs where she sings "Forever & Always". Swift leaves and changes into a teal gown and crosses the audience during a performance of "Hey Stephen". She goes to a B-stage where "Fifteen" and "Tim McGraw" are sung with a guitar. The act ends with Swift returning to the main stage, singing "White Horse".

The third act begins with Swift and her dancers in Renaissance attire during a performance of "Love Story", she then changes into a white gown and sings "The Way I Loved You". The next segment sees Swift, in a purple mini-dress, at a piano, which is at the top of the stage. There she performs "You're Not Sorry", with elements of Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around...Comes Around", as her dancers, in black, perform acrobats on the bottom stage. "Picture to Burn" and "Change" are sung next, the former with fire on the backdrops, and Swift exits for a final costume change.

During the encore, she appears on top of the stage again, in a black gown, performing "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" with her supporting acts Gloriana and Kellie Pickler; however, during shows in 2010, Swift sang "Today Was a Fairytale" alone. She then gives a speech about an ex who cheated on her and sings "Should've Said No". During the performance, fake rain comes from the roof of the stage and Swift closes the show by going backstage as curtains are drawn.

Supporting acts

Taylor Swift performing with Kellie Pickler and Gloriana in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 2009

The tour featured three different supporting acts across three continents. Gloriana toured with Swift primarily in North America and Oceania, Kellie Pickler played on the North American leg, and Justin Bieber performed on the United Kingdom and Foxboro, Massachusetts dates. The following represents the set lists of the supporting acts.

Gloriana

1. "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" / "Go Your Own Way"
2. "If You're Leavin'" (Foxboro, Massachusetts only)
3. "You Said"
4. "Lead Me On"
5. "The Way It Goes"
6. "The World Is Ours Tonight" (Foxboro, Massachusetts only)
7. "Wild at Heart"

Kellie Pickler

1. "Best Days of Your Life"
2. "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind"
3. "Rocks Instead Of Rice"
4. "Makin' Me Fall in Love Again"
5. "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You"
6. "Don't You Know You're Beautiful"
7. "I Wonder"
8. "Red High Heels"

Justin Bieber

1. "Love Me"
2. "Bigger"
3. "One Less Lonely Girl"
4. "Favorite Girl"
5. "Never Let You Go"
6. "Down to Earth"
7. "One Time"
8. "With You" (Chris Brown cover)

Set list

This set list is from the April 23, 2009 show in Evansville, Indiana and is not intended to represent all dates throughout the tour.

1. "You Belong with Me"
2. "Our Song"
3. "Tell Me Why"
4. "Teardrops on My Guitar"
5. "Fearless"
6. "Forever & Always"
7. "Hey Stephen"
8. "Fifteen"
9. "Tim McGraw"
10. "White Horse"
11. "Love Story"
12. "The Way I Loved You"
13. "You're Not Sorry" (contains elements of "What Goes Around...Comes Around")
14. "Picture to Burn"
15. "Change"

Encore

16. "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" (with Kellie Pickler and Gloriana)
17. "Should've Said No"

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, amount of available tickets, tickets sold (attendance), and gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Revenue
North America[18]
April 23, 2009	Evansville	United States	Roberts Municipal Stadium	7,463 / 7,463	$360,617
April 24, 2009	Jonesboro		Convocation Center	7,822 / 7,822	$340,328
April 25, 2009	St. Louis		Scottrade Center	13,764 / 13,764	$650,420
April 30, 2009	Charleston		North Charleston Coliseum	8,751 / 8,751	$398,154
May 1, 2009	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena	11,072 / 11,072	$507,012
May 2, 2009	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum	9,436 / 9,436	$437,313
Europe[19]
May 6, 2009	London	England	Shepherd's Bush Empire	6,789 / 6,789	$401,328
May 7, 2009
North America
May 14, 2009	Spokane	United States	Spokane Arena	10,798 / 10,798	$482,146
May 15, 2009	Seattle		KeyArena	12,061 / 12,061	$528,637
May 16, 2009	Portland		Rose Garden Arena	13,226 / 13,226	$613,284
May 17, 2009	Nampa		Ford Arena	8,970 / 8,970	$413,622
May 21, 2009	Glendale		Jobing.com Arena	13,052 / 13,052	$647,923
May 22, 2009	Los Angeles		Staples Center	13,648 / 13,648	$720,940
May 23, 2009	Las Vegas		Mandalay Bay Events Center	8,311 / 8,311	$551,051
May 24, 2009	San Diego		Valley View Casino Center	10,174 / 10,174	$502,689
May 26, 2009	Salt Lake City		EnergySolutions Arena	13,042 / 13,042	$555,207
June 4, 2009[lower-alpha 1]	Enterprise		BamaJam	N/A	N/A
June 5, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Cincinnati		U.S. Bank Arena
June 6, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
June 7, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Ft. Wayne		War Memorial Coliseum
June 11, 2009	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion	17,619 / 17,619	$608,438
June 12, 2009	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	14,641 / 14,641	$690,959
June 13, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Atlanta		Philips Arena	N/A	N/A
June 24, 2009[lower-alpha 3]	Oshkosh		Country USA Festival
June 25, 2009[lower-alpha 4]	Cadott		Chippewa Valley Country Fest
June 27, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Des Moines		Wells Fargo Arena
June 28, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Moline		iWireless Center
July 8, 2009	Calgary	Canada	Pengrowth Saddledome
July 9, 2009[lower-alpha 5]	Edmonton		Commonwealth Stadium
July 10, 2009[lower-alpha 6]	Craven		Craven Country Jamboree
July 11, 2009	Winnipeg		MTS Centre	11,369 / 11,369	$512,487
July 16, 2009[lower-alpha 7]	Twin Lakes	United States	Country Thunder Festival	N/A	N/A
July 17, 2009	Columbus		Nationwide Arena
July 18, 2009	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center
July 23, 2009[lower-alpha 8]	Cheyenne		Cheyenne Frontier Days Arena
July 24, 2009	Rapid City		Barnett Arena
July 25, 2009[lower-alpha 9]	Minot		North Dakota State Fair
July 31, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Boston		TD Garden
August 1, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Philadelphia		Wachovia Spectrum
August 7, 2009[lower-alpha 10]	Detroit Lakes		WE Fest
August 8, 2009[lower-alpha 2]	Kansas City		Sprint Center
August 9, 2009	Omaha		Qwest Center Omaha
Europe
August 22, 2009[lower-alpha 11]	Chelmsford	England	Hylands Park	N/A	N/A
August 23, 2009[lower-alpha 11]	Staffordshire		Weston Park
North America
August 27, 2009	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden	13,597 / 13,597	$976,062
August 28, 2009	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena	7,507 / 7,507	$296,306
August 29, 2009	University Park		Bryce Jordan Center	N/A	N/A
August 30, 2009	Louisville		Freedom Hall
September 3, 2009	Duluth		Arena at Gwinnett Center
September 4, 2009	Greenville		Bon Secours Wellness Arena
September 5, 2009	Charlotte		Time Warner Cable Arena
September 9, 2009	Lafayette		Cajundome
September 10, 2009	Bossier City		CenturyTel Center
September 11, 2009	Birmingham		BJCC Arena
September 12, 2009	Nashville		Bridgestone Arena	14,269 / 14,269	$642,387
September 25, 2009	Dallas		American Airlines Center	13,794 / 13,794	$628,062
September 26, 2009	North Little Rock		Verizon Arena	13,978 / 13,978	$654,089
September 27, 2009	Tulsa		BOK Center	N/A	N/A
October 1, 2009	Pittsburgh		Mellon Arena
October 2, 2009	Grand Rapids		Van Andel Arena
October 3, 2009	Cleveland		Quicken Loans Arena	15,524 / 15,524	$743,492
October 8, 2009	Indianapolis		Conseco Fieldhouse	13,373 / 13,373	$634,876
October 9, 2009	Rosemont		Allstate Arena	26,265 / 26,265	$1,150,896
October 10, 2009
October 11, 2009	Minneapolis		Target Center	13,563 / 13,563	$623,975
Europe
November 23, 2009	London	England	Wembley Arena	N/A	N/A
November 24, 2009	Manchester		Manchester Evening News Arena
Oceania[20]
February 4, 2010	Brisbane	Australia	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	11,334 / 11,334	$956,505
February 6, 2010	Sydney		Acer Arena	27,030 / 27,030	$2,030,640
February 7, 2010
February 8, 2010	Newcastle		Newcastle Entertainment Centre	7,180 / 7,180	$555,396
February 10, 2010	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena	23,493 / 23,493	$1,627,510
February 11, 2010
February 12, 2010	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre	9,066 / 9,066	$585,352
Asia[20]
February 17, 2010	Tokyo	Japan	Zepp	N/A	N/A
North America[20]
March 4, 2010	Tampa	United States	St. Pete Times Forum	13,861 / 13,861	$793,049
March 5, 2010	Orlando		Amway Arena	11,101 / 11,101	$598,581
March 7, 2010	Sunrise		BankAtlantic Center	13,453 / 13,453	$777,442
March 10, 2010	Austin		Frank Erwin Center	11,928 / 11,928	$642,705
March 11, 2010	Dallas		American Airlines Center	14,022 / 14,022	$742,954
March 12, 2010	Corpus Christi		American Bank Center Arena	8,423 / 8,423	$501,169
March 18, 2010	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center	30,360 / 30,360	$2,002,321
March 19, 2010
March 20, 2010	Charlottesville		John Paul Jones Arena	11,858 / 11,858	$664,305
March 26, 2010	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills	29,125 / 29,125	$1,711,591
March 27, 2010
March 28, 2010	Cincinnati		U.S. Bank Arena	11,208 / 11,208	$645,592
March 31, 2010	Oklahoma City		Ford Center	11,795 / 11,795	$675,184
April 1, 2010	Wichita		Intrust Bank Arena	11,208 / 11,208	$610,801
April 2, 2010	Kansas City		Sprint Center	13,781 / 13,781	$761,110
April 6, 2010	Denver		Pepsi Center	25,991 / 25,991	$1,497,135
April 7, 2010
April 10, 2010	Fresno		Save Mart Center	11,706 / 11,706	$649,488
April 11, 2010	San Jose		HP Pavilion	12,744 / 12,744	$716,726
April 15, 2010	Los Angeles		Staples Center	27,518 / 27,518	$1,736,197
April 16, 2010
April 29, 2010	Lexington		Rupp Arena	17,966 / 17,966	$1,024,223
April 30, 2010	Columbia		Colonial Life Arena	13,429 / 13,429	$755,475
May 1, 2010	Raleigh		RBC Center	13,895 / 13,895	$752,303
May 6, 2010	Des Moines		Wells Fargo Arena	13,264 / 13,264	$738,280
May 7, 2010	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center	14,914 / 14,914	$846,111
May 8, 2010	Moline		iWireless Center	10,641 / 10,641	$610,668
May 12, 2010	Newark		Prudential Center	26,065 / 26,065	$1,742,669
May 13, 2010
May 14, 2010	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	25,831 / 25,831	$1,713,529
May 15, 2010
May 20, 2010	Ottawa	Canada	Scotiabank Place	13,376 / 13,376	$873,206
May 21, 2010	Toronto		Air Canada Centre	30,458 / 30,458	$2,497,690
May 22, 2010
May 25, 2010	Houston	United States	Toyota Center	23,493 / 23,493	$1,290,926
May 26, 2010
May 29, 2010[lower-alpha 12]	Baton Rouge		LSU Tiger Stadium	N/A	N/A
June 1, 2010	Washington, D.C.		Verizon Center	27,290 / 27,290	$1,824,743
June 2, 2010
June 5, 2010	Foxborough		Gillette Stadium	56,868 / 56,868	$3,726,157
June 19, 2010	Atlantis	The Bahamas	Imperial Ballroom	N/A	N/A
July 10, 2010[lower-alpha 13]	Cavendish	Canada	Cavendish Beach Music Festival
Total				1,138,977 / 1,138,977 (100%)	$63,705,590

Notes

1. This concert was a part of BamaJam.
2. Performed as the opening act for Keith Urban.
3. This concert was a part of the Country USA Festival.
4. This concert was a part of the Chippewa Valley Country Fest.
5. This concert was a part of Commonwealth Country, where she opened for the festival headliner, Kenny Chesney.
6. This concert was a part of the Craven Country Jamboree.
7. This concert was a part of the Country Thunder Festival.
8. This concert was a part of the Cheyenne Frontier Days.
9. This concert was a part of the North Dakota State Fair.
10. This concert was a part of the WE Fest.
11. This concert was part of the V Festival.
12. This concert was part of the Bayou Country Superfest.
13. This concert was part of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.

Record sellouts

Tickets for the first shows for the Fearless Tour went on sale in early February 2009 and sold-out almost instantly. On February 6, 2009, tickets went on sale for the May 22 date at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and sold out in two minutes.[21] Tickets for several dates and venues, including Madison Square Garden, went on sale the following week and sold out in a record of one minute.[22][23][24][25][26] Swift is also one of the only artists to have sold out the Save Mart Center in less than ten minutes.[27]

References

1. "2009 Year End Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
2. "2010 Year End Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
4. "Taylor Swift Announces 'Speak Now' World Tour".
5. "Taylor Swift Announces Second Leg Of 'Fearless' Tour".
6. "Hot Tours: U2, Taylor Swift, Ruben Blades".
7. "Top 25 Tours of 2010".
8. "Taylor Swift's Journey to Fearless : Programs : The Hub : Discovery Press Web". Press.discovery.com. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
9. "Taylor Swift plays Shepherd's Bush Empire/". Shine On Media. May 7, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
10. "Taylor Swift, Billboard's Best-selling Artist of 2008 announces "FEARLESS 2009" Headlining Tour". Taylor Swift Press Releases. January 30, 2009. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
11. "Taylor Swift Presented Key to the City of Evansville, Ind". CMT. April 24, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
12. "Taylor Swift adds second and last UK tour date". Manchester Evening News Arena. August 20, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
13. "Justin Bieber Joins Taylor Swift UK TOUR".
14. Archive-Kyle-Anderson. "Justin Bieber Breaks Foot At London Concert". MTV News.
15. "www.thehothits.com/news/17333/taylor-swift-announces-2010-australian-tour!". thehothits.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
16. "tourpage". taylorswift.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
17. Mobile, Adept. "Gillette Stadium – Gillette Stadium". www.gillettestadium.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009.
18. "Taylor Swift Announces Tour Dates".
19. Preston, By John. "Taylor Swift: the 19-year-old country music star conquering America – and now Britain".
20. "Taylor Swift 2010 Tour Dates". July 14, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
21. "Taylor Swift Sells Out LA's Staples Center in 2 Minutes". Big Machine Records. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
22. "Swift Tickets Gone before Many Have a Chance to Buy". Tristate Homepage. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
23. "Taylor Swift tickets gone in a flash". Courier Press. February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
24. "Taylor Swift Concert Tickets Sell Swiftly (Jonesboro, AR)". KAIT 8. February 14, 2009. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
25. "Tickets go Swiftly into waiting hands". Sun Herald. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
26. "Taylor Swift Show A Fast Sellout In Nyc". CJBK. March 17, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
27. "columnists/mike-osegueda/story/1699779". fresnobee.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

External links