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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Rick Pearson's rating
Reader rating
Description: The American singer-songwriter performs tracks from her Fearless album and more.
Phone: 0905020 3999
Website: www.shepherds-bush-empire.co.uk
Email: mail@shepherds-bush-empire.co.uk
Trains: Tube: Shepherd's Bush 
, Tube / Bus: 49, 72, 94, 95, 148, 207, 220, 237, 260, 283, 272, 295, 607 
Extra info: Pub
Times: Nov 23, 7.30pm
Price: £35-£145
Nashville teen: Taylor Swift is capable of more than vacuous songs about teenage cheerleaders and can be genuinely moving
Like line-dancing and Cadillacs, Taylor Swift is popular in the US but relatively unheard of in the UK. The country starlet — think LeAnn Rimes meets the missing Dixie Chick — was the biggest-selling artist in the States last year, with record sales in excess of four million.
Indeed, her debut album is still in the US charts more than two years after its release, with its follow-up, Fearless, spending more time at No1 than any album this century.
Impressive stuff for a woman still shy of her 20th birthday — but has Swift got what it takes to make it over here?
If the reaction at the first of two sell-out shows at Shepherd’s Bush Empire is anything to go by, then you can bet your Stetson on it. Strutting on to a stage far smaller than she must be used to, Swift was met with a chorus of screams from an audience made up largely of teenage girls.
Flashing a blindingly white smile, the Nashville singer launched into the pop-rock of You Belong With Me backed by a seven-piece band. Like much of the Swift canon, the song inhabits a distinctly teenage world. “She wears short skirts/I wear T‑shirts/She’s the cheer captain/I’m in the bleachers,” she sang in a sweet, lilting voice.
However, Swift is capable of more than such vacuous observations. The winner of a national poetry prize as a child was genuinely moving on Teardrops On My Guitar, while early single Tim McGraw garnered the evening’s best reaction — even if the song’s grizzled crooner of a subject will not make many of the teenyboppers’ playlists.
If Swift loved us once, she loved us a thousand times, regularly pausing between songs to remark upon our “adorable accents” and “wonderful city”.
It was well-rehearsed stuff, but the intention was clear: Swift was here to impress. And impress she did, although there were a few too many forgettable moments in her 90-minute set to make for a truly special performance. For every melodic masterpiece, there was a bland ballad, and the middle of the set dragged a little as a result.
Thankfully, a thundering cover of Justin Timberlake’s What Goes Around…/…Comes Around jolted things into action. And when this was followed by a feisty encore of Picture to Burn, Swift ensured that the crowd were screaming as loudly when she left the stage as when she took it. Yeehaw!
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
I attended this gig. Initially i thought that the sound on her mic was not right but it seemed to improve. I enjoyed the show. Although too much hair tossing. She sings and plays well. Of course her problem is going to be shedding the army of teenage girls for a more mature audience, singing more mature songs and at the same time retaining her popularity. As the reviewer notes there were many teenage screaming girls but fortunately they were at the front of the standing area and I was at the back! Her band and supporting singers were excellent.
- David Watson, London UK
Sorry, but I just don't understand the popularity of this girl! The times I've heard her perform live.....she didn't sing good!
- Gloria, USA
