City of Lover
A one-off intimate concert promoting Taylor Swift's album Lover.
IMDb · via Wikipedia: City of Lover · Fair use
City of Lover was a single concert by Taylor Swift, performed at the Olympia in Paris on September 9, 2019. The show came just over two weeks after the release of her seventh studio album, *Lover*. Attendance was limited to fans who secured tickets through online contests or by purchasing the album. The setlist featured sixteen songs, evenly split between eight tracks from *Lover* and eight from her earlier work. The concert lasted one hour and served as Swift’s only promotional event for the album, as the planned tour was later scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A television special, *Taylor Swift: City of Lover*, aired on ABC on May 17, 2020, but it included only the eight *Lover* songs and ran for 42 minutes, including commercials. Critics praised the concert and special for Swift’s stage presence and intimate fan interaction, though some noted the TV version should have kept the full sixteen-song lineup. Several outlets remarked that performing at the Olympia—a 2,000-seat venue—was an unusual choice after her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, which filled much larger arenas. The special was available on Hulu and Disney+ for a few weeks starting May 16, 2020. On February 14, 2023, the *Lover* performances were compiled into a live album titled *Lover (Live from Paris)*.
- Field
- Music
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- One-off concert promoting the album Lover
- Venue
- Olympia, Paris, France
- Capacity
- 2,000 seats
- Set list length
- 16 songs
Lore & Background
City of Lover was held at the Olympia music hall in Paris, a venue with a 2,000-seat capacity, marking a rare move for Swift after her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, which sold out much larger venues. The concert's set list consisted of 16 songs, with eight from Lover and eight from Swift's other albums. Attendees were given LED-illuminated wristbands that flickered in sync with each song. Swift opened with "Me!" and greeted the crowd in French before performing a mix of hits and deeper cuts, including an acoustic session where she played stripped-down versions of songs on guitar and piano. The concert ran for one hour and ended without an encore.
Reader's Guide
City of Lover is significant as the sole live promotion for Taylor Swift's album Lover, after the planned Lover Fest tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The concert and its subsequent television special, Taylor Swift: City of Lover, which aired on ABC on May 17, 2020, received positive reviews from media publications, who praised Swift's stage presence and intimate engagement with fans. However, some critics complained that the TV special included only the eight Lover songs rather than the full 16-song set list. The TV special was made available on Hulu and Disney+ for a few weeks beginning on May 16, 2020. The performances of the Lover songs were later compiled into a live album, Lover (Live from Paris), released on February 14, 2023. The concert helped demonstrate Swift's ability to connect with audiences in an intimate setting, particularly in France, where she had previously had limited commercial success.
Did You Know?
- The concert was reserved for fans who won tickets through online contests or album purchases, with no public ticket sales.
- The TV special only included the eight Lover songs and ran for 42 minutes, including commercials, while the actual concert had 16 songs and ran for one hour.
- The live album Lover (Live from Paris) was released on February 14, 2023, compiling the Lover song performances from the concert.
- The ABC premiere of the TV special attracted 3.63 million viewers, described by The Hollywood Reporter as 'so-so numbers'.
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