Reviews Are In for Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl: Where to Celebrate

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl was released on Friday, Oct. 3, and the early reviews are in.

Rolling Stone gave the album five stars, writing:

Unsurprisingly, The Life of a Showgirl is a stark departure from last year’s deeply personal, prosaic, and tortured-as-hell The Tortured Poets Department. “There’s nothing I hate more than doing what I’ve always done,” Swift wrote in The Eras Tour book. Where TTPD was a greige and drawn-out 31 songs, Showgirl is bursting with iridescent color and a tight 12 tracks. That’s all by mastermind design, of course. No one could’ve known that when Swift played her Martin-era masterpiece “New Romantics” during the final Eras Tour surprise-song set, it was an Easter egg for the soundscape of this album.

Billboard writes glowingly that The Life of a Showgirl is “bangers for adults.”

And while The Life of a Showgirl is composed of classically designed pop tracks, with standard verse-chorus arrangements and rarely exceeding four minutes in run time, Swift’s eagerly anticipated Return to Bangers is not, say, 1989 Pt. II. Instead of coming back with party tracks, Swift has synthesized the commitment to pristine hooks that she shares with Martin and Shellback, an increasingly idiosyncratic lyrical slant, and the mid-thirties perspective of her past few albums. The result is a collection of songs that are immediately engrossing and among the most affecting of Swift’s career, while also focusing on topics like Hamlet and suburban bliss. Call it Bangers for Adults.

The New York Times made a point that Swift sounds hungry to embrace her future.

Showgirl isn’t a hard pivot like Red or Reputation, risky-in-their-moment albums that expanded Swift’s musical palette. Topically, it feels most kin to Reputation, but her collaborators aren’t slathering her in gloss or skronk here, instead letting her songwriting breathe. It is also something of an Eras Tour in miniature — “Cancelled!” sounds like a Reputation outtake; “Ruin the Friendship,” about a missed teen connection, recalls the wide-eyed Fearless. In that way, Showgirl is a more cogent form of chaos than Swift’s prior two albums, “Midnights” and “The Tortured Poets Department,” which were unwieldy and centerless.

One of Pitchfork’s takeaways involved “Actually Romantic,” a song that might contain a barb at Charli XCX.

OK, let’s talk about it: “Actually Romantic” is already believed to be about club rat turned worldwide phenomenon Charli XCX, whose song “Sympathy is a knife” was a public blood-letting of her deepest insecurities as a 30-something female pop star; when she spots a certain singer backstage, she detests her, then feels guilty for the vitriol and jealousy pumping through her veins. Out of the gate, “Actually Romantic” is in your face with its barbs. Swift calls her a cowardly cokehead, a yipping lapdog, and maims XCX’s now-husband George Daniel (“How many times has your boyfriend said, ‘Why are we always talking ’bout her?’”). I almost expected Swift to recall a line from Mean Girls when she feigns flattery from the lopsided feud.

Variety says they enjoyed the light tone of the album and its full embrace of joy.

Swift has never made two albums that sound alike, and that’s certainly the case with this nearly polar-opposite follow-up to her Tortured era. We like her when she’s mad (with apologies to the Incredible Hulk), and of course, she already proudly told us there’s nothing like a madwoman. But she also once told us, “Why be mad when you can be glad?” Yes, there was an acronym involved there we’re leaving out, but the point stands: Maybe, just maybe, we can like her at least as much when she’s just mad about the boy. It’s too late for Swift to have a “song of the summer,” but this feels like the Album of the Summer — the calendar be damned. It’s giddy, funny, touching, silly, haughty and moving in about equal measure, but most of all, it’s got a sunstruck kind of love that besottedly seeps through the orange LP grooves and might even make you believe in romance again, too. Bring your own SPF 50.

Artists like 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj are even showering Swift with love on the album.

For North Texans, all these positive reviews mean you’ll want to go out and celebrate hearing the album outside. Here’s where you can party with other Swifties.

Reputation: A Tribute to the Music of Taylor Swift

Oct. 3

The Village invites Swifties across Dallas to an enchanted evening featuring live music and a community album listening party for The Life of a Showgirl. The Glen Lawn will be transformed into a stage for tribute performances spanning Swift’s full music history.

Expect singing, dancing and plenty of sparkle. Guests are encouraged to bring friendship bracelets and dress in their favorite Taylor-inspired looks for the night. The event is free to RSVP on Eventbrite.

LOVER | The Unofficial Eras Tour at Rayleigh Underground

Oct. 3

Over in Irving, Charity Eden (lead singer of LOVER) takes over the main stage at Rayleigh Underground. With The Life of a Showgirl freshly released, come sing some of your favorites and enjoy the new songs live. Eden created the unofficial Eras Tour as a way for more people to experience the Eras Tour when ticket prices were skyrocketing, thus beginning the era of Lover. Tickets start at $21.69 on Eventbrite.

Green Light Social Presents – Life of a Dallas Showgirl

Oct. 4

Ruby Room will be hosting a party from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. featuring jewelry, glitter tattoos, clothing vendors and more. Sequins, fringe, feathers, boas and sparkles are encouraged.

The Official Release Party of a Showgirl

Oct. 3 to Oct. 5

Taylor Swift is doing a theatrical event for fans to see the world premiere of her music video “The Fate of Ophelia.” It will be played across the globe from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 in selected theaters. Head to releasepartyofashowgirl.com for more information.

“You’ll get to see the exclusive world premiere of the music video for my new single ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ along with never before seen behind-the-scenes footage of how we made it, cut by cut explanations of what inspired this music, and the brand new lyric videos from my new album The Life of a Showgirl,” she wrote.

Taylor Swift Album Release Party at the Columbian Country Club

Oct. 16

Although this doesn’t happen until next weekend, the Columbian Country Club is hosting a party by 101Media with pop-ups, themed drinks and music.

“It’s been a BIG year for us swifties…from seeing her get engaged to a new album coming out, so of course we have to celebrate! Join us in your best ‘showgirl” outfit and meet us at the Columbian Country Club for a glamorous night with your Swiftie crew!” 101Media writes. Tickets are priced at $47.80.

Swifties in the City

Oct. 17

For an all ages event (under eight is free), join fellow Taylor Swift fans at the Omni Dallas Hotel’s Pegasus Lawn. The day will be filled with music and fun, as you can come sing along to all your favorite Swift songs from her latest album, meet other fans and take photos in a photo booth. There will even be a Swiftie Market.

Bring a blanket so you can hang out in the park. This event is being hosted by 13: A Taylor Swift Fan Podcast. You can hear their thoughts on the new album during a live podcast recording, and they might even invite you up to share your take. Tickets are available for $17.01 on Eventbrite.