Taylor Swift at Gillette Stadium near Boston 6/25/11

TAYLOR SWIFT’S SPEAK NOW TOUR EARNS RAVE REVIEWS

IN EVERY MARKET

TAYLOR CELEBRATES “MEAN,” HER 8^TH #1 SINGLE AND HER THIRD CONSECUTIVE #1 SINGLE FROM SPEAK NOW

Nashville, TN – June 28, 2011 – 4-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift this week celebrates her 8^th #1 record, as “Mean,” the third single from her Triple-Platinum-plus Speak Now album, tops the Mediabase / Country Aircheck Country Singles Chart, becoming her 3^rd consecutive #1 song from the album (released on Big Machine Records). “Mean” also holds the #1 video slots at both at CMT (2 weeks) and GAC (3 weeks). 

Taylor played to over 110,000 fans at Boston’s Gillette Stadium over the weekend, with her two back-to-back sold-out shows capping the first month of the North American leg of the SPEAK NOW World Tour.

On Saturday, the Boston night skies opened and Taylor played the second half of that night’s show in the pouring rain, soaking wet. Midway through “You Belong With Me” the light rain became a downpour, but Taylor (the first and only female artist to ever sell out Gillette) never missed a beat, getting soaked to the skin but continuing the outdoor show as 55,000 drenched fans sang along with her.

One month into the tour, Taylor’s Speak Now show is already garnering universally high praise from critics around the nation:

“One of the genre's most ambitious acts has created one of the genre's most ambitious tours. Broadway-inspired…the two-hour production was an overwhelming experience. There's an enormous amount of detail that worked to make the Speak Now Tour a sort of next step in country concert presentation….it blended the pacing, the music and the artist's personality in a way that transfixed. It's a production - and an ability - that her peers in the business will continue to study.” – Billboard

“Topping her elaborate ‘Fearless World Tour’ would seem a tall order, but the ‘Speak Now’ show didn’t just clear the bar, it left it behind in a cloud of spent rocket fuel.” -- Country Aircheck

 “What a show….Swift proved herself to be in strong voice right out of the gate. The cumulative effect of it all was jaw-dropping. The jet engine-level shrieking that greeted every shake, shimmy and smile Swift offered suggests that she is an artist completely in tune with what her audience wants from her.” – Buffalo News

“Pop-country phenom Taylor Swift kept a sold-out crowd at Gillette Stadium spellbound last night, tightening her iron grip on music with each note.”  -- Boston Herald

“Swift delivered a spectacle worthy of the pandemonium. She's now a performer as ambitious and polished, if not as provocative, as Madonna or Britney Spears or Lady Gaga, using her music as the basis for a theatrically minded show that didn't miss a trick. Swift's show kept the crowd dazzled and charmed, taking in the sights even as they sang along at a volume that competed with the sound coming from the stage.”  --The Oakland Press (Detroit)

 “A visual and auditory feast. If you’re on the fence about whether to go, get in the car. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, if I could, I’d drive another 100 miles to see it all again. I already thought she was brilliant. Now I think she’s a genius.” – Palm Beach Post

“A show in the truest sense of the word – a pop concert and musical theater production rolled into one very impressive package….a seamless, captivating performance. Swift has been named country music’s top entertainer a couple of times. After the great “Speak Now” tour, look for that to happen again.” – Lincoln (NE) Journal Star

 “A visually striking, sonically superb show. At only 21 years old, Swift may be better than anyone at mixing pop hooks with country storytelling for instant sing-alongs.” – Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

“Full of energy, emotion, and spectacular production….a polished, attention- grabbing night of entertainment. No one walked away disappointed.” – Music Row

“Watching Taylor Swift there's no mystery why she was the one who went from little-known Anthem singer to one of the world's biggest stars. It's how poised and genuine she is, both on the stage and strolling the crowd grabbing hands and offering hugs.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“A high-paced, colorful success. Taylor Swift really does know how to walk the line. Not the line between country and pop, but the line between glam and natural, between wow and what's up, between Broadway and back porch. Her greatest triumph was her remarkable ability to obliterate the lines between the various factions in her audience and connect with all of them.” – Minneapolis Star-Tribune

 “If anyone knows any reason why Taylor Swift’s sold-out concert last night at Nationwide Arena wasn’t as an impressive display of girl (and young woman) power that’s been seen and heard in recent memory, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” – Columbus Dispatch

“Swift impressively managed to shrink the arena into an intimate space to tell her stories to her ‘Florida friends.’”– Orlando Sentinel

“Every part of her two-hour performance - from the costume changes to the fake snow to the fire-wielding aerialists - felt like the product of a talented young woman firing on all cylinders. Swift still felt every bit as likeable and down-to-earth as ever. For their part, the crowd of more than 15,000 treated Swift with utter reverence, singing along or listening quietly, depending on the number.” – St. Paul Pioneer Press

“An astonishing new live show — which might be the most elaborate one staged by a country artist since Garth Brooks flew on wires.” – Tennessean

“Swift set a high bar. The country-pop singer thrilled a sold-out crowd during an endearing two-hour performance that never lacked for charm, or for that matter, talent.” – Hartford Courant

“Near-flawless. Swift’s new production puts the show in showstopper.” – Omaha World Herald

For updated tour information, please log on to: www.taylorswift.com