Taylor Swift hits a home run at Minute Maid

Fans at the Taylor Swift concert at Minute Maid Park on Sept. 9. Fans at the Taylor Swift concert at Minute Maid Park on Sept. 9. Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 92 Caption Close Taylor Swift hits a home run at Minute Maid 1 / 92 Back to Gallery

Taylor Swift's charmed life has always seemed a bit like a musical. Seemingly simple country girl pines about lost loves and being an outsider. She gives voice to legions of other girls and becomes the biggest star in the world.

That's not hyperbole. Swift's last three albums each sold more than 1 million copies their first week of release. She just picked up the MTV Video Music Award for video of the year. And the 1989 World Tour is selling out arenas most pop stars couldn't fill.

Swift is no stranger to massive local audiences. Wednesday's show at Minute Maid Park was her second time selling out the venue. She first did it in 2011 and played RodeoHouston in 2009.

"Houston has been historically one of my favorite places to play shows," she told the crowd. "Houston is where my parents got married. Houston is where my mom graduated college (from the University of Houston)."

Swift's mother, Andrea, surveyed the aisles just before the lights went down and pulled a few giddy fans to the front of the house.

The local connection inspired Swift to include a few surprises. She was joined by rapper Wiz Khalifa to sing "See You Again," one of the biggest songs of the year. And she strummed a guitar and soared above the crowd on a runway during "Mean," a last-minute addition to the setlist.

Much of the show functioned like a major-scale theatrical experience. She glided through opener "Welcome to New York" and "New Romantics" with the panache of a Broadway star and was flanked by male dancers.

"I'm Taylor," she cooed to the crowd. She took ownership of every song and seemed to savor every moment.

There was a bit of a Madonna vibe in that Swift made little time for looking back. She omitted most of her country material and ran through most of her excellent "1989" album, including "Style" (in spangly blue) and "Bad Blood" (in a black catsuit).

Album highlight "Out of the Woods" was adorned with a swirl of large paper airplanes. "Shake it Off" was the perfect finale: a blend of Vegas shimmy and splashy pop production. She joined a line of dancers on a rotating runway.

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was reinvented as an angsty arena rocker. "Love Story" was reworked with the electro-pop groove that marks her current sound.

Every element, even offstage, sparkled. LED bracelets were taped to the seats and lit up in sync with the music. Cotton candy and glittery skirts were abundant in the crowd. There were wigs and tutus and homemade signs playing on song titles.

"Blank Space" and a radically reworked "I Knew You Were Trouble" were sleek, sweaty and echoed Bob Fosse's "Chicago." She donned a pink LED dress and pranced in manufactured rain during "How You Get the Girl." It was a sweet standout.

The brooding "I Know Places" played like a futuristic riff on "Damn Yankees." Swift made a convincing femme fatale in thigh-high boots and garters.

She also dug deep, most notably on ballad "Clean." It's a gorgeous collaboration with Imogen Heap that suggests Swift's just getting started channeling her true sound.

Grainy videos of fans dancing to Swift's music played before she took the stage. Other clips features fans bursting into tears at the arrival of hand-picked gifts, a time known as "Swiftmas."

"No one really explains to you how rare happiness is. I just hope for the rest of your life you notice when you're happy," she said.

"It would mean so much to me if you would look back and think one of the moments in life that made you happy was this concert."

Opening act Vance Joy is a thoughtful singer-songwriter, and he did a good job of transmitting the subtlety of his songs in such a big room. His cover of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" underwhelmed, but original "Riptide" was a pleasantly scrappy singalong.

Another opening act, Shawn Mendes, who cultivated a huge following via the Vine video app, delivered an earnest set of acoustic songs. That the biggest cheers came during his cover of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" suggests he needs time to grow into his own as a performer.

After the show, Swift seemed a bit spooked by an unexplained fire alarm at the ballpark.

A fire alarm is going off in the stadium and we don't know what to do. pic.twitter.com/WxDPtj2dwt — Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) September 10, 2015

Her Twitter post was retweeted more than 13,000 times. To the relief of fans, she later assured them with this tweet: "Update: No fire. Still in my robe."