Swift Dress Rehearsal Raises $750,000 For Tornado Victims

“Just based on tickets alone, you have raised over $750,000,” Taylor Swift told the cheering crowd at Saturday night’s (5/21) final Speak Now Tour dress rehearsal. Swift opened the dress rehearsal at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to the public with 100 percent of ticket and merchandise sales going to tornado relief efforts. She also streamed two songs from the set live on her website to encourage donations.

This was the first opportunity for the public to see Swift’s new live show and no one walked away disappointed. The elaborate production included several costume changes, dancers suspended from bungee chords, an elaborate set design, and fireworks. Highlights also included Swift spending time in the back of the arena for an intimate performance, as well as singing the last song of the night, “Love Story,” from a suspended balcony that traveled in the air around the venue. Full of energy, emotion, and spectacular production, this “rehearsal” treated fans to a polished, attention grabbing night of entertainment.

“We were at rehearsal and we turned on the news and we saw that our beloved friends and neighbors in the Southeast were losing their homes, losing their loved ones, losing everything due to tornadoes and I felt like if it was possible for us to help them in any way, then we should do it,” Swift explained to the crowd.

Swift’s sentimental comments made after the first two numbers were the only hints that the show was indeed a dress rehearsal.

Taylor Swift's final dress rehearsal for her Speak Now Tour.