The Final Era
By Alyssa Torres
The Eras Tour is a three-and-a-half hour long concert where Taylor Swift performs songs from ten albums and includes a surprise song segment, celebrating her different eras. Thousands of fans attended in person and countless more joined livestreams, leaving a lasting impact on fans. Cities have welcomed and celebrated the tour by accommodating Swift and her fans in numerous ways, as a result, her tour significantly impacted local economies. The overwhelming love and support even led to The Eras Tour movie. However, after touring since March of 2023, the tour will come to a close this upcoming December.
I vividly remember anxiously awaiting tickets during the presale, repeatedly refreshing my page while in the middle of class. Like many fans, I was in Ticketmaster’s queue, in hopes of securing tickets before class ended. But the overwhelming numbers of fans had caused Ticketmaster to shut down and reschedule. This left me stressed but relieved because I knew I could make it home on time to make it to the presale. As soon as school ended, I rushed home and logged back in to the site, making it just in time to secure tickets for her show at SoFi stadium that upcoming August.
It was one of the most stressful moments as thousands of other fans were also waiting for tickets at the same time. I was so relieved to get tickets despite facing challenges with the system. Unfortunately, many fans were not able to obtain tickets because of Ticketmaster’s technical difficulties, such as website crashes, canceling general sales and the high fees. The issues were such a big deal it resulted in a lawsuit with Ticketmaster and Swift even speaking out against them.
Los Angeles was the last stop on the Eras Tour US Leg 1. So in the meantime, I, like many other Swifties, would watch livestreams of the concert or chronically scroll through TikTok eagerly awaiting live updates of the show. Not only were live updates of the concert being actively posted, but outfit debuts, song choices, malfunctions and more were also being updated. Countless fans shared their reactions to the songs played and outfits revealed.
I also saw many TikTok’s of people’s takes on the nightly events, mostly discussing the songs played or sharing their theories on what might happen next. Swift is well known for hiding easter eggs that hint to important dates or announcements. Fans constantly find them, resulting in fans anxiously awaiting a surprise announcement every other night. However, majority of the time fans were wrong about the dates of announcement releases.
After keeping up with the tour for months, it was finally August and I was overjoyed to finally be at the concert. I have never seen so much glitter in one place, I immediately though to myself. Fans dressed head-to-toe in themed outfits, and glitter seemed to coat everything under the stadium lights, creating a sea of sparkling Swifties. Even parents who brought their kids had dressed up. It was also the loudest place I’ve ever been to, for a second I thought my hearing would be damaged. As the clock on the screen counted down to Taylor’s arrival, the stadium went wild and still managed to get even louder when she appeared on stage.
As Swift appeared on stage not only did it get louder, but you could feel all the emotions in the room. Some fans cried in happiness of seeing their favorite artist while others screamed at the top of their lungs.
One tradition I was glad to be a part of was the friendship bracelet exchange. In Swift’s song ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’ the line ‘So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it,’ prompted fans to create Taylor Swift inspired friendship bracelets to swap as a symbol of shared fandom. Many’s fans were seen with bracelets covering their entire arm while others carried them around in bags.
For Swift and most fans, the Eras Tour has had a significant impact on them. Swift's last tour resulted in a cancelation due to the pandemic and since then, she has put out five albums. So rather than focusing on one album she decided to combine them, resulting in “The Eras Tour” celebrating her different musical eras. Fans flew across the country, thoroughly planned out their outfit, spent significant amounts of money and as a result boosted up the economy because of all the money spent in regards to the tour.
Hosting cities were incredibly accommodating. In some places, streets and cities were temporarily renamed, and Swift was even declared honorary mayor in a few cities. Small businesses would sell themed merchandise like clothing, ice cream flavors and more. One big gesture happened in Brazil when the “Christ the Redeemer” statue was illuminated in a holographic t-shirt that paid homage to Swift’s iconic “You Belong With Me” music video. The status represents a cultural symbol of welcome and peace, fans interrupted it as a welcome symbol from Brazil.
Throughout the tour, Swift has welcomed many guests. Musical guests, including opener Gracie Abrams, joined her on stage. The two performed a duet of Abrams song “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” after Abrams set was canceled due to weather conditions. About a year later, they performed Abram’s song “Us” which features Swift, a few days after it was released. Also joining her on stage a few times are music producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, who have helped produce several of Swift’s songs. Other musical guests like Ice Spice, Phoebe Bridgers, HAIM, Florence the Machine and more have also appeared on stage. Fans really enjoyed watching Swift bring out guests, as it is exciting to see her interacting with other artists the fans love. As most of these artists also look up to Swift as a musician, it is almost in a way like seeing their dream come true, which was heartwarming for fans to see.
One fan favorite special guest is Swift’s boyfriend NFL player Travis Kelce, who surprised fans by appearing on stage alongside her backup dancers performing a skit related to her song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” As most know Swift and Kelce debuted their relationship last September. The two connected after Kelce mentioned in his podcast being disappointed in not being able to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his number on it while at one of her shows. Since then the fans have loved and obsessed over their relationship. This is the first relationship Swift has publicly showcased, which is why fans loved Kelce’s special appearance.
Another fan favorite moment from the tour is the “22” hat giveaway. During the Red era Swift performs “22” wearing a signed fedora and ending the song by giving it away to a lucky fan, giving them the opportunity to say a brief hello to Swift. It is usually kids who receive the hat, but on occasion there have been older fans who are well known on social media for their love of Taylor Swift who receive the hat.
Another memorable moment involving the hat exchange was at Swift’s first Los Angeles show when late basketball player Kobe Bryant’s daughters and wife attended. Receiving the hat was one of his youngest daughters, Bianka Bryant. Swift has had a friendship with the family for years. During Swift’s “1989 World Tour” at Staple Center, Bryant appeared in stage with Swift to unveil a banner to honor her achievement for most sold out performances.
During a break from the tour, Swift released her eleventh album “The Tortured Poets Department.” Fans speculated songs from the album being added to the setlist. It came to no surprise that songs from the “Tortured Poets Department” were added to the setlist, Swift trademarking it as “Female Rage: The Musical,” a nod to the themes of resilience and empowerment through heartbreak.
During her time in Nashville on tour, Swift announced “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”. It was released months later. Days after the release Swift while performing in Kansas City, she celebrated the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” by adding “Long Live” a song from the album to the setlist. Fans were ecstatic that Swift added it to the setlist since the song was written as a dedication to the fans. During the surprise song segment she premiered the music video for “I Can See You,” a new song, and surprised fans by bringing out Taylor Lautner, Presley Cash, and Joey King, who starred in the music video.
A month later, Swift closed off leg 1 of the United States tour in Los Angeles. On the last night, she announced “1989 (Taylor’s Version).” Since Swift is known for leaving Easter eggs for fans to find, fans had speculated the announcement as clues were pointing towards it. One clue being the date 8/9, while a few other hints from her music videos pointed towards 1989 (Taylor’s Version) as the next release. Her clues usually are hidden in dates, numbers, colors, and more seen on outfits, posts and music videos.
Besides the announcement, fans noticed camera crews and different light up wristbands being distributed to fans, leading to assumptions that a documentary or movie would be made. Fans were right because at the end of August, Swift posted a trailer announcing the Eras Tour movie which premiered in movie theaters, which ultimately produced about $261 million worldwide. Fans showed up to the movie theaters in themed outfits while singing and dancing in the theater, resembling the actual concert. It is now available to watch on Disney+.
Since then, Swift has toured through South America, Asia, Europe and is currently back in the United States, heading to Canada for the conclusion of the tour this upcoming December. After selling out stadiums and performing an astounding 149 shows, it stands as a testament to Swift’s enduring influences and the passion of her fan base.
