Beginning on March 17, 2023, and finishing off on Decemer 8 of this year on a Sunday night in Vancouver, the almost two-year long record-breaking musical roller coaster known as the Eras tour, is coming to a close with 149 total performances in 51 cities across 21 different countries, with one artist behind it all: Taylor Swift.
The unique part of the Eras Tour is the outline physical size of a show. An entire performance is typically 3 hours and 15 minutes, not including the openers. Swift covered 44-46 songs in a night, way above the average set list. The show doesn’t simply focus on one album of Taylor’s, but all eleven. It becomes more than just a singing event, but a theatrical performance as Taylor and her team move through every album, or “era,” by changing group costumes and sets, meant to convey the mood of an “era.”
Completing as the highest-grossing tour ever, having sold $2.09 billion dollars in tickets. As well as, creating $7 billion in retail impact just in North America. The tour gained enough money to “start a small country,” according to the Austin American Statesman. The largest crowd was 96,000 people at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, but size doesn’t matter when you have the enthusiasm of the Seattle fans whose dancing induced a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.
The Eras Tour is going down in history as a one of a kind experience, largely because of it’s worldwide popularity lead by the Taylor Swift fan club, the “swifties.” Swifties were constantly ecstatic about the next performance on the tour, no matter where or when. Even if they couldn’t get tickets to see the singer, many fans would watch a live stream of the performance, or even just sit outside the stadium. Often times the parking lots of the stadium would be just as packed as inside.
“Fans are my favorite thing in the world. I’ve never been the type of artist who has that line drawn between their friends and their fans,” Ms. Swift said.
Throughout the tour, concerts had a few trademarks, sometimes instilled by Taylor, but frequently created by her fanbase. A classic one is the two “surprise songs” played at every show. These songs were supposed to be special to the show, as they weren’t on the set list. Leading up to a concert swifties would try and guess what the songs would be. Much excitement and sometimes disappointment was layered in this trend, due to many buying their tickets based off their surprise song guesses. Another is the infamous “twenty two” hat that Taylor would usually hand out to a young fan. The hat is a symbol of her popular album and tour “Red,” and makes a perfect keepsake. The fan originated refrains that are chanted back to Taylor after singing a certain line, are another fad that are almost a “must know” when attending a concert.
The most popular trend of all though is the friendship bracelets. Anytime you show up to a T-Swift concert you should bring a wrist full of beaded colorful bracelets, preferably themed by album, to trade with anyone you see. This piece creates a community that many fandoms do not experience.
A classic memento every fan receives is the light-up band you are given when entering the stadium. Every band changes colors together in sync with the music. The light lasts long after the concert is over, allowing you to relive your magical night.
Lead by Taylor Swift, but fulfilled by swifties, the Era’s Tour is over, but Taylor Swift is not, because shes “The Man.”
