If you know me in the slightest, you know that Taylor Swift is my favorite artist by far. I stream her music every single day, and I can probably think of something relating to her or her lyrics in almost any conversation. I transformed my friend from a Taylor Swift disliker into a fan when we actually looked at the lyrics as we listened to various songs in her prolific discography. And the phenomenon of her record-breaking, economy-boosting Eras Tour only drew in loads of new fans and casual listeners. “It was the most magical experience of my life,” a friend of mine said when I told her I was writing this article, and I asked if she had anything to contribute.
Now that the tour is over, I wanted to do a little Swiftie retrospective. I, personally, did not actually get to attend a show throughout the tour, but I did sit outside of the stadium in Philadelphia on May 13, 2023, with my mother, who graciously took me. I at least got to experience listening to three of my favorite artists (Gracie Abrams and Phoebe Bridgers were her openers that weekend, and I love them) live, even if I couldn’t see them. Even the aura outside of the stadium was ethereal and idyllic. Over 20,000 people, who also didn’t have tickets, gathered outside the stadium that night, merely to experience the sounds and essence of this tour.
Despite Taylor Swift being a huge force in the music industry for over a decade, she was in her “glittering prime” on The Eras Tour. As a Swiftie, I was living for it. Spanning 149 shows across 51 cities and five continents, she took the world by storm with this retrospective, all-encompassing tour. It’s the highest-grossing tour of all time and the first to gross over $1 billion and $2 billion. She performed over 40 songs over the course of the set, with the setlist being broken into ten acts (or “eras”) to represent each of her albums’ songs, mood, and aesthetic, including a “surprise song” section of the show. The “surprise songs” would consist of an acoustic guitar performance and an acoustic piano performance of any song in her discography, and she would often mash up songs. Fans would even track her surprise songs, different outfits, and surprise guests. There’s an app that many others and I used called “Swift Alert” where you could participate in the “Mastermind” games to guess her outfits, surprise songs, guests, announcements, and other aspects of each show, and the winner would win an amazing, often rare, Taylor Swift-related prize. “Swift Alert” also sends out notifications when there are merchandise drops, new releases, new outfits, special guests, announcements, and more.
Each show was over three and a half hours long. So, although resale tickets were ridiculously overpriced, she was aware of how difficult it was for fans to obtain tickets, and she ensured the show was worth every penny. However, the astronomical prices are what prevented me from actually attending. She trained by running on treadmills while singing to prepare herself for this true physical exertion, which is referenced on her album, The Tortured Poets Department, in “Down Bad,” when she sings “Now, I’m down bad, crying at the gym.” Furthermore, in “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” which is about her performing on this tour while deep in painful heartbreak, she sings “Light, camera, b****, smile, even when you wanna die,” “You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart,” and “I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art.” She went through a plethora of ordeals in her personal life throughout the tour, but she continued to persist with her highest-quality content. She neglected to add a set for her first album, changed up the setlist slightly throughout the tour, and added a new set for The Tortured Poets Department when it was released. She kept it fresh, but relatively consistent, to appeal to fans from all over the world.
What made this tour so enchanting that everyone wanted to go? Well, I don’t think there’s one answer to this, but I think there are a variety of factors that played into this spectacle. Obviously, there was a period of Taylor’s life where she was one of the most hated people in the world–around 2016. After “Snakegate” happened (which involved her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian), she was buried by the public. But she rose up from the dead. She does it all the time. People gradually started to respect her artistry more as time went on and as she released even more high-quality music, especially after folklore (2020), my favorite album of all time, was released to critical acclaim and earned her her third Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
I can’t downplay how monumental this tour was for Taylor, her crew, and the world. It resulted in an economic boost in certain places whenever she was there for a show, and it resulted in some controversy. As I mentioned, the tickets were obscenely difficult to obtain, which shed light on Ticketmaster’s monopoly. U.S. authorities, fans, and Taylor herself scrutinized Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment. There was poor venue planning in Rio de Janeiro, which resulted in the death of a fan from cardiac arrest due to the heat. There was a failed ISIS terrorist attack plan in Vienna, which resulted in Taylor cancelling those shows. Despite all of these issues, she embarked on the greatest, grandest tour and achievement of her life and career.
She released numerous albums and projects during the tour’s course, using the tour as a platform to promote these projects, including Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 1989 (Taylor’s Version), new editions of her albums Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, and an accompanying concert film, which became the highest-grossing concert film of all time. She released it in theaters in October 2023 with special edition popcorn buckets and large cups that featured The Eras Tour artwork. She later released it on Disney+, with the title Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), with additional performances, in March 2024.
She’s been on a well-deserved break from the public since the tour’s conclusion in December 2024. She’s my favorite artist for a reason–she’s a prolific writer, singer, producer, artist, and performer. She’s popular for good reason. She’s not perfect, but nobody is. I still believe she’s a stellar role model, especially for young women. She encourages her fans to own their work, be themselves, even if others think it’s cringeworthy, and to be creative, honest, and expressive. She’s even said, “The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb, or stupid for like, being excited about something.” She’s taken many risks to prove herself and for the greater good. She’s often willing to inconvenience herself to prove herself. And The Eras Tour was no exception to that. I’m glad she’s resting, but I’m intrigued and excited about what will come next–whether it’s the last two re-recorded albums or something brand new.
Edit: Taylor Swift has recently announced that she bought back the masters of her first six studio albums. She now owns every asset from those eras–every song, every lyric, every note, every music video, every photograph, and every album. This is what Swifties are affectionately calling “Swiftie Independence Day” or “Independence Tay.”
She wrote a letter on her website (and posted on Instagram to read the letter), which consisted of several updates. For now, Reputation (Taylor’s Version) hasn’t even been fully recorded, and I think I completely understand why. She said that it couldn’t be replicated, which it truly can’t, but I also think having to put herself into the mindset she was in back then has to be potently painful. She was in a tough place, in a completely different relationship, and her perspective was completely different back then. She’s already re-recorded Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version), and she’s open to the idea of releasing it anyway.
It’s been a long coming, but it’s finally here. They’re hers, and they’re ours.
Stay tuned for another in-depth article all about Taylor’s reclamation of her life’s work.
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