Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour”
By Leslie Urena ('24)
Photo courtesy of CNN
On Friday, March 18, Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated “Eras Tour'' finally kicked off in Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium. The tour was announced in November of 2022, long-awaited after four years since Swift’s last tour. Now, four months and one Ticketmaster fiasco later, it has finally begun!
Swift is known for planning elaborate performances during her tours. They involve costume changes, dance numbers, surprise guests, speeches for the audience, and more. During the "Speak Now Tour," she would interrupt a fake wedding ceremony. For the "Reputation Stadium Tour," she would bring out a giant prop snake. Songs seem to switch from sad piano ballads that will have you crying on the shoulder of a stranger, to upbeat pop songs that will have you wiping them away in an instant as you shake it off.
It seems that “The Eras Tour” is no different. The show is three hours long, consisting of 44 songs representing each album (including a surprise fan favorite each night), has 10 acts, and involves 16 costume changes. There is even a portion of the show in which Swift will dive beneath the stage after performing songs from her Debut album, be shown swimming beneath it, and later emerge in a new outfit to perform songs from her most recent Midnights album.
Photo courtesy of People
Photo courtesies of Hello!
However, Swift is not the only one pulling out all the stops for the show. There are multiple videos and photos of fans showing off their own elaborate outfits for the tour. They range from recreations of iconic looks from Swift's past performances to the most minuscule references, such as champagne glasses to reference a song from the Evermore album.
The openers for the first show were the beloved groups Paramore and GAYLE. Swift opens the show with songs from the Lover album, the very first being “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.” Opening with songs from Lover may be an ode to "Lover Fest." a tour planned specifically for the Lover album but was unfortunately canceled because of the pandemic. From there she proceeds to sing her way through all her eras, including fan-favorite songs such as “You Belong With Me” and “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version).”
The tour plans to go on until August, with the final night being August 9, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. There will be other openers for the tour to come as well. To name some fans are most excited for, Phoebe Bridgers and HAIM would be two of them. Many also anticipate that a special recording of one of the shows will be available for streaming once the tour is over, much like how one can watch the "Reputation Stadium Tour" on Netflix. Overall, it seems that the very first night was a hit!
Cover photo courtesy of The Mirror
Banner courtesy of CNN
Photo courtesy of Billboard