After being lucky enough to see Taylor Swift in person in Denver at the infamous Era’s Tour, I was elated to hear she was coming out with a concert movie. With her tickets being quite expensive and unaffordable to most, releasing a movie makes it more accessible to a larger group of people.
The Era’s Tour in person was an out of body experience. I have listened to Taylor Swift for my entire life, going in and out of phases with each album she released. Being able to see all of her stages of music performed on one stage in a three and-a-half hour show was phenomenal. The concert itself had probably the best people attending and overall vibes than any other concert I have experienced. The “Swifties”, or Taylor Swift fans, were the most gorgeous, kind, and respectful audience members I have ever had the honor of interacting with.
That being said, I had really high expectations for the movie. After grabbing a Dr. Pepper and plopping down in a seat in the big AMC theater, I waited for the trailers to begin. After a few trailers for new and upcoming movies (including the new “Mean Girls” movie) the lights dimmed and a melody of a mixture of Taylor’s songs began to play. A huge clock, used to countdown the time until the show began, counting down from 13 seconds.Starting off the show is Taylor’s album “Lover”, one that was supposed to be featured on tour, but got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this set, she plays the songs “Miss Americana”, “Cruel Summer”, “The Man”, “You Need to Calm Down”, and “Lover”. The overall theme of this set includes light pink, purple and blue sheets along with colorful and bright outfits.
With a flutter of gold dots, she switches to her second album titled “Fearless”. This album was one that was very prominent throughout my childhood, and includes the songs “You Belong With Me”, “Love Story”, and the album’s name sake, “Fearless”. Taylor practically floats on stage with her sparkly flapper dress and her classic guitar, a bright smile slapped on her face.
Gold shimmers change to copper sparks and then into a whimsical tree background, as we transition into her “evermore” album. Her song “willow” is first to go, yellow orbs in the hands of her backup dancers and dark cloaks covering their bodies, giving off a mysterious witch aura. The song “marjorie”, written about Taylor’s late grandmother, begins to play after that and the camera pans to the audience, showing a sea of iPhone flashlights being waved around as a tribute to her grandmother. With the songs “champagne problems” and “tolerate it” following, this concludes the “evermore” era.
Next, a snake slithers onto the stage, wrapping around the front part, signaling that the “Reputation” era has begun. This has to be one of the most controversial and influential albums that Taylor Swift has released, as it was about calling out the toxicity of the music industry and of onlookers. She starts off with the intense bass of her song “…Ready for It?” and struts onto stage. Following this more intense song, she sings “Delicate”, which is a softer and more vocal-focused song. “Don’t Blame Me” and “Look What You Made Me Do” followed shortly after, continuing the, for lack of better words, bad b*tch energy.
Unfortunately, one of her best albums, “Speak Now”, only had one song in the “Eras Tour” movie. “Enchanted” is a beautiful song. and they captured it so elegantly in the film. From the sparkle of Taylor’s princess dress to the wave of purple light-up bracelets in the audience, this part was truly magical.
The “Red” era is one that I remember playing in the car with my brother and my mom, blasting it as if I had gone through a traumatic break up just like Taylor Swift. Hearing a lot of her songs such as “22”, “We Are Never Getting Back Together”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, and “All Too Well” brought back an obscene amount of nostalgia. Taylor always hands off the hat she wears during the “Red” album to a young girl in the audience, and this time it was Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Bianka Bryant. This whole interaction was so sweet, as it is a nod to all of the girls who support her and stand with her throughout all of her eras.
“folklore”, “evermore’s” sister album, starts off with her song “the 1”, which is presumably about her now past boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. She then speaks about the album, declaring it the “story-telling” record. Throughout the songs on the setlist, she takes the viewers and listeners through make-believe scenarios about love triangles (in the song “betty”) and key lime green dogs (“the last great american dynasty”). This album’s portion of the film is more serene and finishes off with calm and whimsical songs including “august”, “illicit affairs”, and “my tears ricochet”.
“1989” appears after “folklore”, entering with a set of a glowing city and bright lights. After the exciting announcement of her re-recording of this album, set to release on Friday October 27, the energy around this set seemed much more electric. With classic songs such as “Style”, “Blank Space”, “Shake It Off”, “Wildest Dreams”, and “Bad Blood”, Taylor seemed full of enjoyment in her pink and glittery two piece outfit.
The most anticipated part of the event were the surprise songs. Since the first show of her tour, Taylor Swift would perform songs that were not on the designated setlist, choosing two other songs from any of her tem albums. The anticipation for audiences to hear what songs they would get and if they were the ones that they predicted provoked screams when Taylor stepped on stage in a flowy pink dress. Her song “Our Song” was performed by guitar, the only song from “Debut”, her first album, played that night. She then proceeded to play “You’re On Your Own Kid” from her newly released album “Midnights”, an album about growing up and the nostalgia of childhood.
“Midnights” finished off the setlist as it was the last album to come out. This album consists mainly of high energy pop hits like “Lavender Haze”, “Anti-Hero”, and “Bejeweled”. She then plays “Midnight Rain” which turns into “Vigilante Sh*t, a sexier number featuring a chair dance. “Mastermind” follows and she then ends the show with “Karma”, fireworks going off around the stage with all of her and her dances decked out in flowy fringe jackets.
After seeing this movie, I can confirm that it is very close to seeing the actual concert. Not only is the show just as captivating, but audience members in the theater stood up, dancing and singing along to all of the songs. The community is very tight and it makes it feel like you’re all experiencing it for the first time together. The cinematography of the film is surreal, as it feels as though you are witnessing an ethereal being. Cameras also focus on the dancer ensemble which provides a closer connection to the the crew and just how kind and supportive the environment that Taylor Swift provides is. I would highly recommend watching the “Eras Tour” movie if you were unable to get a ticket to the live show. It will not disappoint, I promise.
