“The Eras Tour” is sweeping social media, and it will be a pop culture moment talked about for decades. Taylor Swift is singing all her biggest hits and deep cuts from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) to her pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore. Taylor Swift takes fans through a show of 3 hours long, 44 magnetic songs from her entire discography. Each part of the setlist displays each of her iconic eras throughout her music career. This concert is essentially her biggest hits tour. Fans have fought through the Ticketmaster queue to get these tickets because it will be one of the highlights of Taylor Swift’s career. Personally, I fought the Ticketmaster queue while I was in London studying abroad, so the struggle was hard as I fought for my life to see my idol live; a tour I have been fantasizing about since I was in middle school that consists of her revisiting and appreciating her past work.
Her tour has grand costumes from sleek, glittery bodysuits to full-out ball gowns, such as for the song, “Enchanted,” a favorite among fans. This show is full of surprises that each night of every city will have specific changes. This means that every show will be different in some way, from the costume changes to the surprise songs in the setlist.
I have been grateful enough to have tickets to night one of the Gillette Stadium show, and first night of the New York show. Because of this, I am anxiously awaiting and speculating (like the rest of the world) what surprise songs I may get, and what costumes she may wear.
As long-term Swifties, my friend and I will be following in tradition of wearing costumes of our favorite eras to the concerts. We will also be making friendship bracelets and going to the arena hours before the show starts to gather with other Swifties to rejoice in Taylor Swift live. “The Eras Tour” is basically the new Coachella as fans post their outfits to Instagram and TikTok with Taylor Swift lyrics as their caption.
I had tickets to see Taylor for Lover Fest East at Gillette Stadium; however, because of the pandemic, like most concerts, it got cancelled and never rescheduled. Now, I have the honor of seeing Taylor live twice this year. I’m beyond thrilled to see her take the stage and reconnect with her fans once again. It is also such a special time because this tour is occurring while Taylor is re-recording her past albums to own. Every night she reminds the fans of how grateful she is for everyone supporting her owning the rights to songs she created. Taylor has said herself that this is her favorite tour she’s ever done, and I believe it’s because of the re-recording process. She has been able to fall in love all over again with her past records and past “eras” of her life. The whole tour encompasses her entire life’s work, and pays tribute to her continuing to make new art, while she revisits songs of her past.
A very special part of the concert is Taylor’s chosen surprise songs she plays acoustic towards the end of the setlist. Each night she plays a different song on piano and guitar. These songs can come from any album in her discography. She tends to play two songs from different albums that link thematically. There have been some songs that I am devastated that will not be played at my concert, but unfortunately, this will happen for every fan for all the nights she plays because her discography is that good.
My friend and I have gone back and forth about what songs we might get. For the New York show, Taylor has an equal chance of playing any of her songs that reference the city she now resides in. It could be “Cornelia Street,” “Coney Island,” “Welcome to New York,” or “Come Back…Be Here (Taylor’s Version).” We are hoping to hear “Cornelia Street” live just because it is one of my favorite songs from Lover. I am also a sucker for any songs off Red (Taylor’s Version). I also equally hope to hear “Long Live” or “Sparks Fly” from Speak Now. Gillette Stadium is one of the first stadiums Taylor Swift sold out during her Speak Now World Tour. She has a special connection to this venue and the fans, especially because it always happens to rain one of the nights at Gillette because of Massachusett’s very unpredictable weather. However, I will be content with any of the surprise songs because I dearly love Taylor Swift’s entire discography. I am also excited to hear songs off her latest hit album Midnights.
My voice will surely be gone with no regret as I scream the lyrics that I sing into my hairbrush in my bedroom. Taylor Swift always makes her shows personal and intimate even with large venues and long catwalks. The entire night I will dancing, screaming, and crying. I will certainly “remember this moment” for the rest of my life. Taylor Swift is at the height of her career, and it does not seem she is slowing down, but continuing to go to greater heights to be the artist of our generation.