Warning: Eras Tour spoilers lie ahead!
After surviving the Battle of Ticketmaster back in November, dubbed by Taylor Swift as the real “Great War,” I waited five long months to attend her legendary Eras Tour in Tampa, as well as what would be my first ever concert. “It’s been a long time coming,” so here’s how it went!
Planning for the concert was a months-long process. My friend group and I had to figure out where we were going to stay for the weekend, order and coordinate our Eras-based outfits (each of us went as a different album), and figure out the fastest route in and out of the stadium.
Once the long-anticipated date of our concert came, we packed up a car full of snacks for the drive, squeezed in our luggage for the rest of our Tampa weekend, and got the Taylor Setlist Spotify playlist ready for the aux. About two hours and 35 songs (sung at peak “we’re going to see Taylor!” volume) later, we arrived ten minutes away from Raymond James Stadium, where it looked like every Swiftie in the state had pulled up at the same time. Seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever seen traffic that bad.
We made the executive decision to park farther away from the stadium to avoid both the ridiculous parking fees and the massive pilgrimage to the front lawns of Raymond James, where hundreds of people decked out in Taylor-themed outfits were sitting out on the green in lawn chairs, their car windows painted with “Are you ready for it?” and other lyrics.
Despite the large crowds and the long, hot walk with other Tay-gaters, we were able to get into the stadium and find our seats pretty fast. In fact, merch lines were way longer than the lines to get into Raymond James — and they stayed long all night. Some people waited hours in the sun for Taylor’s exclusive shirts and crewnecks, with some even staying in line during the concert itself. By the end of the night, I was glad I skipped waiting in person for merch; I was there for Taylor herself, after all, and I could always order the same souvenirs online.
As the sun began to set and Gracie Abrams and Beabadoobee wrapped up their opening performances, the stadium’s seats filled up until almost every chair was occupied. We waited in anticipation as a large clock lit up the stage screen and counted down as the hands ticked to midnight. The clock dissapeared, the screen went black, and the Eras house appeared. Everyone was holding their breath as Taylor emerged in the spotlight in the middle of the stage around a group of flowy purple dancers, and as soon as she began singing, the crowd erupted into a deafening sound I’d never heard before. It was a combination of people screaming lyrics and people screaming just because they were seeing her in person for the first time. Some of the Swifties around us even had tears in their eyes, and I can’t blame them — witnessing Taylor in person was a completely different and surreal experience than watching her in her music videos or interviews. She’s absolutely magnetic, and you can tell she enjoys each of her performances — my eyes were glued on her as she danced across the stage in her gorgeous outfits, smiling, laughing, and waving like it was night one of her Glendale tour instead of the second night of her three-day Tampa tour weekend.
In terms of her Eras, each one was better than the last. Taylor opened with Lover (which makes sense considering how fans never got to have Loverfest) and moved seamlessly into Fearless and Evermore. The set for each era was breathtakingly beautiful, and I found myself admiring not only Taylor but also the hard work put in by everyone backstage to ensure that each transition, backdrop, and prop was perfect.
Lover began soft and pink against the Florida setting sun, with the audience’s wristband lights lighting up in pink hearts across the stands, while Fearless was all gold sparkles and signature Taylor happiness. By the time she had transitioned to Evermore, with a gorgeous performance of “willow” against a set of evergreen trees surrounded by cloaked background dancers, and then Reputation, whose genius set was designed with a black snake curling its way through the stage to announce the arrival of the “new Taylor,” my jaw had been hanging open for quite some time. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn’t a show of this caliber, where every light, eruption of fire, firework, and confetti bomb literally lit up the entire stadium. Every inch of the stage, every word Taylor said, and every dance move was planned out so carefully that it created an amazing experience that felt more like watching a movie than attending a concert, which I thought would just include the artist dancing around on stage for a few hours. It was so much more than that.
As Red, Folklore, and 1989 rolled around, I couldn’t stop wishing it wouldn’t end. But it did end with a rendition of “Karma,” fireworks that no other Eras city show got, Taylor telling us how much she loves and appreciates us, and a giant explosion of confetti into the crowd.
Even though I was able to witness some of Taylor’s most showstopping performances to date, I think what surprised me the most about this concert experience was the sheer number of attendees. There were around 70,000 people in attendance, and I’m not kidding when I say that everyone was having the time of their lives. I’d never seen so many people together in the same place at the same time, especially so many Swifties dancing, singing their hearts out, and hanging on to Taylor’s every word.
As someone who has listened to Taylor Swift since elementary school, my Era’s tour night is one I won’t ever forget, and I’ll be forever grateful for having the opportunity to watch my favorite artist perform live. It was a magical first concert experience, to say the least!