The Eras Tour is going to be one of the most iconic tours in history.
The Eras tour, performed by singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, has just started its second leg on August 25th in Mexico City. The tour started in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona and is set to end in November 2024 in Toronto, Canada.
The show itself showcases Swift’s 10 different albums or eras and her musical journey over the last 17 years. Before Swift even comes on stage the crowd is warmed up with openers. With ten different openers including Phoebe Bridgers, Haim, Gracie Abrams, Paramore and more, each show has two performers.
After the anticipation builds, Taylor finally goes on for a nearly four hour long show. She opens up her set with a soft intro that includes the names of all of her albums. Finally big parachutes open up, revealing the singer whose opening song is “Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince” with the first words sung being “It’s been a long time coming.” She then goes through the Lover era, followed by Fearless, Evermore, Reputation, Speak Now, Red, Folklore, 1989, Debut(surprise songs), and finally ends the show with her most recent era, Midnights.
One of the most intriguing things about the tour is the different outfits Swift wears. She changes or modifies her outfit a whopping sixteen times per show. Reputation is the only era that has one outfit. The others have at least one other variation that changes in either color, style or both. Swift changes her outfits mid era, as seen during Lover when she puts on a blazer to perform her hit The Man. During Midnights she changes twice; her fur coat is removed and her dancers take off her t-shirt dress under umbrellas during “Midnight Rain” to reveal the final outfit, a blue and sparkly bodysuit. Swift changes up what she wears for the eras every show.
Along with outfit changes, the atmosphere of the show differs from era to era. There is the Fearless era that is friendly and upbeat, but that is followed by Evermore, a witchy album during which she performs some of her saddest songs such as “Marjorie” and “Tolerate It.” The transitions within eras are also very dramatic. During Folklore, Swift transitions from her song “August” which is a mystical song about a summer fling, to “Illicit Affairs,” an intense, angry song about the falling out of a secret romance. One of the last changes is from the surprise songs into Midnights. Swift ends the acoustic set by diving down into the stage with a splash and then it’s silent. When she appears again Lavender Haze starts playing and the energy immediately picks back up.
Right before her final album, Swift performs an acoustic set that is arguably one of the most exciting parts of the show. When starting the tour she said she would play two different songs that aren’t on the setlist every show. No song can be repeated on tour except those off of Midnights because she has never gotten the opportunity to perform any of those. Fans will often sit on live streams or stalk Twitter to figure out which one of their favorite songs was performed that night.
To make almost everything on tour her own, Swift has announced two of her rerecords on the tour. She announced Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on May 5th in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee and the album came out on July 7th. One of her last rerecords, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was announced on August 8th in Los Angeles which was the final show of the first U.S leg. The album is set to come out October 27th. Along with announcing rerecords, Swift has also premiered two music videos. The first being “Karma” in East Rutherford, New Jersey with video star and special guest, Ice Spice performing the song with Swift at the end of the show. The second premiere for “I Can See You” premiered on July 7th, in Kansas City to celebrate the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). To go with the premiere, Swift brought out the stars of the video, Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash.
Many celebrities have been spotted at nearly every show on the tour. Some of the most popular ones include Hilary Duff, Billy Joel, Sarah Pulson, Jessica Chastain and so many more. Some of Swift’s closest friends have also attended, including Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid and Emma Stone.
Swift is set to continue her tour on November 9th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Swift is touring around South America in November, then going on to Asia and Australia from February to March of 2024. She hits Europe starting in May and ending in August. The final two legs of her tour are the second U.S leg starting in Miami in October, 2024 and Swift finally ends touring in November 2024 in Toronto, Canada.
The Eras tour is Swift’s biggest so far, with almost every show being completely sold out. Compared to her last tour, which was the Reputation Tour that ended back in November of 2018, the Eras tour has twice as many shows and has made over twice as much revenue in ticket sales alone. Compared to other contemporary tours, such as Beyonce’s Renaissance tour or Harry Styles’ Love on Tour, The Eras tour continues to break records and make news headlines with its enormous turnout and dedication from fans.
LHS students cherished the opportunity to see Swift in person. Junior Adelle Speiss attended the tour on its second night in Kansas City.
“I don’t know how to describe it but it was just really an important experience for me just because my whole life I had grown up listening to Taylor Swift,” Speiss said. “It was incredible. Everything about it was so amazing.”
