Taylor Swift’s iconic Eras Tour began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17th, 2023, and will finally come to an end in Vancouver, Canada, on December 8th, 2024. This tour has followed Taylor as she navigated personal hurdles, new relationships, album releases, re-recordings, and much more.
The one-of-a-kind tour originated from the idea of celebrating each of Taylor’s unique albums which have been markers of different stages, or eras, in her life. These albums range from country, as seen in her debut album, to her pop album 1989, to the more serene album folklore. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor was unable to continue her tradition of touring for each album release and was forced to cancel her Loverfest tour, which was planned to celebrate the release of her 6th album Lover. During the pandemic, she released the sister albums folklore and evermore, neither of which she was able to take to the stage. Post-pandemic, following the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, Taylor had four albums for which she hadn’t toured and a desire to sing along with her fans once again. With this, The Eras Tour was born.
Taylor would then embark on the Eras Tour, which would feature 149 shows spanning across 5 different continents, and go on to “play [the] show in the pouring rain, in the blazing heat, in the thickest humidity, in the wildest winds, and in the bitter cold” (Swift). The unforgettable tour would be transformed into a movie, available initially in theaters and now on Disney Plus, as well as most recently, a book. Each 3.5 hour long concert would include songs from ten of her studio albums (sorry, Taylor Swift!) as well as two additional surprise songs of her choosing, which would differ between concerts.
As fans became increasingly familiar with the tour, each concert they would come up with predictions for which surprise songs and outfits would be showcased each night. Another unique Eras Tour tradition involved spending hours before concerts perfecting a collection of friendship bracelets to trade with fellow Swifties in the time before Taylor took the stage. The tradition originated from Midnights’ “You’re on Your Own, Kid” in which she sings, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.” Fans immediately took this lyric to heart, turning it into an iconic and integral part of this tour.
Throughout the tour, Taylor has brought on different special guests to surprise fans and honor some of her closest friends’ hard work, making the experience all the more exciting. These guests ranged from her good friend and co-writer Gracie Abrams, to pop star Sabrina Carpenter, to her fellow songwriter Jack Antonoff, and perhaps most surprisingly, her NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce!
For both Taylor and the fans, the Eras tour has been a way to reconnect after years apart and to celebrate all that Taylor has accomplished throughout her career. As she writes in her newly released Eras Tour book, “Although we are all on our own in this big scary life, somehow it doesn’t feel that way when we’re singing the same words as 80,000 other people wearing glittery face paint” (Swift). Taylor constantly reminds the fans that they are the ones who truly make the concert the unique experience that it is, and Swifties have never failed to show their appreciation for Taylor’s efforts, as is seen in their customary standing ovation following the song “champagne problems”.
To Taylor: thank you so much for leading Swifites on this journey over the past couple of years, and allowing fans to join you on the most “wondrous tour” (Swift) anyone could possibly have dreamed of. See you on the next one!
