The Era’s Tour is the most magical, sentimental, and community-oriented place on earth. It’s a place where all Swifties, new and old, come together where we all share one common interest: the one and only Taylor Swift. Taylor has had a long and successful career that has spanned over eighteen years long. Luckily for those in attendance, we’re brought on her musical journey following her different career eras. The Eras Tour is her sixth concert tour and has been going on for two years now. This tour is going to go down in history as one of the most successful, groundbreaking, iconic, as well as the most impossible to get tickets to. You have to fight "The Great War" to get tickets, quite literally, but thank gosh there’s a Taylor song for that.
I’m lucky enough to have been to the tour twice. The first time at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It was still during the earlier stages of the tour. “Nothing New” was on the setlist, and “The Tortured Poets Department” didn’t even exist in our wildest dreams. Surprise songs are iconic so mine that day were “Holy Ground” and “False God”. As a “Getaway Car” super fan my heart did hurt after she sang it the night before my show, but now every time I listen to my surprise songs I am transported back to that day. Anyways, as a student at Syracuse University, once the Toronto tour dates were announced I knew it was close enough to make a trip happen, but let’s be honest I’d do anything for Taylor Swift. For both tour dates I couldn’t even win the fight for tickets, but luckily my friends did. I am so beyond grateful I even had the opportunity to go once, let alone twice.
The drive to Toronto was one I’ll never forget. Cars filling up the highway with Taylor themed decorations and quotes, windows rolled down blasting her music, and border patrol not even being surprised that we were another group to make the journey to see this amazing show. I just kept saying “today’s the day!” over and over again because I couldn’t believe I’d be seeing my favorite artist put on what I consider the greatest show of all time. All the countless nights spent watching grainy live streams of the show would finally be coming to an end. The whole city of Toronto looked like one big Taylor Swift ad, and I’m not complaining. It was amazing to see the impact Taylor has on the world, not just the Swifties. It felt like one big community coming together to celebrate the joy we all have listening to Taylor. The Eras Tour is not just a concert. Its impact on fans has been something I’ve never seen before. It’s hard to pick a favorite album, or even a concept to dress up as for the concert, but as a huge “Reputation” fan, I knew I had to dress up as that era again. I love the creativity that comes from the costumes and accessories Swifties wear, it makes everything so much more fun.
As I entered the Rogers Center my whole body was tingling, the butterflies in my stomach were flipping, and I couldn’t even process that I was about to see Taylor Swift perform on stage for a glorious three-hour long set. My friends and I did not have enough time to make our own friendship bracelets, but of course I left the stadium with a full stack on both arms. The friendship bracelet trading is just another sign of how much of a strong community we are as a fanbase, as well as proving how hilarious some members are because these bracelets can get out of hand (in the best way possible). Before I knew it the crowd was cheering and Gracie Abrams was walking on stage. This was my second time seeing her, the first being when she opened the other Eras night I attended. This time, I was an even bigger Gracie fan than before, so I immediately stood up and started screaming with the crowd. This time around, I felt more of the crowd knew her songs and lyrics which made me so happy to see. I genuinely thought I was going to lose my voice after I sang along to “Free Now” with Gracie. Little time went by before the infamous clock was projected on the stage. The pre-show playlist was starting to dwindle down and as soon as “Applause” by Lady Gaga started playing you could already hear screams. That’s how we all knew the show was about to start.
Taylor makes a three hour show feel like three minutes. It is insanely impressive how she is able to give the performance of a lifetime for each era and captivate the audience with stunning visuals, sets, and stellar choreographed dance routines. There was a lot of screaming, singing, and tears on my behalf, but before I knew it I was about to experience “The Tortured Poets Department” set for the first time. You don’t know how much I needed to hear “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” live. It was truly life changing. Seriously. I mean, who hurt us all? You can hear every single person scream the lyrics at the top of their lungs and what a healing moment that was for us all.
I was so lucky that now for this surprise song section she started doing mashups. Taylor came out and by the way she was talking I had a gut feeling Gracie was going to come back out, and she DID! They sang their Grammy nominated duet “us.” and mashed it with “Out Of The Woods” on the acoustic guitar. Then when Taylor sat down at the piano and started playing “You’re On Your Own Kid” I was crying. Some people complain that she sings that song too much, but I couldn’t be more thrilled. I really resonate with that song for many reasons. As a big Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks fan, Stevie has dedicated that song to her former bandmate Christine McVie. That was mashed with “Long Story Short”. I got to hear the lyrics “You’re on your own, kid, you can face this. So long story short I survived”. Are we kidding? Genius. The “Midnights” set is bittersweet. It is an amazing album and one of my favorites, but it’s also a signal that the show is almost over. I would insert videos that I took throughout the show, but instead of hearing Taylor’s beautiful voice, you’ll hear my unfortunate singing.
Regardless, if you aren't as big of a Swiftie as I am, you can’t argue with the fact that Taylor is a captivating performer and one of the best to ever do it. She has changed the music industry; in fact, she IS the music industry. I was so overwhelmed with emotions that at some points I just had to stand with my jaw open in awe of her artistry. As someone who wants to work in the music industry, I kept thinking of how much work goes into a production like this and how impressive every member of her team is. The Eras Tour will go down in history and its impact will be studied for years to come. I wish I could be at The Eras Tour every day, but luckily there’s a film available for streaming (that I watch quite frequently). There's a reason why so many people want to attend this show. I will never forget the memories I made at The Eras Tour in Toronto.
Written By Alexa LaMalfa
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