After over a year and a half of touring, Taylor Swift took her final bow of The Eras Tour on Sunday December 8th, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada. Swift has been on tour since March 2023. The Eras Tour consists of almost all of Swift’s music eras, which boiled down to her three and a half hour long performance each night on the tour.
The set list changed throughout the tour, as Swift released The Tortured Poets Department halfway through the tour, airing the new set in Paris, France. Each era has its own set of clothes, dances, and stage effects. Each outfit is unique to the era and represents an outfit she wore on tour, for previews, or interviews at the time of the album/era. For example, the Lover bodysuits are bright, cheerful colors to match the vibe of the album, while TTPD outfits are grey, black, white, and gold to match the vibes of that album.
Swift wasn’t always perfect on this tour. Swifties online have made compilations called “The Errors Tour” in which they showcase when Swift’s mic pack went out, when her backup dancers would fall on stage, when Swift would mess up lyrics, and many more things that made people laugh.
A big thing on this tour was “surprise songs.” Each night, Swift would sing one to three songs on the guitar, and another one to three on the piano. This is known as the “acoustic set.” This quickly became a game to Swifties everywhere. They would try to guess what songs she would sing, and what outfits she would come out in each night. Sometimes, during the surprise songs, Swift would bring out special guests to sing with her. This included Jack Antonoff, Hayley Williams, Gracie Abrams, Florence Welch, and many more.
One fan created a website called “Mastermind”, where fans could go online, and post their guesses to which songs and outfits Swift would wear. When fans got one correct, a fan would get points. Whoever had the most points at the end of the show, won for the night.
During each set, Swift would have about one to two minutes to change outfits in between sets. This would occur when Swift was lowered into the stage, and she would quickly change her outfit, fix her hair, makeup, and change her microphone to match the next era.
Senior Annika Chamberlain saw Swift in both Metlife and Murrayfield stadium. She went with her sisters and her mom. Her favorite era in Metlife was reputation and folklore, while the second time was The Tortured Poets Department. “Rep and folklore are my favorite albums and hearing them live was amazing, and TTPD was amazing to see because it was brand new and the set was so interesting to watch.” Chamberlain saw some amazing surprise songs. At Metlife, she had “Holy Ground” and “False God”,then the second time was “Dorothea mashed up with its nice to have a friend on guitar and then haunted mashed up with exile on piano. I was elated with every surprise song, and it was extra special when I guessed she would sing False God.” For Chamberlain, it wasn’t hard to get tickets, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. “It was stressful to get tickets, but not extremely hard. I got the presale code both times and my mom was able to get the tickets.” At the Eras Tour, everyone had very upbeat personalities and had so much fun. “The atmosphere was almost electric with excitement, people were all singing and screaming and having so much fun. I loved the tour, it was one of the most exciting and fun things I’ve ever done, and I’m so glad I got to witness everyone’s excitement.”
Senior Marin Douglas saw Swift in Gillette Stadium. She was also with her mom. Douglas’ favorite era is reputation. “The stage performance was so amazing and cool to watch, there was so much energy.” Douglas thought this tour was very unique. Douglas also had some amazing surprise songs. “My surprise songs were “Red” and “I Think He Knows” and I was pretty happy about this.” Unlike Chamberlain, Douglas had struggles getting the tickets. “It was hard to get tickets. I didn’t even end up getting tickets, but one of my moms colleagues had 2 extra so we got lucky enough to go.” Douglas agrees that the atmosphere was amazing at the concert. “I thought this tour was absolutely incredible and you had to be there to experience what it was like.”
Guidance Counselor Ms.Hennessy saw Swift in Gillette stadium as well. Like Chamberlain and Douglas, Ms.Hennessy also has her favorite sets. “My favorite album is Reputation so I really loved that set. I also loved the Tortured Poets Department set. Prior to seeing her at the Era’s tour I was not a huge fan of her newest album. My opinion on the album changed completely because I enjoyed her TTPD set so much.” With the length of this tour, most fans saw it as unique because of the length Swift performs. “This tour is so unique because of the large range of time it spans through. I started listening to Taylor Swift when I was in Middle School so it was so special to see her perform songs from my childhood mixed with songs I’m listening to now 15 years later.” Surprise songs are what made each night of this tour so special to the fans attending. “My surprise songs were, “Dorothea” and “I Know Places” on the Guitar and the “Exile”& “Haunted” on the piano. I was hoping to get a surprise song from Reputation but I was overall happy with the songs. I would not say any of the 4 songs are in my list of favorites, but I really did enjoy hearing them mixed together.” Ms.Hennessy also enjoyed the atmosphere of the concert. “The atmosphere of the concert was really warm and supportive. Everyone there was in a good way and made conversations with those around them. I really feel that Taylor’s music conveys a sense of kindness and unity which explains the positivity and happiness within the concert atmosphere.”
Swift’s amazing performances, singing, surprise songs, and traditions on this tour will forever be in the hearts of Swifties all over the world.
