Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” has “been a long time coming”

2.4 million fans. 52 shows. 20 cities. One performer.

During winter break in the sixth grade, I forced my family to sit down in front of the TV, and made them watch the new “Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour” movie. On that day, I vowed I would go to a Taylor Swift concert. Five years later, on a random Tuesday in November, I achieved the first step to that dream.

I had tickets to “The Era’s Tour.” 

It wouldn’t be a valid review of “The Era’s Tour” without acknowledging the presence of the entire Ticketmaster debacle. I’m obviously one of the lucky few who had the opportunity to purchase tickets on the day of the presale, but that was solely because of my cousin who received a presale code. I think the entire situation was handled poorly and could have been executed better from the get-go. However, after watching the show six months later, I have forgiven Ticketmaster and SeatGeek for all their sins, and am just grateful I had the honor of watching the show. 

Setlist/Music:

Swift opened her show with “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” This song was one of my least expected songs to be on the list of songs she was performing, much less be the opening song. I have to say, the line, “it’s been a long time coming” was a very tasteful touch to the show, representing her longing to play her music for her fans. Watching it live blew away all my expectations. 

My favorite song from the entire show has to be “Don’t Blame Me/Look What You Made Me Do.” From the moment the lights went up in columns to the snake on the main screen transitioning into the “Speak Now” era, I was screaming every single word. This set also had my favorite transition, with Swift saying, “Don’t blame me, don’t blame me, don’t blame me for what you made me do,” transitioning into the song “Look What You Made Me Do.” 

For every show that Swift plays, she performs two songs unique to each show. During the third night of the three Arlington shows, the show I attended, Swift played “Jump Then Fall,” as well as “The Lucky One.” This is the first show that Swift played two songs that are from her “older” albums. This breaks the tradition of playing one song from an era predating her “Lover” album and one song from the “Lover” album onward. I wasn’t the biggest fan of both songs, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be “The Lucky One.”

Similarly to the opening song, I was shocked by the choice of the closing song, “Karma,” which was one of my initial favorites off of her “Midnights” album. While I was expecting her to end with “Long Live” from her “Speak Now” album, Swift followed her long-standing trend of closing out her shows with an upbeat, pop track. After the concert, I couldn’t help but rewatch my video of this moment due to the happy tears flowing down my eyes as she exited the stage. 

Outfits:

I was a fan of every single one of the 16 outfits Swift wore on this tour. Swift wore different versions of each of her original outfits from each album in different color variations.

Opening with the “Lover” era, Swift wore a gold and blue studded bodysuit with corset-like boning. During the same era, she wore a black sequined blazer with silver glitter pinstripe layers over the bodysuit during “The Man.” This era of outfits takes third place in my outfit ranking.

My favorite outfit by far was the one-legged snake bodysuit worn during the “reputation” era. The matching of the long sleeve and long pant on one side and cut off sleeve/pant leg on the other side felt like a mature take on the outfits previously worn on the “reputation stadium tour.” I loved the switch of the gold previously worn in performances from this era to the sparkly red snakes going up the leg and around the neckline up to the mesh semi-halter top. 

The closing outfit set took place during the “Midnights” era. Starting this set with a sequined t-shirt dress under a lavender faux fur coat, I was initially underwhelmed, especially when Swift removed the coat and was just in the dress. All of my initial thoughts dissipated during “Midnight Rain,” where Swift quick-changed into a royal blue bodysuit with dangling gems. At my show, she wore a matching bedazzled garter, which she teased during her performance of “Anti-Hero.” This outfit was my second favorite throughout the entire show, and I was very happy with how much time this outfit got. 

Overall experience: 

Swifties have developed a reputation (pun fully intended) for having a sense of community. This idea has carried over to this tour as well, with fans now trading friendship bracelets at each of Swift’s shows. This trend started on TikTok – following the release of the song, “You’re On Your Own Kid,” fans decided to create a tradition based on the lyrics “So make the friendship bracelets/Take the moment and taste it.” I enjoyed the process of making the friendship bracelets and trading them before the show. During this process, I had the chance to meet YouTube content creators Brooklyn and Bailey. Around the same time, I watched “reputation stadium tour,” I was watching their content, and this experience made it feel like a full circle moment. While this was not an official part of the show, it made my experience all the better.

This show has received amazing reviews from many people, and it receives a stellar review from me as well. I’ve described this show as “life-changing” to the people around me, and if you get a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it.