Taylor Swift fans were ready for it when they heard the superstar would be taking the stage once again. Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour took the world by storm, from the time the tickets went on sale, all the way to the announcement of more shows in fall of 2024.
On November 1, 2022, Swift announced that she would be hitting the road in Spring 2023 for her first tour since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. Fans instantly went into a frenzy and the demand for tickets was through the roof.
The first hope of scoring tickets to this once in a lifetime experience was through the pre-sale registration, hosted by Ticketmaster. Some fans were lucky enough to receive a code, that allowed them to be able to attempt to get tickets to a show near them.
The day of presale, “Swifties” — a nickname for Swift’s fans — logged onto Ticketmaster in such massive quantities, that the site broke. For many, the process to get tickets lasted hours. Kayla Aul, an attendee of the Eras Tour, recalled: “Getting tickets was the most stressful time of my life and I was waiting in the queue for about four to five hours until I finally got tickets.”
Fans, who were able to score tickets, began to prepare for it. For many, this meant planning the perfect outfit. Fans were gaining inspiration from all of Swift’s eras, as they planned their outfits. Another aspect of preparing for the show was making friendship bracelets to trade with fellow Swifties at the shows. The fans decided that this was something they were going to do at the shows, as a tribute to a song lyric in Swift’s “You’re on Your Own, Kid.”
After much anticipation, the Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Ariz. on March 17, 2023. On this night, Swifties discovered just how magical the tour was going to be. Swift’s setlist lasted a grand three hours and fifteen minutes. She revisited all of her past eras, as she performed songs from her self-titled album, “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989,” and “Reputation.” In addition, she also introduced fans to her four most recent albums: “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore,” and “Midnights.” These four albums haven’t been a part of a tour yet, as Lover Fest was canceled due to the COVID pandemic, and the other three were released during it.
Also, incorporated into the setlist was an acoustic section, where Swift would change the two songs she sang, each night she performed. It quickly became a trend on the social media platform TikTok for fans to post about what the surprise songs were at the shows that they attended. Many fans made posters of the surprise songs that had already been sung, with the hopes of hearing one of their favorites during this special acoustic set.
Karly Duber attended a show in Chicago, and had her wildest dream come true, as she explained, “My favorite moment of the show was getting “Hits Different” as a surprise song because it was my favorite song on ‘Midnights,’ and we were the first people to hear it live.”
In addition to the anticipation of hearing two unique songs at each show, Swifties in two cities got to be the first to hear some very special news, straight from Swift on stage. On May 5, 2023, at the first show in Nashville, Swift announced that “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” would be released on July 7. Nashville was not the only city to receive an announcement like this. At the final show of the Los Angeles stop, Swift, again on stage, announced that “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is to be released on October 27, 2023.
Within the stadiums on the nights of Swift’s performances, there was a unique energy within the stands. Swifties cried, screamed, jumped, danced, and sang their hearts out together. There was a sense of unity among the crowd. Sophia Foster, an attendee of a Chicago show, said: “It was awesome seeing an event where so many women and people came together to celebrate something and someone they love. It felt so surreal and connecting in a universal way, especially after the COVID pandemic.”
If fans were unable to attend the first round of shows in North America, Swift will be back in fall 2024 for shows in Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Toronto. Mallory Fettig, a fan who has tickets attend one of the future shows in Indianapolis, explained that she is most anticipating “seeing everyone’s outfits, the Reputation set, and trading friendship bracelets.”
If fans still were unable to attain tickets to a show, there is no need to panic over not being able to experience this once in a lifetime tour. The Eras Tour concert film will be in theaters, all over North America, on October 13, 2023.
