“World Tour” isn’t enough to encapsulate just how big Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” was. Not only was it a world tour, but a 3 ½ hour-long musical show featuring a 40-plus song setlist that shattered all-time attendance records, boosted economies and tourism worldwide, dominated social media, and set records as the highest-grossing tour of all time, being the first tour ever to surpass $1 billion US dollars in revenue.
Swift kicked off the tour in March 2023 and ended it in December 2024. In total, the tour spanned across five continents and consisted of 149 shows.
The show was a journey through Swift’s 17-year music career, comprised of over 40 songs grouped into 10 different acts/“eras” that conceptually portrayed Swift’s studio albums. Each song and “era” was brought to life with sophisticated choreography, stunning outfits, entertaining visuals, and the most up-to-date technology.
Freshman Lexi Wainman attended “The Eras Tour” with her sister and mom. “One of the coolest parts of the show was during the song “Bad Blood” you could feel the fire coming out of the flame machines. I was far away too so it was super cool and really warm,” says Wainman.
The show was revamped numerous times, adding and removing songs. In May 2024, Swift incorporated her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which she created and released while on tour, into the setlist, creating a new “era” of the show.
An incredibly special part of the tour was the giving out of Swift’s “22 hat”. During the “Red era” of the show, part of her first outfit featured a black fedora autographed hat. While Swift performed her song “22”, a lucky fan was chosen by Swift’s team to meet her and receive the autographed hat, including 11-year-old Addison Shabbott from our town of Milford.
In addition to the set songs that Swift performed in every city, she created a section for surprise songs. During this portion of the show, Swift selected songs that weren’t on the set list to perform and surprise her adoring fans with. One was played on guitar and another on piano. Often, Swift created mashups, combining different songs into one.
Wainman says, “She played “False God” at my show and I was so glad that she played that one because I love that song.”
Throughout the tour, Swift featured many outstanding opening acts and invited many special guests to share the stage with her including her boyfriend, Travis Kelce himself.
Apart from the tour, Swift released re-recordings of her albums “Speak Now” and “1989”. As if that wasn’t enough the concert film was released in October 2023, and towards the end of the tour, Swift released a coffee table book.
Although the tour has come to an end, the legacy of the tour will never be forgotten. Long live all the magic that was made, and the memories that will last forever.
