If you ever get the chance to attend the first night of a concert tour, do it. I was lucky enough to be inside State Farm Stadium on March 17, 2023, the first night of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. No one in attendance, except for maybe Taylor herself, knew it would go on to become the highest-grossing tour of all-time — it wasn’t even clear at the time what an “Eras Tour” meant.
But, as we learned over the course of three-plus hours that night and 148 subsequent shows, The Eras Tour was the greatest of greatest hits tours. Even the deepest cuts were received as warmly as her No. 1 singles. I was there for the final night in Vancouver, too, and while the mystery of the setlist was gone, it was still a magical night. One I’ll remember all too well.
Here are the 13 (obviously) things about Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour that will be missed the most.
1. The Friendship Bracelets
Friendship bracelets have long been a part of Taylor Swift iconography. But they really took off once Swift herself acknowledged the tradition of fans swapping their handmade jewelry in “You’re On Your Own, Kid”: “So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it / You’ve got no reason to be afraid.” A common sight walking around The Eras Tour was seeing Swifties with their arms half covered in traded bracelets, many with otherwise-incomprehensible acronyms that only made sense to the diehards (quick, try to decipher “HSTAHAH”). My personal favorites in my collection: a black and red bracelet reading “REPUTATION” and another with the single word “SLUT.”
2. The Outfits
One of the reasons why Barbie was such a colossal hit at the box office last year is that people like to dress up! This also applies to the “Brat” aesthetic among Charli XCX fans (if you don’t believe me, check Pinterest), and of course The Eras Tour. Swifties spent months dreaming and designing their concert outfits; some matched the real-life ensembles worn by Swift on the red carpet or in her music videos, while others took a more meta route. There were Junior Jewels shirts, Travis Kelce jerseys, Reputation bodysuits, cardigans, meticulously duplicated dresses, Olaf costumes, and so much red and tassels and glitter. Swifties are a creative, clever, and, most of all, stylish bunch.
3. The Livestreams
It was possible to experience The Eras Tour without actually being there in person. Online-savvy fans would live-stream every concert, usually on TikTok, for those who wanted to hear that night’s surprise songs, or “attend” an announcement show. The quality wasn’t great (especially compared to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour on Disney Plus), and this little guy would pop up at the worst times, but it provided a way to feel connected to The Eras Tour without paying hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars for a ticket.
4. The Surprise Songs
One of my strongest memories from the first show of The Eras Tour was thinking that Taylor Swift — or “debut,” as it’s known colloquially — would get its own set. It was one of two songs that Swift played acoustically that night, along with “Mirrorball.” That was not the case: there was no debut era, only the occasional surprise song. As someone in his mid-30s who can remember the first time he heard “Tim McGraw,” and therefore, the first time he heard Taylor Swift, this was a minor disappointment. Justice for “Should’ve Said No”!
But setting my millennial bias aside, the surprise songs were a nightly highlight, and one of the best things about the tour. Some pairings were better than others (the woman sitting behind me during the final show in Vancouver enjoyed “Long Live” / “New Year’s Day” / “The Manuscript,” and by “enjoyed,” I mean she was sobbing) but it was a treat to hear some of the most obscure tracks in Swift’s discography.
5. “Don’t Blame Me” Into “Look What You Made Me Do”
Hot take: this is the best part of The Eras Tour set.
6. The Special Guests
There were two kinds of celebrities at The Eras Tour: those in the VIP tent (Adam Sandler! Emma Stone! Anne Hathaway having the time of her freaking life!), and those on stage with Taylor. At different shows throughout the tour, she was joined by Marcus Mumford, The National’s Aaron Dessner, Phoebe Bridgers (remember when Matty Healy wore the skeleton onesie? It happened!), Jack Antonoff, Ice Spice, Maren Morris, Haim, Sabrina Carpenter, Hayley Williams, Gracie Abrams, and, of course, Travis Kelce.
7. But One Special Guest, In Particular
My dad stopped paying attention to popular music — pop, rock, R&B, all of it — in the 1970s. I’ve heard him say, without a hint of irony, that there hasn’t been a good song made since, like, 1975. Yet even he is aware of Taylor Swift. Does he like her music? No, probably not. But he knows who she is, which is its own kind of validation. My dad is also conscious of the seismic activity, both literally and figuratively, of The Eras Tour. No one less a source than Ringo Starr called Taylor and the hoopla surrounding the tour the “closest thing” to Beatlemania since the 1960s — a compliment that was actualized when Paul McCartney attended a London show and danced to “But Daddy I Love Him” with other Swifties. He even exchanged friendship bracelets, a much better (and safer) fan tradition than chucking jelly beans at The Beatles.
8. The Songs We Might Not Hear Live Again For Awhile, If Ever
You won’t find a bigger “All Too Well” fan than me. I ranked it as the best Taylor Swift song of all-time, and it’s my favorite song by any artist. But considering she spent over 25 hours of The Eras Tour playing the 10-minute version, I would not be surprised if “All Too Well” goes into hibernation on the next tour. Other songs I don’t expect we’ll hear much next time: “You Need To Calm Down,” “Fearless,” “22,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Midnight Rain,” and everything from Evermore, except “Champagne Problems.”
9. The Chair
A chair so iconic, it was turned into a Christmas ornament.
10. The Audience Participation
The most well-known of these is “1, 2, 3, let’s go bitch” during “Delicate,” but there’s also the double clap in “You Belong With Me,” the long ovation after “Champagne Problems,” and “you forgive, you forget, but you never let it go” for “Bad Blood.” Some of the fan projects went too far in trying to go viral, but most were well-meaning fun.
11. The Loudest Lyrics
Based on my own experiences, these were the lyrics that I found were consistently sung the loudest by The Eras Tour crowd:
5. “Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone / I love you and that’s all I really know” (“Love Story”)
4. “… as the crowd was chanting MORE” (“I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”)
3. “What a shame she’s f*cked in the head, they said” (“Champagne Problems”)
2. “He looks up grinning like a devil” (“Cruel Summer”)
1. All of “All Too Well” but especially “f*ck the patriarchy”
If you attended The Eras Tour without losing your voice, did you really attend The Eras Tour?
12. The Mini Moments
When I think of The Eras Tour, I don’t think of the concert as a whole. I focus on the individual moments that make up the concert. It’s the “very first bridge of the evening” in “Cruel Summer,” the bicep kiss in “The Man,” the Lover house and the Folklore cabin, the heart hands in “Fearless,” the orbs in “Willow,” the snake hiss welcoming us to the Reputation era, the shattered stage in “Delicate,” the costume glass cages in “Look What You Made Me Do,” the hat giveaway in “22,” the “snow” falling from the ceiling during “All Too Well (10-Minute Version),” the “DON’T call me kid, DON’T call me baby” in “Illicit Affairs,” the haunting intro to “My Tears Ricochet,” the golf clubs and bicycles in “Blank Space,” the pyro in “Bad Blood,” the introduction of The Tortured Poets Department, the stage dive after the surprise songs, the giant Taylor in “Anti-Hero,” and the purring cat in “Karma.”
These small yet significant moments are how I will remember The Eras Tour.
13. The Story Of Us
Between the first show of The Eras Tour and the last, I sang my little heart out at multiple Taylor Swift dance parties; attended Taylor-Con (which changed its name to the Celebration and Dance Party for, uh, legal reasons); went on a Taylor Swift-themed cruise (and learned I am not a cruise person); traded dozens of friendship bracelets; bought a re-sale ticket for the 1989 announcement concert; and spent enough money on merch to keep Olivia, Meredith, and Benjamin stocked up on the fanciest cat food for months.
In every experience, the same questions would come up: have you been to The Eras Tour? Which shows did you go to? What were your surprise songs? But I never got tired of answering the questions, or asking them.
The Eras Tour made strangers feel connected; we would laugh at the same inside jokes (“stars, do u like dem”), come up with “clown” theories, and admire each other’s deep-cut outfits. Long live all the magic Taylor Swift made on The Eras Tour. It will be remembered.
