It’s Been A Long Time Coming — The Eras Tour Experience
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has been around for what seems like forever in the best way possible. Going to a show is an experience in and of itself, but the culture around it — the livestreams, Mastermind, friendship bracelets, Eras Tour screenings — has been something else entirely. It’s been over a year, and no one in Swift’s community is sick of it. I was lucky enough to get tickets to one of her shows in London, and the experience was so incredible I had to get it all down in writing. Below is my experience, how I even became a Swiftie in the first place, and other bits about the culture around this Tour.
The (Ticketmaster) Great War
I have been a Swiftie since 2019, though I had been aware of her long before then, thanks to her hit singles. It was Lover that led me to explore the rest of her discography — I was completely hooked on Red, 1989, and Fearless, with the releases of folklore and evermore in the following year only fueling my love for her music. She’d found out how to put my feelings into words and had weaved them into a song with more layers than I could comprehend when I first heard them. By the time she started the Taylor’s Version journey in 2021 with Fearless (Taylor’s Version), I knew that her music seemed to understand me in a way that no other music had. I was fully invested — I actually started collecting her albums physically and, most importantly, looked forward to the release date of and pre-ordered Midnights. One album and two Taylor’s Versions later, she announced the Eras Tour.
I had never seen Swift live; this was my first chance to see her on stage, and it had to be for such a grand, very in demand, show. My pre-order of Midnights gave me access to the UK pre-sale, which made getting tickets significantly easier than the general sale would have. It did not stop me being anxious in the days leading up to it as I had spent months watching the fallout of the Ticketmaster USA sale. By some miracle, in July 2023, I managed to get four general admission standing tickets for Wembley Stadium on August 16th, 2024. I was “in”, Ticketmaster said.
It had indeed been a long time coming.
The Eras Tour. Yes, Actually.
One album and two Taylor’s Versions later, I was in Wembley Stadium for the 5th night of the Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium. You think it sinks in when you see the Eras Tour banner on the screen inside the stadium, bracelets from other fans on your arm, but it doesn’t. It feels like it does, because it is evidence that you’re at the Eras Tour. But it’s barely 4pm. There’s almost 3 hours until the main act, so we stand for a little bit. When I looked behind me, the stands sparkled as the sun hit all of the shimmery outfits of the rest of the fans. You can never really grasp the capacity of a stadium, even when you’re in there, and this stadium has been sold out eight times for this show. We were certainly in for an incredible event, including the openers (Thank you Holly Humberstone and Paramore — very demure, very mindful).
You then think it sinks in when Applause plays. It’s the song that plays before the clock comes up at every show, so it was the cue for the anticipation to weigh on us even more. I have never prayed for the song to go by faster, because I knew what was coming next.
A clock that usually indicates that it’s too late to submit your Mastermind entry was now an indication that, in 2 minutes and 23 seconds, the main act would be starting. Another wave of realisation hits you when it appears on screen, alongside You Don’t Own Me, but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, though you think it must have by now.
The crowd erupts in cheers when the countdown ends and the intro begins; another wave of realisation hits as anticipation builds through the intro. You think that now, surely, it has sunk in. You’ve finally realised you’re at the Eras Tour — you can feel it all around you, so surely your brain must know that by now? You’re here, and the anticipation weighs more than it ever has.
Then you see her, and it all lifts at once.
It’s been a long time coming.
I didn’t think I would cry. Like I said, I knew what I was there for. I’d seen the movie, almost memorised both setlists, watched multiple live streams, lost multiple surprise songs — I did all of it for months. But in that moment, seeing Taylor Swift right in front of me, singing a song from the album that ultimately led me there in the first place, made me feel an emotion I’m sure only she could put into words. My fifteen-year-old self jumped out, excited to see the person that led her through the most ‘serious’ heartbreaks and changes she’d ever seen, and that added to the excitement I felt that day as my present self. I sang along as well as I could, sobbing in between the words, and tried my best to memorise the feeling.
There was something so special about the show being right in front of you, the music vibrating through the floor and right into your body, the visuals being bigger than they ever could have dreamed of being on an Instagram livestream, and Taylor Swift herself being on that stage, singing to a crowd of 92,000 people that you were a part of. How many times I’d seen the show didn’t matter — I had never felt it, and it was hitting me all at once, all through the Cruel Summer bridge and beyond.
And those visuals really were striking — Swift brings each era to life with the way they’re presented, with the perfect colours and choreography for each one. The transitions between each era, although changed for the Europe leg, made the setlist flow seamlessly from one era to another, even when you’d think they wouldn’t fit together. I had always wondered why Swift ordered the eras in the way she did, and seeing it live confirmed that the main motivation may have been pacing.
(Also, the purple/lavender guitar is real! The more you know.)
The Fearless era followed, and it confirmed that there is pure serotonin in its intro. Before I saw it live, the song Fearless was attached to someone that turned out to be unhealthy for me. Even though it had been at least two years, I never managed to take the song back and make it mine again. Hearing it live, alongside the other two songs from the set, finally brought the song back to me. What Swift says in the intro to Lover is right — after the show, you will only associate the songs with that night.
Another thing the livestreams didn’t get across is how she makes every crowd feel special. You hear it so many times on the streams — “-city name-, you’re making me feel excellent right now!” — but when it’s said to you, even if you know it’s scripted, it really does feel like it is meant for that crowd. I fully believe it is, too! Swift clearly loves performing, and likely appreciates every single person in all the stadiums, every night.
During the Red era, in the speech before All Too Well (10 Minute Version), she talks about how this tour takes her through memories of the tours she has gone on in the past, asking people if anyone there saw her at the Red tour back in 2012. After a group of people cheer, she asks who’s seeing her for the first time, and I join in on the cheers this time. The volume surprises Swift, who smiles and says: “How wonderful it is to make new friends!”
I’d never heard her say that on a stream before.
I’m sure she had, and I’d just missed it; on the pitch of Wembley Stadium, that didn’t matter to me. It was a special moment, and I’d be even happier if every night of this tour got to experience it. Every interaction she had with the crowd, Swift somehow made a concert in a stadium feel like an intimate event between friends, like a party with the best people you know.
Then came Speak Now, with my only complaint being that its set is so short. I knew she’d be wearing the champagne dress — what it’s called on Mastermind — because of what the dancers were wearing. It is such a beautiful set and it’s unfortunate that it’s so short, especially with all the hits the album has. However, at least it has a place on the setlist (looking at you, Taylor Swift) even if it is a fleeting moment.
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Before you know it, Swift takes you from sunset into night with the next era — Reputation.
I’ll admit I was ‘clowning’ for her to announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version) sometime in London, if not during my show — spoiler alert, she didn’t — and I definitely wasn’t the only one. Depending on who you ask, it is the re-recording people have been looking forward to the most, and for good reason. 2016 drama aside, it is one of her most loved albums among Swifties. Its Eras set is perfect, with seamless transitions and choreography — even though it is composed of just ‘local’ songs, it’s the perfect set. The Delicate choreography holds a special place in my heart because of the shattering stage — in a way, from here on out, we’re going into her more serious and emotional songs.
That starts with the folklore and evermore set, taking us further into the night and through more serious emotions now. Somehow, I had not cried since the beginning, but marjorie absolutely broke me when listening to it live. I cried more than at the beginning, and it was sad, but it was cathartic. You go through so many emotions during this show! I will say, cutting tolerate it and ’tis the damn season and the 1 was slightly criminal — they were very good sets — but I will happily take it because of the set we got as a result.
The 1989 set is definitely my favourite of the show. Once again, it’s just the singles of the era — that’s what makes it so great. The entire stadium shakes as everyone starts dancing when Shake It Off comes on, even if it’s the only song they know, even if it’s just a ‘local’ song, because it is just that good. After the perfect transition between Wildest Dreams and Bad Blood, and after the Lover house was burnt down — we move onto the only set that isn’t in the movie.
The Tortured Poets Department was released just over four months before my show; at the time I was convinced we wouldn’t get a dedicated set for it. I watched the first show of the Europe leg on a stream, just to make sure, and it turns out I was wrong. Most of us were, and I am so glad we were. It has the most beautiful visuals of the show (and perhaps the most theatrics) with the I Can Do It With A Broken Heart set being a personal highlight. The theatrics beforehand showing how she gets ready to perform despite everything, the call backs to the rest of the show with the choreography — it’s all perfect. It’s a message that resonates with all of us — at some point, we’ve all had to do something whether we’re shattering inside or not, no matter how hard it is.
With the next set, I felt myself get anxious. I’d already ‘lost’ my favourite surprise songs — Sweeter Than Fiction, you’re the loss of my life — so I didn’t know what to expect, and that’s kind of the point of the segment. When I got tickets and met other people going to the various London dates, we all joked that one of us was going to get hit with London Boy, and none of us really wanted it at the time. I liked it, but it certainly wasn’t my favourite from Lover. She made it to the second set of London shows without having played the song even once, and I had completely forgotten about it.
You can guess which song she played on guitar!
But I didn’t care. It was special — she didn’t mash it up with anything, and she changed one of the lyrics to “I enjoy playing Wembley”, which was wonderful. It was a song no other show had heard — and that no other show will hear, most likely — which makes it all the more special to the crowd at our show. The next surprise songs, the ones on piano, were both repeats — Dear John and Sad Beautiful Tragic — but them having been heard before didn’t make it any less special to me. In the end, I’d say I got pretty lucky with my surprise songs, and I recorded my reactions to both. Honestly, despite being anxious about it initially, I think I would’ve been happy with anything. After that heartbreaking mashup, Swift playfully taps the piano keys to close the set and dives into the stage.
Onto Midnights, and I have to admit that by this point I was exhausted. I found myself counting how many songs we had left until the end and shuffling around so my feet would stop hurting, but this isn’t because the set was boring at all (we even got the debut of the ‘Moonstone’ bodysuit!) I had just been standing for hours, so naturally my body was about ready to go home. Through the last songs, I willed it to stay put and use up all its energy to enjoy the rest of the show. And I did! Especially Karma — like Shake It Off, it changes the energy in the stadium one last time before the confetti falls. Once it does, it’s over.
The Alchemy starts to play as you try to catch whatever confetti you can. You take a couple of pictures as the song moves on to Clara Bow, and you realise it’s over. It doesn’t really hit you then — you’re far too tired to process — but when you look at the evidence a couple of days after, you will realise that you were there, and you loved every second of it.
Post Eras Depression
It was the morning after that it hit me that it was over. In a way, I was relieved — I’d been so stressed about the logistics that I was just happy that it all went well without too many setbacks. But on the other hand, I desperately wanted to go at least one more time. I didn’t (and I won’t) but there was a point when I would’ve paid almost any price. To cope with it, I went through my videos and photos, I talked about it to friends and other Swifties, and started writing this recap of the whole experience. Like I said, I wanted to bottle the emotion — and still do — and I couldn’t think of a better way of doing that than writing it down.
In the days, even weeks after, you look at the evidence you collected. The bracelets you traded, the photos and videos you took, the confetti (if you could reach it), the merch (if you got some), the light-up wristband (if you kept it). With all of that, you’re sure you didn’t imagine the whole thing. You’re also sure that you would relive it if you could, and that a night that special has no price on it. Every time you hear any of the songs — especially Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince — you remember the show as chills flow through your body. It is a night you’re sure you’ll never forget — you’ll hold onto it as long as you can. What had been such a long time coming is suddenly behind you, and all you have are bracelets and a light-up wristband to show for it.
What had been such a long time coming has now passed, but you know it meant everything to you.
It was rare, you were there, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
BONUS — The Best Outfits I Spotted
(I didn’t get pictures, so use your imagination)
- “You’re obsessive and crazy” x “You’re gay” matching shirts.
- Dads in satin Eras Tour PJs.
- Girls in dresses made out of bracelet beads, carrying bundles of bracelets on carabiners on their hips, sorted by era.
- Sun (Fearless) x Moon (Midnights) matching outfits.
- TTPD lyrics shirt, in the style of the TTPD Dress.
- Devil(s roll the dice) x Angel(s roll their eyes) matching outfits.
- Bejeweled bodysuit and boots (+multicolour Karma jacket).
- Evermore yellow dress and green cape, spotted twice.
- Lover x Reputation matching cowboy hats.
- Folklore green fairy.
- Champagne problems bride.
- MILF (Man I Love Folklore) shirt.
