The Eras Tour
The Eras Tour wrapped up last night after almost two years of shows. I can’t really put into words how I feel. It’s certainly bittersweet. I am so grateful for this show, that I was able to see it in person twice, for all the grainy live streams and videos on socials, and for the community it created. I’ve never been a part of something that has brought people together in the way this has. It’s remarkable and I am forever grateful to be able to witness this firsthand.
I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan since 2013 when I took Girl Child to see the Red Tour. I saw the Eras Tour twice in 2023 and wanted to make note of the concerts because they were so magical. If you’re not a Taylor Swift fan you’re probably rolling your eyes, but there’s a reason we’re all obsessed.
The first show we saw was in Glendale, second night. For those not in the SwiftVerse, Glendale was the opening city of the Eras Tour. We had tickets for the second night and made sure to stay off social media after the first show, so our show was a total surprise. IT WAS EPIC! I took my daughter and it was our third TS show together. Buying concerts tickets from Ticketmaster is nothing short of a nightmare and you basically get what you are lucky enough to grab and pay for before they are sold to someone else. I won’t rehash the fiasco that was getting tickets for this show. We ended up with nosebleeds on the side of the stage.
I don’t love nosebleeds, I’d certainly rather be closer to the stage, but the steepness of the rows makes me uneasy. Seeing the backstage action was cool though. Because it was the first weekend and the show hadn’t blown up on social media yet we didn’t know what we were seeing until after the fact. We saw the cleaning cart, which is what Taylor Swift is wheeled to the stage in. It seemed out of place and super random to be wheeling towards the stage. I grabbed a crappy picture to confirm I was actually seeing a cleaning cart. We also saw people walking backstage in these pink/orange jump suits. In my mind, I was like why are the ghostbusters here? Once the show started I realized they were the dancers. It would have been cooler to see them when I knew who they were but it was still cool to see. The downside to being on the side of the stage is that we missed most of the show visuals which are on a screen at the end of the stage. The screen on the side of the screen only showed Taylor Swift. It was still epic, don’t get me wrong, but we were bummed to be missing out on a part of the show.
A few weeks prior to the Eras Tour a friend died and her funeral was two days before this show. The mix of pain and joy in life is wild. I’m morning the loss of a best friend while simultaneously watching the opening weekend of the Eras Tour with my daughter and friends. Talk about the highest of highs and lowest of lows in the same moment.
Being that we were attending a tour spanning all of Taylor’s albums, we wore outfits that matched our favorite eras. I opted for black and sequins for Reputation and Girl Child opted for a dress and boots for Debut. And we drew our cat eyeliner sharp enough to {insert lyrics from Vigilante Shit}.
Taylor ended up performing for 3.5 hours. Probably around the 3 hour mark I was like is this ever going to end? Her concerts have always been longer than the average but 3.5 was wild.
The show was so epic that I immediately wanted to go again but get better seats. And I wanted to see it while not so deep in grief. As soon as videos and stories hit social media the show started blowing up and the Eras Tour madness began to grow. I knew if I wanted to see it again I’d have to get resale tickets ASAP because the prices would continue to drive up as more shows were held and the excitement grew. Within days we grabbed tickets to LA for night 3. I’ll be honest, buying resale tickets felt a little frivolous and as resale prices continued to climb I questioned selling my tickets. I’m so glad I didn’t because those 24 hours in LA are a core memory and worth every single penny.
Flying to LA to see the Eras Tour rounded out the experience. Shortly after we got to the airport in Tucson we noticed others in Taylor Swift shirts and everyone started to congregate. A young Swiftie came up to our group and offered us all friendship bracelets. (If you’ve not been following the tour, in one song Taylor Swift says to make the friendship bracelets and from that moment on Swifties make bracelets and share them with strangers.) There were several mothers traveling with their daughters and it was so sweet to see. Everything in LA was Taylor Swift themed and so fun!
We took a morning flight and arrived midday. I think we took a nap before the show which was obviously glorious. My biggest concern with the show was getting back to the hotel afterwards. 60,000+ people trying to leave one place at the same time creates insane gridlock. Our hotel wasn’t that far from the stadium but it wasn’t in the safest area to walk through, particularly at night. When we checked in, we found out our hotel was offering a roundtrip bus. The concierge told us the bus would be parked away from the arena so we could easily get out. Great…take my money.
When it was time to go to the concert, we boarded the bus with all the other Swifties and the excitement continued to grow. The bus dropped us off close to the stadium and the driver explained where we would be picked up afterwards. We accidentally purchased club level seats for the show (SCORE!) so getting into the stadium was a breeze. I didn’t even know what club meant, which would explain why we didn’t know what we purchased. Club seats have VIP entrances, their own bathrooms, bars, food, and merchandise, so that was fun. Except not the merchandise. The line was insane every second of the evening. We grabbed a drink and settled into our awesome seats and obviously made friends with people around us.
One of my absolute favorite parts of the Eras Tour is the opening of the show. A countdown appears on the screen just before Taylor comes out and the energy in the stadium is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my life. Truly magical. And of course, the stadium loses it the second Taylor appears and then we sing together for the next 3.5 hours. After having gone through this experience twice, I can tell you 3 hours is my ideal concert time. Maybe 2.5 – 3. 3.5 was just a little too long. My vocal cords can’t hang for 3.5 hours nor can my feet. The fact that Taylor, her dancers, and band perform night after night confirms they are at the top of their game. An epic feat of endurance and talent.
After the show ended we headed to the spot where our bus was supposed to pick us up. Except the bus wasn’t where it said it was supposed to be nor was it the bus we were expecting. Eventually we found a row of charter buses that said they were picking us up. It was super unorganized and we were all a little nervous to get on but also happy to have found some kind of transportation. Eventually the buses started working their way out of the gridlock but the whole experience was strange. There was literally a moment where I was like are we being kidnapped? We seemed to not be going towards our hotel and the driver would randomly stop in the middle of the street, get out of the bus, and go talk to other bus drivers who were doing the same. Eventually our bus started making all kinds of noise and beeping. The driver stoped the bus, opened the door, and told us all to get off because the bus is broken. Um, what? We ended up cramming into the other buses and eventually made our way back to out hotel. I have never been so excited to exit a vehicle in my life. I’m also glad I wasn’t kidnapped. It was such a strange experience.
24 Taylor Swift themed hours was magical. One thing I loved about traveling for a concert of this size is everyone was wearing their TS merchandise or friendship bracelets and was sparking up conversations. I’ve never talked to so many strangers in my life. Standing in the security line at LAX we made friends with everyone around us, discussing which songs we loved most, how many times we’ve seen TS, where we are coming from, how we got tickets. It was so fun. We ended up on the same flight as many of the same people as the day before and were able to hear from the mom/daughter duos about their experience. It was such an incredible experience. I’ve never been a part of something like this before and it was so fun.
Yesterday was the final show of the Eras Tour. I didn’t have tickets but watched it live on YouTube. Shout out to everyone who was live steaming so those of us at home could watch it with you. It was a beautiful show and watching it live was the perfect way to close out these last two years. Thank you to Taylor and her team for creating something so magical.
