Over the course of the past two years, Taylor Swift has performed “The Eras Tour” 149 times across five continents, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time. Starting in Glendale, Arizona, and ending in Vancouver, British Columbia, an estimated 10.7 million people have attended the tour. But what is it like to actually experience one of the shows?
When you hear the phrase “a Taylor Swift concert,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably a bunch of screaming teenage girls dressed in sequins. But in all honesty, there’s much more to it.
This past weekend, I attended one of the shows in Indianapolis alongside my aunt. And to say the least, it was an experience. From buying tickets to actually attending the concert, a lot of planning, preparation, and energy was put into the entire weekend. Considering that Indianapolis is a four-hour drive from Dover, we decided it would be best to leave sometime around eight on Saturday morning. Starting our drive, both my aunt and I were filled with excitement. For the first couple hours of the trip, we discussed what outfits we hoped to see Swift wearing, what songs we wanted to hear, and most importantly, our game plan.
With 70,000 people traveling to see the concert, we knew things would be extremely busy. My aunt and I assumed that traffic would be a disaster and we would end up behind schedule. However, we could not have been more wrong. Even though the drive was not the most exciting part of the trip, it definitely wasn’t the worst. We surprisingly came across barely any traffic, giving us much more time before the show than what we had originally planned.
After the restless four hours in the car, my aunt and I finally arrived in Indianapolis. Getting off the exit, our hotel could very easily be seen. With a massive Taylor Swift plastered on the front of the building, we knew that the hotel was beyond prepared for the weekend. We parked the car in the hotel parking garage, and went to see if our room was ready. Despite being three hours early, we were surprisingly able to check-in.
Considering we left at a decent time that morning and stopped only once to get gas along the way, both my aunt and I were very hungry. So, we asked the very helpful people at the front desk for food recommendations and began walking. Leaving the hotel and walking down the street, we were immediately surrounded by music. Almost every restaurant was blasting Swift’s discography, which made the entire environment feel so much more exciting.
After walking for several blocks and wandering around, we finally decided to stop at a pizza place. We spent an hour eating pizza and salad while people-watching. My aunt and I were amazed by everyone’s glittering, bedazzled outfits, which filled the streets with sparkles. When we were finished, we gathered our things and headed back to the hotel. Walking out the door, we were glad we came when we did, as a line had started to form out the door.
My aunt and I left for the stadium around four, giving us plenty of time to get inside, find our seats, and wander around. As we approached Lucas Oil Stadium, we could not help but admire everyone else and their outfits. Some people based their attire on their favorite song, while others tried their best to recreate a music video look. No matter what approach was taken, sequins and glitter were incorporated into almost every outfit, adding the perfect touch. I myself wore a blue sequin skirt and a white t-shirt with sparkling letters that read, “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” the title of one of my favorite songs. Not only were sparkles commonly seen amongst many of the looks, there was also a surplus of friendship bracelets. Almost every attendee had their wrists stacked with beaded bracelets, each with a different saying on it.
This tradition, started on “The Eras Tour”, was inspired by a line from “You’re on Your Own, Kid.” The bridge of the song mentions, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it. You’ve got no reason to be afraid.” Once the tour started, fans began to take this lyric literally and began to make friendship bracelets to trade with one another at each show. The bracelets typically have one of Swift’s song titles or a favorite lyric on them, but no matter what, each string of beads is made with the intention to be traded.
After waiting in line for about half an hour, we finally made it into the stadium. Stepping through the gates, we could feel the excitement in the air. My aunt and I spent about twenty minutes wandering around, eventually finding the location of our seats. We stared at the empty stage in amazement as behind-the-scenes clips of some of Swift’s music videos played on the screens around us. We stayed seated for only a few moments longer and then got up to trade some bracelets and find something to drink.
While many people came prepared with plenty of beaded friendship bracelets, some went above and beyond. After getting some water, my aunt and I found some people to trade with. Enthusiastically, the two girls we had approached turned to us with binder rings filled with what appeared to be hundreds of bracelets. One of the girls asked me what my favorite album was (to which I replied 1989), and in response, handed me a ring of bracelets, each one with a different song title from the album beaded on them. Taking a “New Romantics” bracelet, I offered the same girl a friendship bracelet from my wrists. After thanking each other, we went our separate ways, and my aunt and I headed back to our seats.
Around seven, it was time for our show’s opener, Gracie Abrams, to take the stage. Just this past summer, Abrams released her album, The Secret of Us. Several of the album’s songs, such as “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Close To You,” quickly gained traction, resulting in a rise of popularity for both Ms. Abrams and her music. Opening with her song, “Risk,” Gracie Abrams put on quite the show while performing music from her entire discography. “I’m so grateful to be in the same place as all of you,” Abrams said before finishing her set. “This is the most magical tour to ever exist.”
Only an hour after Gracie Abrams finished, it was time for Swift to make her entrance. As a countdown appeared on the stadium screens, the lights dimmed and the crowd erupted in cheers. Suspense set in, and the clock hit zero: the cue for the show to begin. A few dancers emerged from backstage and began their routine, eventually making room for Ms. Swift and her big entrance. Once Swift made her first appearance of the night, the crowd went wild, roaring with excitement. Opening the show in a tangerine variation of her sparkling bodysuit, Taylor Swift performed several songs from her 2019 album, Lover. From there, Swift put on a matching, glittery blazer before performing a few more songs and pulling out an acoustic guitar.
While the first set of the night was incredible, the greatness did not stop there. For the next two hours, Swift performed twenty-five more songs with nine costume changes before reaching her portion of the show dedicated to her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department. As she emerged from underneath the stage, the entire stadium began to shout excitedly. The following twenty minutes were full of just as much screaming, but by no means did it compare to what was about to come.
“So, the acoustic section,” Swift said as she began to strum her guitar. “This is a tradition that I started on ‘The Eras Tour’ because I was really trying to challenge myself to play lots of different songs from lots of different albums. And so, it’s always different every night,” Swift went on. “…and it’s really a challenge that I look forward to because I try to guess what you might want to hear,” she concluded as the crowd cheered. From there, Swift began to play “The Prophecy,” eventually switching over to “This Love,” which received tons of praise from the audience. Once she finished, Taylor Swift made her way over to the opposite side of the stage, and sat down at her piano. Without an introduction or a speech, Swift began to play a fan favorite, “Maroon,” which she mashed up with another beloved track, “Cowboy Like Me.” As the final notes were played, the stadium erupted in applause, and Ms. Swift dove into an opening that led underneath the stage, preparing for the final set.
Within the final half hour of the show, fans got to hear several songs from Swift’s 2022 album, “Midnights.” Around 11:15, the final song ended, and the lights in the stadium flickered back on as confetti shot from the stage. In a state of wonderment, my aunt and I turned to look at each other, speechless. After another moment, we quickly began to head for the escalator, hoping not to get caught up in the crowd leaving the field.
Making our way back to the hotel, we traded bracelets with a few more girls both on the street and in the elevator. Once we finally got back to our room, it was only a matter of minutes before we crashed. Having had an early start to the day, we were exhausted, and fell asleep just after midnight.
The next morning, we woke up to the sun shining through the curtains bright and early at seven in the morning. Considering that we went to bed without eating anything after the concert, we were starving. So, we got dressed and headed out, walking a few blocks to a nearby breakfast place.
As we sat down, my aunt and I talked about the overall concert experience from the night before, and of course, I had to ask her the key question. What did you think of your first Taylor Swift concert? Without even thinking, she looked at me and said, “It was fantastic.” From there, we went on to talk about the interactions we had, as well as the whole experience in general. “It’s crazy getting to see how nice and helpful all the people were…like, it’s refreshing to see everyone trading bracelets with each other. You can’t beat that,” my aunt said.
We continued to eat breakfast sandwiches, and went on to discuss our opinions on all the outfits Swift wore, as well as how lucky we were when it came to surprise songs. I compared the events of the evening to what I experienced when I saw the tour last year in Pittsburgh. And to be honest, it was just as amazing, if not even better.
In the end, my aunt and I both agreed that “The Eras Tour” is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With the concert spanning eighteen years of music, consisting of forty-six songs, sixteen costume changes, and a run time of three and a half hours, it’s truly something to see. Not only is the tour a celebration of Swift’s career and a testament to her ambition, it’s also a celebration of the fans. Those who admire Taylor Swift for her ability to put feelings into words can very easily see that they are not alone. The shows have given a new meaning to the “concert experience” and have given so many individuals countless unforgettable memories.
