“It’s been a long time coming:” Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour

By Gabe Kanae

“It’s been a long time coming” was the opening words to Taylor Swift’s first tour since the record-breaking ‘reputation Stadium Tour’ in 2018. With four new albums and two new re-recorded albums, the concept of Taylor’s return to stadiums was highly anticipated and conceptually overwhelming, but when tickets were released and instantly sold out, success had already been present.

Opening night took place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ on March 17, 2023, and fans ran to their seats when the legendary song “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesly Gore hit the speakers and an intimidating countdown appeared on the stage’s massive screens. Choosing the song “You Don’t Own Me” was a very specific choice, considering the recent project that entailed Taylor Swift re-recording and owning her previous music masters that were deceitfully re-sold behind her back.

Minutes prior to her first live show in years and the ones following, a wardrobe-dressed Taylor arrived backstage in a janitor’s cart so she could avoid ruining the aspect of surprise.

As soon as the prologue audio compilation that included clips from each of Taylor’s legendary eras, the opening song ‘Miss America and the Heartbreak Prince’ was sung for the first time and you could feel the intensity of every fan’s mind being blown. It is nearly impossible to capture and explain all of the emotions that can be felt during Taylor’s three hour and fifteen minute performance that consists of 44 songs, and it’s an experience that you need to have in person to truly appreciate.

What I can say is that Taylor’s work ethic and admiration to her fans is not only present but also proven by how much exertion she executes.

The show has no breaks. The breaks that are supplied are used by Taylor to do costume changes and despite that, she still does sometimes do magical costume transformations on stage.

The majority of the wardrobe she has on tour are a mixture of expensive custom designer outfits that express the visual elements of the musical era of the show they are present in. From shoes to dresses to body suits, Taylor’s thought process in making sure to make every era seem represented is clear.

The biggest con in Taylor’s set list is the fact that her debut, self-titled album gets no room in the Eras Tour. The only times that a song from every era of her career has been played was on opening night and the first night in Vegas, when she selected debut songs to be the surprise songs.

The surprise song is a section toward the end of the show where Taylor picks one song to play on guitar and one to play on piano. The song is different every night and it is impossible to predict what will be played. Taylor makes it clear that once a song is played, it will not be a surprise song again unless she messes it up or it is a part of the Midnights album.

Fans love the surprise songs, but also hate them. Having surprise songs makes every show unique but it also means some fan favorite songs have to be sacrificed. Every show, Taylor Swift fans take to social media to express their emotional pain that one of their favorite songs of hers was played when