Taylor Swift

After creating and performing a show that lasted over three hours and contained 44 songs, Taylor Swift has reigned her 2019 lyric true, as she sings, “I promise that...
Taylor Swift : Live
Taylor Swift : Live

After creating and performing a show that lasted over three hours and contained 44 songs, Taylor Swift has reigned her 2019 lyric true, as she sings, “I promise that you’ll never find another like me!” Swift has proven so many times that she is one of the best in the industry, but ‘The Eras’ Tour is really just the cherry on top of all of it. No one is doing it like her. No one. At Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Friday, March 24th, Swift put on a show that lasted over three hours and kept the 70,000 person audience hanging on her every word for the entire time. All 70,000 people were simply being held in the palm of her hand. Everyone that you saw on stage got a break, the dancers, the back-up singers, the band, but not Swift. She never took more than a two minute rest for an outfit change. The stamina and endurance that she has shown for this tour is simply insane. This tour is unremarkable, there really are not proper words to describe how amazing and well put together it is.

Swift’s show appealed to everyone, all walks of life, all ages, genders, everything. Everyone in that stadium had their eyes on her the whole time, anticipating her next move. Everyone in attendance also received a light up bracelet as they walked through the door, which was synced to the beat of the songs played, changing colors throughout the entire show. There were even points in the show where the bracelets all synced up to form certain shapes in the crowd, such as pink hearts during “Lover”, and snakes slithering through the crowd during “Look What You Made Me Do”. If there is something worth thinking of to make the show even better, trust me, Swift has thought of it and brought it to life.

A space so special, warm, and safe has very obviously been created for her fans, new and old. All throughout the venue, even outdoors, fans were trading friendship bracelets with each other that they had made, as a nod to Swift’s 2022 release, “You’re On Your Own Kid”. One kind girl even came up to me at the barricade of the photo pit and gave me a bracelet she had made. Swift’s fans are really like none other. There were fans hugging everywhere you looked, many taking photos together and reuniting for the first time in years. There really seemed to be magic in the air during this special night in Vegas.

Taylor Swift

After GAYLE (QRO photos) and beabadoobee (QRO photos) had graced the stage as the opening acts, it was not long until Swift took the stage at a mere 8pm. “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore began playing in the stadium as a timer appeared on the screen, and everyone began running to their seats. “You Don’t Own Me” being the pre-show song was quite a nice touch on Swift’s end, as she is in the process of re-recording her catalog of music so that she is in ownership of it. There really is nothing that she did not think of for this tour. As the timer neared the end, the lights went out and deafening screams erupted from within Allegiant Stadium. It was the time everyone had been waiting for.

Appearing out from under a blanket of breathtaking tapestries, the first words out of Swift’s mouth, on her first tour in five years, were, “It’s been a long time coming / It’s you and me, that’s my whole world,” making it clear from the very first song that this tour was created for the fans/with the fans in mind. Everyone anticipating hearing “Cruel Summer” live got what they wished for very early into the night, as Swift even paused before embarking into the fast-paced bridge, announcing, “We have reached the first bridge of the night” before having a sea of over 60,000 people scream the words back to her.

Taking a quick break to soak in the roar of screams, Swift did a witty transition into her hit “The Man”, saying that the audience was making her feel “powerful,” and like she was the first woman to ever headline Allegiant Stadium, “but mark my words Vegas, I will not be the last.” She went on to say, “Basically what I’m trying to say is you’re making me feel like the man,” exclaiming before draping herself in a sparkly suit jacket and proceeding to play “The Man” in the peak of the Lover era. We soon moved into other songs such as “You Need To Calm Down” and “The Archer” from her 2019 album Lover, seemingly to try to make up for the loss of “Lover Fest,” which was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. The sea of light up bracelets, screams, tears, and glitter all made it very obvious that we were finally at a Taylor Swift show again. With colors of the rainbow soaring through the crowd on the light up bracelets during “You Need To Calm Down”, how could you not feel welcomed and at home?

Soon enough it came time for the Fearless era, as the house that we saw in the “Lover” music video appeared on the screen, consisting of a different colored room for each era, and the yellow, Fearless era room flashed onto the screen. Swift skipped out in a gold sparkly dress, playing a guitar hand-bejeweled by her parents, as she played the title track off of her 2008 album Fearless, making this the first time this song has been officially on her tour setlist since the ‘Speak Now’ World Tour in 2011. She played smash hits from this era such as “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story,” and even held up a hand heart at one point, paying homage to her younger self who basically claimed that as a staple pose. The Fearless era was extra special on this tour, as it was one of the few times that all of her band members and back-up singers joined her on the main stage, including some who have been with her since the Fearless era in 2008, such as guitarist Paul Sidoti and bassist Amos Heller.

Up next was the evermore era, which might have had one of the most shocking openers of the night, with screams filling the stadium once the opening notes of “‘Tis The Damn Season” began. Disputing the internet claims that she does not like the evermore album, Swift actually played five songs off of the record, and made sure to let the audience know that she actually loves it. She channeled her inner witch during “Willow”, as she wore a dark hooded cape and threw around globes made to look like fireballs, then continued the woodsy vibe as she sat at a moss covered piano for a beautiful rendition of “Champagne Problems”. After a long and drawn out applause at the end of “Champagne Problems”, Swift was left speechless, explaining how she was “petting the moss” on her piano because she was in so much shock over the amount of love that the crowd was showing her, which was so deserved.

Taylor Swift

Another highlight of the evermore era was Swift’s beautiful performance of “Marjorie”, an ode to her late grandmother. Her grandmother’s backing vocals filled the stadium as Swift sang, “All your closets of backlogged dreams / And how you left them all to me,” a very beautiful full circle moment, as Swift has said how her grandmother dreamed of being a singer. This performance led to tears and chills from many audience members, as it was definitely one of the most special performances of the night. Swift broke out everything for the evermore era, even bringing a massive dinner table on stage and setting it, in reference to the line, “Lay the table with the fancy shit,” while a male dancer watched and sat across the table from her for the performance of “Tolerate It”. So much passion was put into this performance, as Swift even climbed onto the table and began singing directly to the person sitting across from her, and even standing on the table to belt out the final chorus.

The vibes changed very quickly from the whimsical evermore era, as a snake appeared on the screen, signifying the beginning of the reputation era. Fans roared in excitement as Swift started the era with “…Ready For It?”, quickly transporting everyone back to 2018 again. While she sang hits such as “Delicate” and “Don’t Blame Me”, her “Look What You Made Me Do” performance definitely took the medal for this era. During “LWYMMD”, all of Swift’s back-up dancers were trapped in glass boxes, each dressed as Swift from a previous era. This seemed to be a nod to the 2020 evermore lyric, “He’s got my past frozen behind glass / But I’ve got me,” which is just such a beautifully thought out full circle moment. Towards the end of the song, Swift even rose up on a platform once all of the “old Taylors” escaped their boxes, as they all attempted to fight and claw their way to her, a recreation from the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. Is there anything that Swift does not think of?

We entered the whimsical world of Speak Now, but only briefly. Swift graced the stage wearing a massive sparkly ballgown, a subtle replica of the same one she wore on the ‘Speak Now’ World Tour in 2011, as she performed fan-favorite, “Enchanted”. We soon transitioned back to 2012 with the Red era, as a red box was rolled out onto stage, quickly crushing the dreams of fans who had hoped to hear more of Speak Now.

Soon enough, Swift appeared back on stage, in an almost identical replica of her outfit from the “22” music video, except this time her shirt said “A LOT going on at the moment,” instead of the previous, “Not a lot going on at the moment,” as she seemed to address the amazing whirlwind that her life has become since 2012. As she made her way to the end of the massive catwalk while performing “22,” she took the fedora off of her head and handed it to one lucky fan in the audience, a subtle nod to an old tradition from the 2013 ‘Red’ Tour. Swift went on to play smash hits from the Red era such as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble”, before creating one of the most beautiful and cathartic moments of the night, as she did “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”, with just an acoustic guitar. It seemed as though all 70,000 people were belting every line back to Swift in these magical ten minutes. Tiny pieces of white confetti even fell to the ground during the outro of the song, bringing the song to life as Swift sang, “I still remember the first fall of snow / And how it glistened as it fell.” This was another point of the show that simply covered my body in chills.

Up next we had the Quarantine era album, folklore. Swift appeared in a beautiful, whimsical gown, laying on a moss covered cabin at the head of the stage, as she began a majestical performance of fan-favorite, “Invisible String”. Before embarking into “Betty”, Swift explained how she began writing folklore at the very beginning of the pandemic, as a way to feel closer to the fans. She even explained how she began to write about made up fictional characters rather than her own life, as she transitioned into a performance of “Betty”, with just her acoustic guitar for a good portion of the song. She went on to play other songs from folklore such as “August” and “The Last Great American Dynasty”, playing seven songs total off of folklore, the most that she played off of any album that night. “My Tears Ricochet” was another stand-out moment from this era, as she gave a very haunting performance of the song, even walking in the form of a funeral procession with her back-up singers. After finishing off the era with a beautiful performance of “Cardigan”, it was time to go back to 2014 with the 1989 era.

Entering the stage in a two-piece dress very similar to the one from the ‘1989’ World Tour, Swift gave performances of her smash hits such as “Style”, “Wildest Dreams”, and “Shake It Off”, making fans even more excited for “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”. The production during the 1989 era was nothing short of amazing, just like the other eras thus far in the show. There were light up bikes that dancers were riding on, light up golf clubs that they used to smash a car on the screen during “Blank Space”, and even a flame show during “Bad Blood”. Swift simply did not come to play with this tour.

Soon enough it was time for one of the most anticipated parts of the night, the surprise song portion of the show. Swift explained that she has built in time to play two random songs every night, with the goal of not playing the same song twice on this tour. With the first night in Las Vegas being beabadoobee’s first night on the tour, Swift played a song that beabadoobee had said in an interview she wanted to hear on the tour, which turned out to be “Our Song”, the 2006 hit that Swift said she wrote for her ninth grade talent show. This acoustic performance turned into a complete sing-a-long for the stadium, even making its way to Swift’s Instagram post from the night in the form of a video taken by her dad.

Taylor Swift

For the second surprise song, Swift turned to more recent work and gave a live debut of her 2022 release, “Snow On the Beach”, which features Lana Del Rey. Swift stated that she wanted to play this song to honor Lana, as she had released an album on this day, and encouraged the audience to stream the album. To transition into the Midnights era, Swift dove into an opening on the stage and “swam” back to the main stage for a quick costume change. This may have been one of the most shocking parts of the night, as audible gasps escaped from every corner of the stadium once she jumped.

As the magical night came to an end, we entered the Midnights era, for Swift’s most recent release. She started the era with “Lavender Haze”, as large purple clouds filled the stage above her and the entire stadium erupted together in dance. She of course performed her smash hit “Anti-Hero”, but made sure not to forget fan favorites such as “Midnight Rain” and “Mastermind”, and even doing the most risky dancing she has ever done on stage during the Midnights hit “Vigilante Shit”. She even made sure to address the TikTok crowd by doing the “Bejeweled” strut that went viral on the platform a few months back.

As the show reached its end, three hours after we had entered the Lover era, Swift asked the crowd if they had time for one more before creating the massive dance party that was “Karma”, as fans danced in the plethora of confetti that fell to the ground. As the stadium danced under flashing lights and confetti, there was just such a feeling of bliss that encompassed the entire room. For a few hours, everyone danced together, cried together, sang the words together in a massive stadium that they could once only sing in their car or room, and just simply made the most magical memories in Vegas on March 24th. Swift has proven time and time again that she can bring people together and create memories like no other. It seems as though there is really nothing that she cannot do.

I really do not know if this tour could be more put together, thought out, rehearsed, or special. It is so clear that Swift has been planning this tour for years and has personalized each and every aspect of it and done her absolute best to make it worth the money and time of her fans. ‘The Eras’ Tour is something that Swift should be so extremely proud of, and is something that fans will hold on to the memories from forever. If Swift is coming anywhere near you on the remaining dates of ‘The Eras’ Tour, I promise you it is worth the hassle to try to get tickets. This tour is not something you will want to miss, it really might go down as one of the best, most iconic tours in history!

Taylor Swift

Setlist

Taylor Swift

(Lover)
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
Cruel Summer
The Man
You Need To Calm Down
Lover
The Archer
(Fearless)
Fearless
You Belong With Me
Love Story
(evermore)
Tis The Damn Season
Willow
Marjorie
Champagne Problems
Tolerate It
(reputation)
…Ready For It?
Delicate
Don’t Blame Me
Look What You Made Me Do
(Speak Now)
Enchanted
(Red)
22
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
I Knew You Were Trouble
All Too Well
(folklore)
Invisible String
Betty
The Last Great American Dynasty
August
Illicit Affairs
My Tears Ricochet
Cardigan
(1989)
Style
Blank Space
Shake It Off
Wildest Dreams
Bad Blood
(Surprise Songs)
Our Song
Snow On The Beach
(Midnights)
Lavender Haze
Anti-Hero
Midnight Rain
Vigilante Shit
Bejeweled
Mastermind
Karma

Taylor Swift

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