After 517 hours on stage, 152 sold-out stadiums, 51 cities, and about 10 million attending fans across the globe, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been one of the biggest and most groundbreaking tours in the history of music. She made over 2 billion dollars from this tour, making it one of the highest-grossing tours ever.
She Can Do It with a Broken Heart
Taylor Swift performed in extreme heat, cold, and torrential downpour, and still managed to create a magical, surreal experience for every swiftie in attendance. The only shows that were canceled were supposed to happen in Vienna, Italy, and were canceled due to threats. For the past two years, Taylor Swift has proven that “she can do it with a broken heart” by performing for countless hours during a tough breakup with her boyfriend of seven years, Joe Alwyn.
Dressed Like a Daydream
From the iconic pink and blue Lover bodysuit to the well-cream-colored Folklore dress, Taylor has worn over 60 outfits throughout the tour. Some outfits were worn only twice, but others were worn until they started to rip. For the first leg of the tour, she retired the silver Speak Now dress, which she only wore twice, the solid-colored surprise song dresses, and the sparkly 1989 two-piece sets. During the Europe leg over the summer, she introduced many new outfits such as the new 1989 mismatched sets, the pink, orange, and blue surprise song dresses, and all of the outfits for The Tortured Poets Department set. She also removed the old Evermore dresses and combined the era with the Folklore set, creating folkmore. The iconic and well-known red and black Reputation bodysuit was worn for about 130 shows to the point it began to lose its sparkle and started to rip. She replaced it with a back bodysuit with a gold cobra wrapped around it. Some outfits have completely disappeared within the tour, such as the “tissue paper” Speak Now dress, the pink karma jacket, and the dark blue Midnights bodysuit.
It’s Nice to Have a Friend
Throughout the tour, about nine guests performed during the surprise song set with Taylor. About 19 artists have opened for her, including Gracie Abrams and Sabrina Carpenter. The first people to open for the Eras Tour were Paramore and Gayle on March 12, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona. Her last opener on December 8, 2024, in Vancouver, Canada was Gracie Abrams. Some other openers were Beabadoobee, Maisie Peters, Phoebe Bridgers, HAIM, and Sabrina Carpenter. Gracie Abrams first opened for Taylor on April 1, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. During 2023, the stadium during Gracie’s set was half full, and not many people were singing with her because she was considered a small artist. After her most recent album, The Secret of Us, Everyone is in their seats singing along with her. She even created a fan chant during the song 21. She is currently in the 70s on the worldwide Spotify charts, and she wasn’t even close to being on them when she first started opening. During the surprise song set, Taylor plays 2-3 songs on guitar and piano. She has brought out a handful of guests, such as Aaron Dessner, Gracie Abrams, Ed Sheeran, and Sabrina Carpenter. On the second to last night of the tour, Taylor brought out Gracie Abrams to sing a guitar mashup of I Love You, I’m Sorry X Last Kiss. Gracie has been a surprise song guest four times, two including the times when they sang Gracie Abram’s song, Us. Ft. Taylor Swift.
And the Crowd was Chanting More
Over the tour, Taylor Swift has released two Taylor’s Version albums and one completely new album. On May 5th, 2023, Taylor Swift announced her third re-recorded album, Speak Now Taylor’s Version during her surprise song set. A few shows later, she premiered the music video for the song I Can See You with stars Taylor Lautner and Joey King. A few months later, she announced 1989 Taylor’s Version during the surprise song set on August 10, 2023. Based on these experiences, Many fans started to make obscure predictions about when she was going to announce Reputation Taylor’s Version. There have been many days and shows leaving fans devastated because she still has not announced it. One of the largest theories was that when she changed the Reputation bodysuit, that would be the day it would be announced. Yet, Taylor has not shown any hints toward this album. Starting in Paris, the entire show was changed after Taylor released her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department. She removed the songs The Archer, Tolerate It, The Last Great American Dynasty, Long Live, Tis the Damn Season, and The 1 from the setlist and added But Daddy I Love Him, So High School, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me, I Can Do it With a Broken Heart, and Down Bad.
Make the Friendship Bracelets
The Eras tour created many new tour traditions for swifties, such as the well-known “1 2 3 let’s go B****!” chant and the “You forgive, you forget, but you never let it go” chant. The Eras tour became a place for fans to come together and trade Taylor Swift-themed friendship bracelets with each other to create new friendships and memories. The chant “Where are you going Taylor?” during the song Bejeweled was also created during the tour. There have been many fan projects over the two years such as the flashlights during the song Marjorie and the long cheer after the song Champagne Problems. At a couple of shows, fans brought balloons to throw around the stadium during the song Willow, but it was discouraged because of latex allergies.
Long Live the Magic we Made
Overall, the Eras tour has been the biggest and highest-grossing tour in the entire history of the music industry, and it has also been the most successful. It shows Taylor Swift’s remarkable journey through music, and it shows her evolution as an artist and as a person. This tour has been a celebration of her career and her connection with her fans. The era’s tour was more than just a concert, it became a safe space for fans around the world. This tour will continue to inspire and resonate with many generations to come.
