By: Yashvi Bhavsar ‘25

Taylor Swift’s power and influence remain fierce over the music industry and pop culture, even after almost two decades of fame. Her recent album Midnights seems to have catapulted her to an even higher level. When tickets for her recent stadium tour, The Eras Tour, fans faced countless issues with the distributing site, Ticketmaster. Over 3.5 million people registered for the pre-sale, and once entering the queue to buy tickets, the site completely crashed. Fans took to social media to criticize Ticketmaster, and it even led to a Senate hearing over the monopoly they hold over the ticketing industry. Despite the lengths it took fans to obtain their tickets, The Eras Tour has broken and is expected to continue breaking records. So far, 1.2 million people have attended the tour over 19 shows. Before opening night, Glendale, Arizona temporarily got renamed to Swift City, in honor of Taylor Swift. Many cities have followed suit in their tributes to the singer, with both Arlington, Texas and Tampa, Florida offering honorary keys to the city, and Las Vegas lighting up its Gateway Arch to reflect the color of Swift’s ten albums. Each album and its distinct eras play a huge role in the marketing and promotion of the tour. Those who are lucky enough to attend see Swift perform for just over three hours, singing 44 songs across her 17-year-long discography. Each album has its own segment, with costume changes and transitions between each album era. The tour begins with the Lover set, an album released in 2019 with plans to tour, but got canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Three hours later, Swift ends the concert with her Midnight set, released in 2022 which ended in all ten slots in the Billboard Top 100 Chart being filled by songs from that album. The massive setlist allows her to play various songs never performed live from her last four albums. What fans might consider the most exciting part of every night is the surprise songs performed. “I’m in my acoustic era,” Swift said on stage. During this segment, Swift performs one song on guitar, and one song on piano, with both songs being surprises from any of her albums on every night of the tour. “My rule is that I will only play these songs once unless I mess up, then I get to play it again on the tour,” Swift describes. Despite the tens of thousands of fans in the stadium each night, hundreds more gathered to listen to the concert outside the stadium. Tiktok and Instagram lives are held for another thousand who await what two songs she might play. Fans expect that both Swift and her team have taken notice of the impact live streams have had, as she announced her next, highly anticipated re-recording of her album Speak Now at the first stop in Nashville, Tennessee. The re-recordings of Swift’s music released in the first 12 years of her career are due to her not being allowed to buy the master recordings of music she wrote and created, and then sold behind her back. The re-recorded albums offer her the chance to own her music, and fuel discussions on the ethics in the music industry. Swift’s first night in Nashville came with an exciting announcement, and her third and final night in the city came with a rain show. Despite the four-hour delay, Swift, her band, and dancers performed in pouring rain past 1:30 AM, showing her gratitude and commitment to her fans. “You waiting and doing that for us is making me feel fantastic, Nashville,” Swift said. The commitment was reciprocated by fans, with the all-time attendance record in Nissan Stadium being broken twice in the same weekend, amassing over 70,000 people. Each night, many fans show up in elaborate costumes, recreating looks from specific eras and dressing up as lyrics, with no end of creativity. Trading friendship bracelets have become a standout moment over the tour. A fan project inspired by the lyrics of “You’re on Your Own, Kid” on the Midnights album has led to fans making numerous bracelets to trade and collect from hundreds of others, forming a special relationship between every fan in the stadium over their shared love of Taylor Swift. The feeling of attending The Eras Tour is palpable, and even with only 19 of 52 shows played, there will never be a stadium tour quite like this again.