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A Complete Guide to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour

Pop Culture

April 20, 2023

Taylor Swift's long-awaited Eras Tour took off on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona. This first concert was record-breaking, with an attendance of over 69,000 people for a female artist, previously held by Madonna's 1987 concert. This was more than the attendance at Rihanna's Superbowl performance!

Going on tour after four years since Reputation, it's no surprise that tickets were in high demand, which led to the crash of the Ticketmaster website when the presale began on 15 November 2022. This broke another record with the sale of over 2.4 million tickets, the highest number of tickets sold by an artist in a single day. What's the chaos about? Why are people so excited about this tour?

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The best thing about Taylor's concerts is not only her performances and production, but the atmosphere created in the entire stadium. All attending the concert get light bands for their wrists, which light up and flicker at certain times to create a beautiful visual in the audience.

In this article, I will guide you on the Eras Tour with the setlist, outfits, Easter eggs, and my favorite parts of the show so that we international Swifties can get a chance to have somewhat of an experience of what the concerts are like!

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Setlist and Outfits

Taylor performs for over 3 hours with a setlist of 44 songs. As of now, it appears that 42 songs are fixed, while she plays 2 surprise songs at every concert. However, recently, she removed invisible string and played the 1 instead, hinting that she would be changing the setlist. With 16 outfit changes, the concerts are definitely an exciting and immersive experience.

Lover

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The concert begins with it's been a long time over and over again, until the popstar emerges on stage and opens the concert with Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince from her 2019 album, Lover. She dons a stunning Versace sequined bodysuit with hints of pink and blue with silver knee-high boots.

I think that was the perfect beginning, as the Easter Egg queen captioned her Eras Tour announcement saying "it's been a long time coming" and begins the concert with the lyrics of Miss Americana, saying "it's been a long time coming but it's you and me, that's my whole world".

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After performing her opening song and Cruel Summer, she accessorizes with a glittery blazer for The Man. She even brings out her baby pink guitar for Lover! That's a classic she can never go wrong with, and Cruel Summer's bridge being the first bridge of the night really sets the tone for the rest of the show.

The Lover Setlist is as follows:

  1. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince
  2. Cruel Summer
  3. The Man
  4. You Need to Calm Down
  5. Lover
  6. The Archer

Fearless

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With a transition into the Fearless Era, which was her second album, the outfit is reminiscent of her golden fringe dress from the Fearless tour, along with a bedazzled guitar, just like in 2009! Edits of her twirling as she dances and plays her guitar in the original tour transitioning into the same move at the Eras tour concerts have been going viral on social media, making long-term fans emotional.

The tracklist, although short, consists of fan favorites:

  1. Fearless
  2. You Belong With Me
  3. Love Story

Evermore

To many fans' surprise, the next era was that of evermore. Her 2020 album dropped during quarantine as the sister of folklore. A running joke among Swifties has been that Taylor has forgotten evermore and doesn't like the album, since it had no singles or promotion, was not acknowledged on its anniversary after its release, and was barely performed. Taylor, who is always tuned in on fan theories and opinions, playfully brought this up during her concert and said that she loved the album and proceeded to perform five songs from it!

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She wore a gorgeous, cottage-core burnt yellow dress with brown boots that fit perfectly with the moss-covered piano. For willow, she also wore a deep green cloak over the dress that fit with the evermore aesthetic. The performance of willow is haunting and magical, with dancers in black cloaks, lanterns and sharp movements, almost like a ritual.

My favourite section of this era was definitely the bridge of champagne problems. She once mentioned in an interview that she couldn't wait to sing, "She would've made such a lovely bride, what a shame she's f*cked in the head" with an entire crowd screaming it back to her, and her expression during this part says it all!

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The setlist for the "forgotten" album is:

  1. 'tis the [censored] season
  2. willow
  3. marjorie
  4. champagne problems
  5. tolerate it

Reputation

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Reputation was Taylor's revenge album through which she made a comeback after disappearing from public sight for months post the drama she had with Kanye West. The outfit highlighted red, gold and black with the imagery of a snake on the Roberto Cavalli costume. The performance brought back her Reputation tour with the song choices and overall atmosphere created as she performed some unforgettable tracks.

The transition from Don't Blame Me to Look What You Made Me Do has been the talk of the town! At one point, the stage rises while all her past versions claw at it trying to get to her, which echoes her Look What You Made Me Do music video.

The setlist of her revenge era is:

  1. ...Ready For It?
  2. Delicate
  3. Don't Blame Me
  4. Look What You Made Me Do

Speak Now

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Speak Now was Taylor's third album and has been teasing the release of Speak Now (Taylor's Version) for a while. Speak Now stans have experienced an injustice with the performance of only one song from this album, Enchanted. Although this section does not have a long setlist, Taylor wears an absolutely stunning bejeweled gown for this song. Recently, the style of the gown was changed to a glittery full-sleeved gown adorned by flowers.

Red

The next phase of the concert was that of Red, the album that most think marks her transition into pop music from country music. She not only performed some of the most iconic songs on this album, but also recreated iconic looks from her music videos, the most prominent being the "not a lot going on at the moment" t-shirt from the 22 music video with different text.

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She then gets rid of the t-shirt and performs the next two songs in a sequined red to black ombre bodysuit. This era ends with All Too Well (10 Minute Version), for which she wears a full-length glittery red overcoat and brings out a red guitar. The stamina she displays through the concert it incredible, and it's absolutely amazing for her to nail a 10 minute long song in the middle of a three-hour long concert.

The setlist for Red is:

  1. 22
  2. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
  3. I Knew You Were Trouble
  4. All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

Folklore

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Folkore is Taylor's surprise album that she worked on during quarantine and released in 2020. The concert look is a whimsical flowy full-length dress with sequined details in a solid color; the ones we have seen so far are forest green, lavender, peach and white. This set appears to be the longest of the concert.

The performance is incredibly emotive and powerful. Illicit affairs in particular had its moment with almost an alt-rock production and I would love for her to record this version and release it!

The setlist for folklore is:

  1. invisible string / the 1
  2. betty
  3. the last great american dynasty
  4. august
  5. illicit affairs
  6. my tears ricochet
  7. cardigan

1989

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Taylor's complete immersion in pop can be described by nothing better than 1989, released in 2014. With hits like Blank Space and Shake It Off and monocromatic two-piece outfits with matching boots, she rocked the stage with energetic moves and vocals. It took fans back to the 2015 1989 world tour and had everyone on their feet! I really enjoyed this set, especially when the stage rises to reveal a video of her synchronised with how she performs the song.

The iconic setlist is:

  1. Style
  2. Blank Space
  3. Shake It Off
  4. Wildest Dreams
  5. Bad Blood

acoustic Set

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Taylor takes a break from her eras to perform two surprise songs, which could be from any era! Fans have started circulating lists of songs that have been performed and are hoping to listen to their favourite ones live. She often brings out guests during this section, like Aaron Dessner and Marcus Mumford, for songs that they worked on with her.

She wears simple yet beautiful full-length dresses for this set, just like her stripped back versions of her music, and brings out a piano and a guitar. I love this section because it's a nice treat in the middle of the concert, and not knowing what she would sing is exciting. My favourite performances from this set have been The Great War with Aaron Dessner and You're On Your Own, Kid.

So far, these have been the surprise songs:

  1. mirrorball and Tim McGraw
  2. this is me trying and State Of Grace
  3. Our Song and Snow On The Beach
  4. cowboy like me ft. Marcus Mumford and White Horse
  5. Sad Beautiful Tragic and Ours
  6. Death By A Thousand Cuts and Clean
  7. Jump Then Fall and The Lucky One
  8. Speak Now and Treacherous
  9. The Great War ft. Aaron Dessner and You're On Your Own Kid
  10. mad woman ft. Aaron Dessner and Mean

Midnights

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The last set of the night is, of course, reserved for her latest album, Midnights, which was released in October 2022. We see quite a few outfit changes for this era, and she ends the concert with a bang as she sings Karma. The set begins with a stunning lavender fur coat over a sequined t-shirt dress, which reminds me of the Lavender Haze music video. She then gets rid of the coat to perform Anti-Hero.

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She strips down to a gorgeous midnight blue shimmery bodysuit, often accompanied by a matching garter to complete the look. The audience is taken aback by a sultry Vigilante Sh*t performance, a side of her we haven't seen before! She brings the night to an end with a fun and flowy coat over the bodysuit and closes the concert. I loved the performances of Midnight Rain and Vigilante Sh*t, and we all know she keeps up with what Swifties do on social media, as she recreated the Bejeweled TikTok dance on stage.

The setlist for Midnights is:

  1. Lavender Haze
  2. Anti-Hero
  3. Midnight Rain
  4. Vigilante [censored]
  5. Bejeweled
  6. Mastermind
  7. Karma

Is It Worth the Hype?

Yes! Touring four years after her last tour, fans have eagerly waited for her to be back on the road to hear her perform, especially songs that she has never performed before. My personal favorites are the folklore and evermore sets, as well as the surprise acoustic set.

I'm glad that she allowed her recent albums that she did not tour for, like folkore, evermore, Lover and Midnights, but Speak Now and debut stans did not get the performances they were expecting. Some might say that she's deliberately not performing much for Speak Now because she may drop Taylor's Version soon. There's something so exciting about not knowing what songs to expect, and I'm sure those who have made it to the concerts have had a once in a lifetime experience!

Sapna Kappal
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Sapna is a third-year student from India majoring in psychology with a literature minor. She enjoys discussing and writing about music, film, travel, language, and diversity and aspires to further study and do research in the field of language and intercultural communication.

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