By: Madeleine Willis
On June 2, I had the privilege of attending Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” in Chicago. This was the first of three nights Swift would be performing at Soldier Field.
Swift’s tour began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17. You can probably remember the iconic beginning of Swift’s tour because the Mayor of Glendale issued a proclamation re-naming the city “Swift City,” for the duration of Swift’s time in “Eras-ona,” as many were calling it.
It was on March 17 that Swiftes across the globe had learned the true determination and effort that Ms. Swift had put into preparing for this tour. It became apparent that Swift’s setlist was well over three hours long. Even before this tour, circa 2017, Rolling Stone named Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour as one of the greatest concerts in the last 50 years, and that was two tours ago, dating back eight years ago.
If fans know one thing about Swifties, it’s that she’s a Mastermind (pun-intended). Swift thinks through every situation and, with the TicketMaster crash and the hype leading up to the Eras tour, Swift had something up her sleeve. Knowing full well spoilers would make their way to TikTok, Swift came up with a way to keep some elements of the tour a surprise. Each night she plays an acoustic set, with two surprise songs, most of which have never been played before.
Between the surprise songs and the three hour setlist, these are enough things to put Swift in the record books, but she doesn’t stop there. For this tour, Swift pulled out all the works, including a different pair of Christian Louboutins to wear with each era outfit.
Swift’s stage is engaging to the crowd. The details capture the attention of those in every seat of the stadium. Swift guarantees a good show to those (like myself) who sit at the tippy top of the stadium.
As if Swift already hadn’t proved her dedication to her fans, during her third night in Nashville, storm delays set back the start time until 10 p.m. Swift then took the stage and played her entire set in the pouring rain.
Swift’s fans show this dedication right back. Including standing outside waiting for hours to get her tour merch. The merch truck opened a day early in Chicago, and fans got in line at 1 a.m. to get their hands on the high demand Taylor Swift merchandise.
I have been in attendance at the past four Taylor Swift tours and nothing compared to the Eras tour. I’ve seen Taylor Swift before, been to many of her concerts, I even traveled to Ohio to attend the Reputation Stadium Tour, but Swifties are going to much more extremes to be in attendance at the Eras tour. Fans have been sitting outside the stadium just to hear Taylor sing and be a part of the tour. Fans who couldn’t get tickets still show up to the merch trucks to get any piece of the Eras tour they can.
Between 65,000 people inside of Soldier Field combined with those gathering outside the stadium. It took a whopping two hours to get out of the city. Though my friends missed the last train out of Chicago, due to the crowds of people trying to exit the stadium, we wouldn’t trade that night for the world, it was all 1000 percent worth it.
Taylor Swift may sing about being the “Anti-hero,” but to millions of people across the globe she is the picture perfect idea of a role model. A true hero and a life saver, for real, the light-up bracelets Swift gives out at her concert managed to get the attention of drivers when three girls got into a car accident after her 1989 tour in Baton Rouge, LA.
The girls tapped their light-up bracelets until someone noticed the light and called 911 to save the girls in the car wreck.
Taylor Swift fans are dedicated because Ms. Swift has proven time and time again she is not only the artist of a decade, an innovator, a performer, but a legend of her time.