Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” is more than a concert. It’s a global phenomenon that has captured the attention of millions around the world. After 149 shows, five continents, fifty cities, ten million attendants, four records shattered, and nearly two years, Swift is finally putting away her nearly $2,000 Louboutin boots and drawing the tour to a close.
On November 1, 2022, Swift announced that she would be embarking on a world tour labeled “The Eras Tour.” Fans were ecstatic and many began purchasing tickets and making plans to attend the tour. In fact, on the first day the tickets were sold, Ticketmaster had so much fan demand that the website crashed.
Swift opened her tour in Glendale, Arizona on March 17, 2023. The first concert featured forty-four songs and spanned over three hours. She has continued in this way for every concert on the tour, much to fans’ delight. Another fan-favorite component of the tour was the surprise song section. At each concert, Swift performed two acoustic songs that were not on the setlist. Since these songs changed with each concert, many fans ritualistically tuned in to grainy live streams to catch what songs would be played that evening. “Definitely my favorite part was the surprise songs because you just spend the whole time waiting, and you’re just like, ‘Oh my god, what is she gonna play?’” sophomore Audrey Villarreal said.
Many fans were also willing to travel for an Eras Tour concert, to anywhere from a nearby city to a whole other continent. In fact, 20% of attendees at the Eras Tour in Paris were from the United States. Villarreal and sophomore Violet Grendahl attended the tour four times, including two shows in Europe. “Taylor Swift provides such a sense of joy and she just has done a really good job making the Eras Tour super positive, so we were willing to travel for that,” Grendahl said.
Swift has had a large fanbase for a long time, but the Eras Tour has increased it as well. During the tour, Swift released her album called The Tortured Poets Department. This album had 313.7 million streams on its first day, compared to only 184.6 million on Swift’s previous album. The tour also led Swift’s fanbase to span across generations. “Senior Swifties,” which refers to Taylor Swift fans who are a part of the Baby Boomer generation, rose during the tour as well. “I think with the use of social media everyone’s seeing all these videos of her, and they’re like, ‘Oh wait, she’s a really cool person, and she’s such a good performer.’ Even if you don’t normally like her, if you went to her concert, then you’ll definitely like her after that,” sophomore Sailor Friedly said.
One accessory that can surely be spotted at any Eras Tour concert is the friendship bracelet. This was inspired by lyrics on one of Swift’s albums, Midnights. “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment, and taste it,” were lyrics sung in “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” Swifties took these lyrics literally and began making friendship bracelets to wear and trade with other fans at Eras Tour concerts. This was just one of many viral trends that spawned from the Eras Tour. Another was the “In my *blank* era” trend. In response to Swift’s eleven “eras” and the distinct moods in each, many people started referring to their own personal short-term life chapters or “eras.” Examples include “in my lonely era” and “in my that girl era”.
Swift’s tour has also had a massive economic impact. Swift broke the world record for the highest-grossing tour, with the total amount made in ticket sales at about $2 billion. She also made about $500 million from Eras Tour merchandise alone. But it’s not just Swift herself. The Eras Tour has also made a significant impact on the economies of the cities she visited. Los Angeles, where Swift performed six Eras Tour shows, saw an increase in local employment by 3,300 workers. Rideshare companies also benefited. People requesting Lyft rides increased by 8.2% in cities where the Eras Tour occurred. Fans spent an estimated average $1,300 on tickets, travel, a new outfit, and lodging. This adds up to about a $5 billion boost to the United States economy.
Despite all the popularity and positive impacts, the tour has faced quite a bit of controversy as well. It has shone an even brighter spotlight on Swift and all that she does. Many accuse her of having a significant contribution to climate change. In 2023, she traveled over 170,000 miles to Eras Tour shows, adding up to about 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Swift’s fans are also facing criticism, as they are often accused of being “crazy” and “obsessed.” Fans directed so much hostility towards John Mayer, who Swift dated when she was nineteen years old and he was thirty-three years old, that Swift herself had to call on fans to stop the bullying. Many fans believe that this hate is unwarranted. “…She’s done so well in the industry, and risen up so quickly,…and I think, especially men, don’t like seeing a woman succeeding that much,” Grendahl said.
Whether one thinks the criticism is deserved or not, there is no denying the colossal impact that the Eras Tour has made on the world. From affecting U.S. politics to many future concerts to come, the Eras Tour has stretched to nearly every part of the world. Swift has managed to leave her mark on the world with something that no one will ever forget: a universal tour that has broken numerous records and has had the largest impact of any other tour that has come before it.