This past weekend, Oct. 12-15, Taylor Swift captivated the world once again with the premiere of her movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. This highly anticipated film features Swift herself traveling through her self-proclaimed eras and performing for a staggering two hours and 48 minutes.
The Eras Tour has already made major history, being the highest-grossing female tour ever, and this is only including the U.S. leg of the tour. Along with being the highest-grossing female tour, the Eras Tour film earned an estimated $96 million domestically over its opening weekend. That makes it the most commercially successful concert film of all time.
The beginning of the concert film started with a mesmerizing overhead view of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, which was the last stop on the U.S. leg. The flashing strobe lights resembled an illuminating fire as the view flipped over to the inside of the stadium. After this, dancers are seen carrying giant, parachute-like wings with blue and pink designs on them. The first words we hear are a prerecording of Swift saying, “It’s been a long time coming” from the song Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince. This was touching to many fans, mainly because not many people thought this song would make it onto the setlist, and also, it truly had been a long time coming. The last time Swift performed on tour was late Nov. of 2018, which was the reputation Stadium Tour. Since then, she has put out four more albums (not including re-records), so to say that fans were anticipating a concert is an understatement.
Not far into the show, Swift announces that we are encountering the “very first bridge of the evening.” This is during the Lover era, when Cruel Summer is playing. This song, although being four years old, is still breaking records to this day. After the infamous Cruel Summer, Swift talks about how her fans are making her feel like The Man, a prelude to one of her well-written and powerful songs. This song, along with its theatricals, has a deeper message. Swift imagines society’s treatment of her if she were a man, over a fast beat. She challenges the sexist double standards of the industry she works in and what she’s had to deal with for at least 18 years. In The Man production, Swift can be seen wearing a sparkly blazer and parading around her stage, which is supposed to represent a typical office space. Her dancers wear business suits and are seen working in their respective spaces, along with Swift. The next songs are You Need To Calm Down and the hit single Lover.
The next era that we dive into includes Fearless, arguably where some of her more well-known songs such as Love Story and You Belong With Me are from. Here, she says she is taking us back to her high school days with her. This part of the performance was nothing short of stunning, from the glitter and nostalgia of seeing 2008 Taylor spinning in circles with her guitar on stage. The band that has been with her since this time is also seen playing alongside her and living in the moment.
Next, we travel into the mystical beings of the Evermore era, where we are met with a “witchy” and woodsy performance from Willow. Marjorie, a song about Swift’s late grandmother, captivated the crowd as they were seen holding up their phone flashlights for this song. This quickly became a tradition early into the concert. Near the end of this beautiful, heart-touching song, you are actually able to hear Marjorie’s vocals. They were sampled into this song, as Marjorie was a prestigious opera singer. After this song, Swift sits at the piano and talks to her fans for a little bit, warming up for the infamous Champagne Problems. Swift talks about the bridge to this song, noting that while writing this when the pandemic happened while in lockdown, she thought this would be a great song to shout the chorus to in concert. In the song Tolerate It, we see Swift setting the table for her lover, just to have all the props thrown on the floor in a matter of minutes. The theatrical production of this song really brought the lyrics to life.
The long-awaited reputation then comes into play, which seems like a whiplash of emotions, considering the last era’s atmosphere. The intricate design of her catsuit pattern resembles snakes intertwined down the one long leg of the costume. This is fitting because this era is all about reclaiming the meaning of snake for Swift. She comes out with her dancers and blows away the crowd with Ready For It. The next song that Swift transitioned into was one of the lead singles of this era, Delicate. Fitting as it sounds, Swift is seen here on a stage that looks like glass, cracking it with the steps she takes. The most remarkable song of this set and arguably the entire concert film would have to be the transition time from Don’t Blame Me to Look What You Made Me Do. Swift takes a play on words when she sings “don’t blame me for what you made me do” to make a smooth transition into the next song. While this is happening, strobe lights are going in every direction while the team sets up the stage to prepare the song. Here, Swift is seen trying to break through the glass, which represents her frozen past that she can’t get back, a direct jab at not owning her first six albums.
The whimsical fairytale vibes of Speak Now are next, which only includes one song, Enchanted, a fan favorite. The beautiful, flowy dress Swift wore for this occasion was nothing short of breathtaking and looked straight out of a fairytale.
Red is next, which is filled with catchy songs such as 22 and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. During 22, Swift sets time aside to give her hat to a special fan in the crowd. Don’t forget about I Knew You Were Trouble, though, the second single from Red. At the end of this era comes the heartbreaking ballad of All Too Well: 10-minute version. First off, it is impressive in itself to be able to sing for 10 minutes halfway through a three-plus hour concert. Being able to see and hear the emotion in Swift’s voice is like no other. She has transformed this song into a vulnerable piece of art, which by far surpasses the original.
Then we enter into the Folklorian woods and find a love triangle between characters of Swift’s imagination: Betty, Augustine and James. This complicated love triangle can be seen through the songs August, Betty, and Cardigan. Cardigan did not make the cut to the film but is seen in the actual concert. The first song Swift sang in this era was The 1. During this, she can be seen on top of the so-called mossy Folklore cabin, the one used in her Grammy performance from 2021. One creative song is The Last Great American Dynasty. Here, there are many dancers around Swift’s Folklorian cabin enjoying themselves. This song has an interesting history to it and is a story about Swift’s Rhode Island house, also known as “Holiday House.” Next came a wonderful, emotional performance from Illicit Affairs and My Tears Ricochet.
The anticipated 1989 is next, which is filled with mega hits from Swift’s career. Style is the first song of this era and is nothing short of spectacular. Next is Blank Space, which includes on-screen visuals of Swift. The classic Shake It Off then comes, and no one can resist singing along or dancing to it. Bad Blood had fiery visuals that illuminated the crowd and created a more intense tone felt throughout the concert.
The favorite and most anticipated part of the night for Swifties comes next, known as surprise song time. Swift does this at all of her Eras Tour concerts, picking a new guitar and piano song for every night she tours. The ones included in the film are Our Song (guitar) and You’re On Your Own Kid (piano). These songs are especially important, and there are some theories on why Swift chose to play these songs specifically. When it comes to Our Song, it is from the debut album. There is no era for debut on the original track list, so it is seen that Swift wanted to include a song from every era in the movie. You’re On Your Own Kid has a different meaning; there is a specific line in the song that stands out to me when Swift sings it. “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid,” says Swift, and that is exactly what the fans did. Swifties could be seen trading friendship bracelets at the concert and even in theaters. It shows what a great community they have built together. After Swift sings the surprise songs, she “dives” into the stage and an animation of her is seen swimming away.
The final era’s destination is the newest one, Midnights. This era included the most songs with intricate visuals and dancing. Firstly, there is Lavender Haze with light purple clouds floating around. Here, Swift is seen wearing a puffy and fuzzy light purple jacket with a sparkly t-shirt dress underneath. Next is the hit single Anti-Hero, which included on-screen visuals of Swift being giant-like standing over a city. Midnight Rain is where we have an on-stage costume change. The dancers have umbrellas that they hover over Swift with, and then she comes out with my favorite outfit of the show, a blue bejeweled bodysuit with a garter at her thigh. The next performance is nothing short of exhilarating, called Vigilante Sh*t. It is a chair performance that you cannot look away from. Let’s just say that it is a favorite of the fans for a good reason. After that, another hit, Bejeweled is sung and Swift is seen dancing with her performers, making the whole place “shimmer.” A song that some thought might not make the cut, Mastermind, shows up next. Swift is the true mastermind in everything that she does and points out that she is only “cryptic and Machiavellian because she cares.”
The last song played to close out the night is Karma, which is very fitting. It seems that Swift is getting all of the good karma these days, which she more than deserves. This song’s visuals include dancers with giant, fringy and colorful coats all around Swift. Swift can be seen dancing as a big orange door descends behind her, leaving Swifties with what looks to be potential easter eggs.
Overall, this film was very important in the sense that many people who wanted to go to this concert were not able to. The film gives a great vantage point arguably better than any person who went to the concert got. This was thoughtful on Swift’s part to find a solution for people wanting to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event but unfortunately weren’t able to. Speaking in lieu of the film, it is one of the greatest concert films of its time. Swift has done it again; creating magnificent art that earns her a spot as one of the top performers in the world.
Grade: A
