12 Grammys. 1 Primetime Emmy award. 40 American music awards. 29 Billboard Music Awards. 23 MTV music video awards. 3 IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Awards. 101 Guinness World Records. The awards keep coming and the list continues. The person in question is- Taylor Allison Swift!
Swift even shares the record of having 3 number one albums in a row tied with The Beatles. Isn’t that incredible!
(Left: Swift with all her VMA awards at the 2023 MTV Awards on Sep. 12, 2023)
She wrote her first song when she was only 12 years old titled “Lucky You¨. As Taylor grew as an artist, she released her debut album titled ¨Taylor Swift¨ with track #1 ¨Tim McGraw¨, hitting number 40 on Billboard 100 and 6 on Hot Country Songs.
Fast Forward to 2022-23, Swift re-recorded her master albums titled “Fearless¨, ¨Speak Now ¨, ¨Red¨ and her fifth studio album “1989 “. As of March 2023, Taylor has been on her 6th tour,”The Eras Tour ”, which showcases all her albums that she calls her “Eras”. Fans dress up in costumes of Swift’s albums, music video costumes, song lyrics, and titles. Fans also make friendship bracelets inspired by the line ¨So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” from the song “You’re on Your Own Kid” on her 10th studio album, “Midnights¨. Fans also draw the number 13 filled with glitter on their hand paying homage to the singer’s lucky number and how she used to do the same when she was young.
The idea of ¨The Eras Tour¨ is designed for Swift’s 17-year career and her discography. Taylor has also experimented with many different genres like pop, country, alternative and indie folk. During the concert, Swift sings a whopping 44 songs. She plays around 3-8 songs from all of her eras.
(L-R: Swift making her way through her “Midnights” era in a custom Oscar De La Renta dress. Swift singing “Enchanted” in the “Speak Now” era wearing a light purple ball gown dress. Swift singing her way through the “Folklore” era wearing a white Alberta Ferretti dress.)
Swift also sings 2 extra songs that she calls ¨surprise songs”. Her surprise songs consist of songs that are not on the initial setlist for the show. The songs are performed by Swift live on the guitar and one played on the piano. Taylor switches the surprise songs at every different arena she plays at. So far, she has played 106 songs as “Surprise Songs” from her discography. There are still many more to come and are well awaited surprises to her fans.
(L-R: Swift singing her acoustic surprise song on her guitar wearing a blue ruffled dress by Jesica Jones at The Grove arena in Los Angeles. CA.,Swift singing her 2nd surprise song on the piano wearing yet another ruffled dress by Jessica Jones in magenta, at SoFi stadium in Inglewood. CA.)
How much money is this tour generating and is Swift giving back?
The short answer is this tour is making A LOT of money- and yes, she is giving back. The Eras Tour is said to be boosting economies wherever she visits. By the time the Eras Tour is completed, it is estimated that Swift will make the big amount of $4.1 Billion. That’s a lot, isn’t it? But She is not keeping all this money to herself. She loves giving back– so she surprised all the members of her trucking crew with $100,000, along with bonuses from her personal money.
She also gives them a cute hand-written note thanking them for all their hard work travelling and driving miles just for her and her concert. Her dancers who helped her put on her show also received money too. That’s not all. Swift has also been donating to local food banks and hunger relief organizations in the areas she visits on her tour.
So, How is Swift Interacting with her fans during the Eras Tour?
During the “Red (Taylor’s version)” era, Swift performs her 6th track on the album titled “22”. She shows off her iconic shirt that she wore in her music video that says ¨Not a lot going on at the moment¨ pairing it with bedazzled red shorts and a black fedora. Before the show, Taylor´s mother, Andrea Swift, goes around the arena looking out for the best-dressed fan with the most friendship bracelets. Maybe even a fan with a ¨13¨ on their hand or a well-decorated sign. Andrea then invites them to the front row for the ¨22¨ portion of the show. Taylor gives the lucky fan her black fedora to keep. Most times it’s a regular Swiftie. If there are special people to her in the crowd, Swift will maybe give them the hat. For example, Selena Gomez´s youngest sister, or Kobe Bryant’s youngest daughter. Taylor also throws her guitar pick to the crowd when the Fearless era is over.
What’s with the Eras Tour Movie?
It’s Taylor Swift- of course her Eras Concert is in high demand. She can only perform so many times at so many stadiums. Fans were getting upset that they couldn’t get their hands on tickets in time. To solve this problem, Swift decided to film her concert as a movie in theatres! The ticket prices are much less expensive than the actual concert since she isn’t playing live, but
fans still treat it like a real concert. They dress up and make a whole bunch of bracelets. A special cup and a popcorn box that says “The Eras Tour” with photos of Taylor is recommended to be bought for the whole experience.
(The ticket prices for the movie are Child: $13.13 Adult: $19.89, which is ironic because Taylor’s favourite number is Thirteen and she was born in 1989)
On October 13 2023, was the day the Eras tour movie premiered. A mini poster was given out. And fans of Swift were ecstatic on that day. The premiere took place at Los Angeles´s AMC movie theatre The Grove. In every theatre that was playing the tour Taylor said a 3 minute speech.
“I’ve always had fun doing this.” “I can’t believe I get to do music as a career. That’s crazy. I’ve always had so much fun doing it. I’ve never had this much fun in my life as I have had on The Eras Tour. It is far and away just the most electric experience of my life.”
Taylor also told the crowd in Theater 2 that “You’re stuck with me, because I’m gonna, like, sit with you and watch this thing,” which probably was the best experience for those fans knowing that their idol was in the same theatre as them. Taylor had a blast herself screaming all the songs doing the arm choreography to ¨Willow¨ from Evermore, to even doing fan chants.
