It has been five years since Taylor Swift last toured for her album Reputation. Five very long years if you ask me! Since her last tour, there have been four new additions, as well as three re-recorded albums, to her “family,” Lover, folklore, evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). After months of anticipation, she finally brought The Eras Tour to Seattle, WA on July 22 and 23.

Truly the tour of the decade, it is evident that each and every moment of the show is planned with impeccable detail by Taylor herself. Throughout the show, Taylor takes her fans on a magical tour of her discography from the past 17 years, from her debut album Taylor Swift, all the way through her most recent release Midnights. Taylor’s portion of the show is longer than three and a half hours, making this the longest concert I’ve attended to date. 

As I approached Lumen Field, it was obvious the influence that Taylor Swift possesses. Strangers became friends as they traded their homemade friendship bracelets. People spread positivity despite people holding hateful signs outside. Upon entry, security passed out special bracelets which were programmed to light up with different colors during her setlist. As we waited in line for merch, a Swiftie mom walked up and down the line, sprinkling glitter in anyone’s hair who wanted it. Adoring Swifties were seen with the number 13 drawn colorfully on their right hands, just as Taylor used to. Each person entering the venue was not only concerned about themselves, but also equally as concerned about those around them. 

The night began with a clock on the screen and a 2 minute countdown, only getting the crowd more excited for the show to begin. After the countdown ended, the lights dimmed and the introduction started playing. The crowd filled with 72,171 people cheered as their bracelets began to light up with pink colors, resembling the album Lover. Taylor’s dancers came out on stage with massive fan-like outfit accessories. As Taylor appeared on the stage riser to “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” instrumental, the packed stadium went ballistic, some screaming and some crying as they sang “you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.” Next up was the iconic song of the summer, “Cruel Summer.” With one of the best bridges on Lover, Taylor took a moment to acknowledge how excited she was to hear the crowd sing along with her. After singing “The Man” while adorning a bejeweled blazer, Taylor finished up the Lover era with “You Need to Calm Down,” “Lover” and “The Archer.” As her band soloed “The Archer,” golden fireworks streamed down by the screen at the end of the stage, implying that it was time to move onto the next era.

After a quick three minute outfit change, Taylor was back onstage in sparkly golden dress with an acoustic guitar in hand as the first few notes of the title track from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) began to play. The song, which included her iconic spins while playing guitar, was followed by long time hits “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story.” Taylor even held up her hands in the shape of hearts, a memory that lifelong fans remember all too well from her original Fearless era. Some of the most memorable moments of the night happened during her evermore era. For the first time during her tour, she removed “‘tis the damn season” from her setlist and replaced it with “no body, no crime,” inviting Haim out via stage lift to sing the song alongside her. Since the Seattle shows were Haim’s first of several as Taylor’s support act, we can only hope that she will continue to bring them out for this song for the remainder of the tour! After playing “willow,” Taylor slowed down to sing “marjorie,” the song she wrote about her grandmother. Although the crowd’s bracelets don’t light up during this song, everyone in the entire stadium turns on their phone flashlights and waves them back and forth to the rhythm of the song, creating a very touching tribute to her grandma. As she sang her lyrics “what died didn't stay dead, you're alive in my head,” and wiped away a few tears, it was apparent that her grandma was truly there with us at Lumen Field. Following “marjorie” was “champagne problems,” which the crowd was very excited to hear. As Taylor neared closer to the bridge of the song, the stadium grew louder and louder. Everyone around me screamed in unison, “she would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in the head.” At the end of the song, Taylor received a standing ovation that was minutes long, as her fans tried to show their gratitude for her music and the tour.  

At the end of the era, Taylor ran offstage to change into her outfit for the Reputation era, a black, skin-tight latex jumpsuit with a cutout for her left leg adorned with a red snake. A video of a snake slithering played on the big screen as she got ready backstage. Within the first few notes of “Ready For It,” the entire audience lost their minds. By this point in the night, the sun had completely set, making the lights on the bracelets even more visible than before. During “Delicate,” the most anticipated crowd participation moment starts after “but you can make me a drink,” when the crowd chants, “123 Lets Go Bitch!” People standing outside the venue can clearly hear all 70,000+ people. One of the most anticipated moments of the night was the high note in “Don’t Blame Me,” where the audience screams “Take us to church, Taylor!” as the center stage rises up and spotlights shine into the sky. Shortly afterward, she began the transition from “Don’t Blame Me” to “Look What You Made Me Do,” which blended seamlessly together. During the bridge of this song, she dropped to her knees as the emotion took over, passionately bending backwards to hit every note.  

Finally, it was time for the songs from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which she most recently released. When the instrumental for “Enchanted” started playing, Taylor emerged from backstage dressed to the nines in a beautifully elegant white rhinestone dress. Fans screamed in delight when she looked in their direction as she slowly made her way down the catwalk during the first verse. “Enchanted” has been a fan favorite song ever since Taylor first released it, so naturally, with the release of Taylor’s Version, those feelings of nostalgia started rushing back with the first few notes. Watching Taylor rise above the stage as the song progressed was one of the most angelic sights I have ever seen. The sincere emotion on her face and in her voice, as well as the bracelets in the entire venue lighting up in unison with the song, is something I will never forget. Along with the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was the addition of “Long Live” to the permanent Eras Tour setlist. This song has always been a way for Taylor to personally connect with her fans, as it means so much to both parties. This song was met with the loudest singing yet from the stadium- I looked around and saw emotional fans using their hands with hand drawn 13’s to wipe away their tears.

With the start of the Red (Taylor’s Version) era came the hit song “22,” which was the perfect way to pick the mood back up after the emotional era beforehand. For every show, one Swiftie is picked from the crowd to receive the hat Taylor wears during this song. Based on the reaction of the fan who was chosen that night, it was apparent that having a personal interaction with Taylor made her entire night. Keeping with the high energy feel we transitioned to megahits “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” She closed the era with “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” on acoustic guitar. The crowd erupted in cheers as everyone shouted together “fuck the patriarchy.” Despite its length, everyone knew every word of the 10 minute song. 

Another anticipated era for this show was folklore, mainly since these songs had never been played live before this tour. She started off the set with “the one,” while laying on the roof of the folklore house. This era also contained many of the impressive note changes of the night, during the line of “the one” when she effortlessly sings “you meet some woman on the internet and take her home” differently than on the record. After “betty” and “the last great american dynasty,” she moved further down the catwalk for “august.” Dressed in a flowing green dress and flat white shoes, she danced across the stage, singing directly to fans. Her song “august” transitioned into my personal favorite, “illicit affairs,” during which she spent a majority of the song on the ground. One of Taylor’s iconic note changes occurred during the bridge of this song as well, where she wholeheartedly sang the lyrics as she was feeling them in the moment. This era was closed out with lead single “cardigan” and “my tears ricochet.”

By this time of the night, it was getting close to 11pm, and Taylor was still going nonstop. She began her 1989 era by playing “Style.” Dressed in an orange shimmering two piece outfit, she walked all the way down to the end of the stage, followed closely by her dancers. Not only has Taylor been going nonstop throughout the night, but her dancers have been too, slaying the choreography left and right. During “Blank Space,” Taylor walked back down towards the end of the catwalk, followed closely by her dancers on bikes as they circled around her while she moved. For “Wildest Dreams,” she made her way back to center stage on the catwalk, where the higher ledge rose up. This was another song where the lights throughout the crowd played an instrumental part in the atmosphere of the evening. As Taylor rose above the level of the floor seats, the lights flickered around her from every section of Lumen Field, giving the illusion of stars in the sky. The last song of the 1989 era was “Bad Blood,” which included fire erupting from ten different areas of the arena. The flames were so large that they could be felt by everyone on both the floor and in the nosebleeds. Another crowd interaction happened during this song, when the crowd sang Kendrick Lamar’s line of the song, “you forgive, you forget, but you never let it go.”

For every show on this tour, Taylor plays one song on the guitar and another on the piano that she has not done acoustically before, which she calls the “Surprise Song” portion of the night. She has come up with her own rules for this portion of the show, saying at several shows that she can only play each song once on this tour, unless she messes up. After making a short speech about the first surprise song, she picked up her acoustic guitar and started strumming the chords to “Message in a Bottle.” As soon as she sang the first note, the crowd joined right in with her in delight. Since this is a vault track on Red (Taylor’s Version), this is the first ever time she has played it live! She followed that by immediately sitting down and playing the first few chords of “Tied Together with a Smile,” which is from her debut album. By including this song, which was the first time she had sung it live in over a decade, the July 23 show in Seattle, Washington was one of the select few to hear a song from every era of her discography. 

The last era of the tour was her Midnights album, which featured seven songs. This portion began with the first track on the album, “Lavender Haze,” followed by her single “Anti-Hero.” One of the more mature dance numbers of the night was for “Vigilante Shit.” Both Taylor and her dancers completed the number on chairs, dragging them around to different areas of the stage and navigating through the sensual dance with ease. Next up was “Bejeweled,” the song that gained major popularity with the release of the music video filled with easter eggs. Taylor even incorporated parts of the popular dance that a Swiftie posted on TikTok several months ago into her tour choreography. Following that was “Mastermind,” a song that many fans feel is accurate given the lengths she will go to in order to plant these easter eggs for her fans. Taylor ended the Eras Tour with “Karma.” As she walked around the stage with her dancers, confetti was shot from cannons all over the floor of the stadium, sending the small, colorful pieces of paper into the sky around her as she performed. 

Despite the massive size of the stage, Taylor does an excellent job working each section equally. Each side of the stage gets treated equally, including the areas behind the stage. During “Anti-Hero” Taylor takes the time to wave to these areas during the chorus “it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me,” giving the impression that she was individually greeting everyone in attendance. Her seasoned experience in all aspects of music and the industry further prove why she is THE artist of our generation. Single handedly responsible for shutting down Ticketmaster and other ticketing sites several times nationwide, with more than one million fans in the queue for international shows, if you were lucky enough to purchase tickets to one of her shows, prepare yourself for the best night of your life! 

Review & Photos by: Nicole Ditt

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