Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour a reminder of music’s communal magic
"The Eras Tour" is a masterstroke of pop culture history
In the creative mind, the only true limitation is time. All of us, we’re constantly trying to manipulate it, survive it, outlast it. Even the most wealthy and powerful amongst us are fascinated with the idea of trying to outsmart it. Creating something worth being remembered over haunts the creative mind.
We might be “living in the world, Taylor’s version” according to venerable indie pop darling Phoebe Bridgers, but even Swift isn’t immune to the perils of time.
The globe-trotting, Ticketmaster-breaking, TikTok-live-streaming Eras Tour, is stepping into a time warp. Multi-verses, remakes, crossovers and time travel largely define the current comic book movie dominated media landscape. Swift’s masterful weaving of 15-plus years of her music (sorry self-titled, you were missed) would make even Marvel Cinematic Universe creative director Kevin Feige break into a cold sweat.
That’s what makes the Eras Tour so unique. It’s both an accomplishment for Swift and her fans alike, a relationship ever-growing since her 2006 debut record. As going to the show May 26th of Memorial Day weekend reminded me, Swift now has fans younger than her music career.
There were moments in the last 17 years where it felt like Swift might have peaked. Not many artists successfully navigate the journey through genres as effortlessly as the songstress did: two true country albums in Taylor Swift and Fearless, then a tweener of pop and country in the shape of Speak Now, followed by Red, a true foray into pop with glimpses of country.
This is the first point of demarcation in Swift’s timeline in the public eye. Red cemented her pop bonafides with radio staples like “I Knew you were Trouble,” and “22.”
It’s important to account for the blow-by-blow of Swift’s history because it’s so deeply ingrained as a part of her music. The self-narration through these specific moments in time captured through music are what defines Swift. These otherwise average moments of emotional expression that everyone experiences, conveyed in a digestible way, make her audience feel seen and heard.
The set starting in the Lover era really fits. Right before the world went into pandemic-induced lockdown, Swift was preparing for Lover Fest, a series of shows during the summer of 2020. Of course, those shows never happened, but starting right where Swift left us as a touring musician makes perfect sense.
Opening a set with “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” a song in which Swift sings “I counted days; I counted miles; To see you there, to see you there; It’s been a long time coming; It’s you and me, that’s my whole world.” It’s a perfect nod to her most enduring relationship: the one with her fans.
To Swift’s audience, the bond between fan and artist alike is part of what made the moment so special. This was a re-emergence from the pandemic. It was evidence that, while time had passed and, as Swift describes it, “there are new members in our musical family” in the form of her six albums since her last tour, she’s still here and she’s still Taylor.
Naturally, like most grand cinematic universe entries, it’s important to knock out fan service early and often. Swift’s fans often argue she’s constructed more iconic bridges than any engineer in history and the second song of the set, “Cruel Summer”, makes a point of playing to the joke and as a wink to her fans.
From the first time I heard “Cruel Summer” I thought about what it’d sound like in a thunderingly loud stadium. The bone-rattling layered instrumental building up to the bridge is perfectly written to scream at the top of one’s lungs. The crowd that Friday night at MetLife stadium in the swamps of Jersey didn’t disappoint.
I don’t make the comparison lightly, but it felt like a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show for terminally online people in their 20s. I’ve compared seeing the Boss and E Street to going to church for the boomer generation and this had that same aura.
The music landscape is so fractured in the present, it’s hard to tie generation to artist but Swift’s music has been the soundtrack to so many moments in so many different lives. She’s crossed that threshold from artist to omnipresent force. It’s challenging in such a splintered space to have true communal experiences anymore, yet Swift’s managed to make a concert feel like a pilgrimage.
Young people are increasingly less religious, as they abandon organized religion, but they fill in the communal void in different spaces. It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare Swifties’ dedication to organized religion at this point. In this case, the different eras representing chapters in the bible.
It’s not what you believe, but how hard you believe. And in Swift, so many have found peace, but not in the way organized religion provides answers. No Swiftie truly experiences peace; they talk about her the way someone describes Joe Pesci in Goodfellas: an erratic, unpredictable menace liable to cause them an emotional whirlwind at a moment’s notice.
But this peace is different. It’s rooted in having purpose. Enjoying Swift’s music–knowing her lore, the jokes, making the friendship bracelets against the backdrop of her preaching–is so much more than just a concert. It was a journey to a holy site for a direct connection with God herself.
Hell, people are standing outside of shows just for a passing glance at her, to hear the parts of the sermon.
Swift’s music is one of those unifying communal forces. The fervor of a peak Sunday night HBO drama and following along on Twitter during camera cuts, but in a stadium of 80,000 people with the world’s biggest pop star. Swift’s knack for reminding you of your own experiences in her music is what fills NFL stadiums across the United States and breaks Spotify streaming records.
As part of the set, each era gets its own room to breathe. They’re all tied to specific moments in time, so when Swift Introduced the Fearless leg of the set she prefaced the titular track with “Are you ready to go back to high school with me?”
And for the next three songs, you might as well have been in 2010. Swift twirls in a golden dress, sending it swaying, raises her hands into a heart shape, and delivers the certified bangers that could wake any 20-something out of a coma in “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story.”
For both Swift and the audience, these songs are tied to specific moments in their respective lives. Those tracks were from Swift’s time in high school, encompassing the pure unbridled hope that your crush might actually like you back. It was truly an earth shattering moment to have someone romantically interested in you as a teenager.
To scream at the top of your lungs about a high school crush, it’s ironic. At that age, it’s mortally embarrassing to acknowledge having any feelings let alone about another person. But at 16, that feels like the value of one’s entire existence. And yet, when the bridge of “Love Story” hits in 2023, even the most ardent of bro will belt out “I don’t know what to think; He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said ‘Marry me, Juliet.’”
That’s what makes music special: being able to revel in collective emotion. In the present, looking back at those songs with the benefit of experience, that ties into the time travel feeling. Sure, it was embarrassing to have a high school crush, but in hindsight, you didn’t know any better.
Those are universal experiences. That’s the root of Swift’s sticking power; as she’s grown, the ideas of her songs have grown with her and her audience. The setlist is crafted in a way that each song feels like a benchmark in growing up.The memories come crashing back with a single lyric or note.
The whiplash of going from high school crushes to college hookups during Christmas break on “‘tis the damn season'' reflects how much whiplash exists in the emotional turbulence of one’s late teens and early 20s. It takes time to learn how to process emotions. Maturity is required to contextualize the happy hindsight of high school love on Fearless while also being able to grapple with the pain of their 20s on evermore.
In evermore’s emotionally devastating “marjorie,” a tribute to Swift’s late grandmother, there was a moment in the set to reflect on those no longer with us. Everyone grieves in different ways; it’s an irreconcilable emotion that the mind simply cannot comprehend. It’s the most unfortunate, harshest reality of growing up. Losing a loved one isn’t something anyone ever truly comes to terms with.
In the scope of musical tributes, I felt another parallel to Springsteen and the E Street Band during “marjorie.” When originally written “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” from Springsteen’s Born to Run, was the story of the formation of the E Street Band. Now, with time, there are members of the band no longer with us.
So, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” is now a living tribute to the departed. It’s an opportunity to memorialize key members of the story. There would be no E Street Band without Clarence Clemons.
In Swift’s account, her grandmother being a singer was what made her interested in music. There would be no Taylor Swift without Marjorie. So, for good measure, Swift made sure that in the telling of her story, the foundational legend was properly covered.
To explore such raw, outright painful emotions with so many complete strangers was a surreal experience. So much of Swift’s music is rooted in intense feelings. The power of grief is that a 44-song marathon can come to a screeching halt for 75,000 people to all mourn a loved one two songs before the bone-rattling stadium anthem “Ready For It?”
Swift’s vulnerability within the scope of her art has fostered such a deep connection with her audience. That’s what makes the scale of The Eras Tour so impressive. These are all Swift’s stories, but each listener has made them their own.
Those feelings aren't remarkable in a vacuum. It’s Swift’s ability to weave intricate narratives that cover those most tender of emotions in an understandable way that sets her apart. That ownership of her ideas, that she writes or co-writes on all of her songs, is part of the story of this tour.
Emerging from the emotional turmoil of the evermore set, Swift re-enters the stage firmly in control entering her Reputation era, a phrase that’s become a copypasta at this point after any mild life inconvenience. It’s come to represent resetting social channels, becoming unapologetic and firmly in control over the direction of one’s existence after being wronged.
For Swift, going into the “reputation” era was the one time her status as an artist might have been in question. A very public spat with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian had her the butt of jokes in the court of public opinion. The snake became synonymous online with Swift’s public comments vs. an edited clip of her on the phone with West during an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
On Swift’s sultry “Delicate,” she explains to a potential suitor “My reputation’s never been worse, so you must like me for me,” which in hindsight sounds crazy to say. The Reputation era was a moment where Swift somewhat took a handle on her identity and presence. She knew she’d have to live her life for herself, that it’d be impossible to make everyone happy.
While Swift’s shrewd re-recording of albums she no longer owned the master tracks to is absolutely a business maneuver first and foremost, it’s also a component of why this tour means so much. To revisit those moments in time with the knowledge of the present, the songs have different meanings now. It’s recounting stories with old friends. No matter how many times they’re told, they hold a certain vibrance because of who’s listening.
And of course, like any friend group, there are inside jokes that the outside world looks on in confusion. On the aforementioned “Delicate,” there’s the queue for the audience to fill in with “1-2-3 Let’s go Bitch.” On 1989’s “Bad Blood,” fans sing a Kendrick Lamar adlib from the remixed version of the track centered around beef with Katy Perry. Those are the cinematic universe easter eggs, the equivalent of John Krasinski showing up for 5 minutes in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
It’s a nod to those who know the lore.
So much of Swift’s power is rooted in her fan’s encyclopedic knowledge, that you have to stand out amongst the sea of other true believers, further radicalizing those within to keep up. Swift herself plays into this; she’s invited fans to her home for listening parties; her brand helped out those going through financial hardship during the pandemic.
For those fully immersed in the lore, the show is building up to the two secret song selections. Before the concluding Midnights era set, Swift goes into her catalog and pulls out two tracks that aren’t on the permanent setlist. On this night, she threw the crowd into a frenzy introducing her frequent collaborator and Bleachers front man, Jack Antonoff, to play fan favorite “Getaway Car.”
The song recounts Swift leaving her current boyfriend for another, that it was doomed from the beginning, that no matter how the relationship played out, it was inevitable. “Getaway Car” lives on the back half of the Reputation album where Swift emerged from the bold proclamations about identity and found safety in her then-new relationship.
That’s the inflection point where the present day Swift originated. The back half of Reputation is exploring the intense, sensual feelings of empowered romance. Finding comfort in that romance is what allowed her to use Lover and subsequent works to re-invent herself.
It’d been six long years since the congregation was able to gather in the presence of their God. Swift’s evolved with time. She dabbled in non-autobiographical work for the first time on folklore and evermore. She dropped re-recordings of two albums and has a third on the way this summer.
The true believers are steadfast in their belief. They’ve seen the power of her miracles and she's been providing the soundtrack to their lives. The tour playing out, the spectacle it is in person and on social media, is validating all of the emotions listeners feel to see this come together.
While concert etiquette and decorum has changed (mostly for the worst) because of the expectation a portion of the audience has, Swift managed to seize the moment. There are other important artists touring right now. Hell, if you said any of this to a certain side of the internet, they’d roll their eyes and point out Beyoncé is touring the world right now.
But that’s entirely missing the point. Live music is about the connection between artist, fan and the larger fan base, along with what the music means to those exact people, in those moments. Everyone has a favorite song – hearing it live, experiencing all of the emotions associated with it –that’s a supernatural event. Swift did it for 44 songs and three and a half hours.
The Eras Tour provides an emotional whirlwind so intense, swaths of attendees are struggling to remember parts of their specific show, with claims that they effectively blacked out with how excited they were. That was God herself reaching out and touching them. Their mortal minds couldn’t comprehend what played out in front of them and blacked out.
Amongst all of the uncertainty in the world right now that Swift’s fans in their 20s are experiencing, her and the music that brings them all together will keep them living for the hope of it all.
That no matter how challenging life might seem, the Eras Tour was forever. That those three-and-a-half hours were existence-defining and how much those moments meant is something no one can ever take away from them.
It felt like being part of a bigger community, that for a few hours, all that mattered in the entire world was Swift and those 44 songs. Part of why the terminally online flock to these experiences is escapism. It’s a chance to live in Swift’s kingdom where the world suddenly makes sense. You weren’t alone.
The Eras Tour is just Swift and 70,000 of her best friends all getting together to sing and dance their hearts out. It’s an opportunity to reminisce on old times, memorialize those no longer with us and to look optimistically towards the future and feel like everything is going to be okay.