Revisited: Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour Experience
It's been a long time coming...
In addition to it being my birthday week ahead, the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie was made available to rent earlier this week. So, this week I wanted to take a break from the usual posts and focus on my Taylor Swift experience this year.
This included going to see her in concert (Seattle N2!), in the movie theater, and now in the comfort of my own home. Despite what some might think, I do think seeing them three different times in three different formats gave me a different and unique experience each time.
So let's dive into my Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour experience.
How I Got Here
I could spend thousands of words telling you how I was a Taylor Swift fan but not really a Swiftie for a while. But I won't. I'll spare you the details. I knew of her growing up, but I didn't really get into her music until 1989 had come out. That's when I really started to listen to her music more regularly. 1989 was all anyone talked about when it was released. To put that into perspective, I was a freshmen in high school when this album came out. And it wasn't until reputation that I started really following her work. That's where I can confidently say I went full swiftie.
The rest was history. After Reputation, I went back and listened to her back catalog. That's when I fell in love with Speak Now. Of course, folklore, evermore, and Midnights followed.
I definitely still have a lot to learn about the fandom, but one thing's for sure: the swiftie fandom/community is one of the nicest and most welcoming, no matter when you became a fan. We all have each other's backs even if you heard your first Taylor Swift song yesterday.
The Concert Experience
The thing that started it all. I definitely have some trauma from this experience. I had a pre-sale code. Yet, I wasn't able to get tickets initially. As was the case for a lot of us, I was fucking devastated. I was in the queue for 8 hours and walked away with nothing. 20000+ people ahead of you, yeah, I know.
It wasn't until about a month out before the show here in Seattle that I got a glimmer of hope. I got a text right when I started work The text read: VERY LIMITED number of production hold tickets available for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lumen Field in Seattle!
Of course, I told my former deputy editor, Nathan Ingraham, "I have to hop on this. I might be unavailable for 10-15 minutes." He understood 🫡. Thankfully, the queue was less than a few hundred people. I wasn't relieved just yet. A few hundred people is still a lot of people. And you don't know how many tickets each person is buying.
Long story short, I got the tickets for my wife and I. The rest is history. Now, it was the waiting game. This was easily the longest month of my life. Fast forward to the day before the concert, my wife and I had agreed to get in line for merch the day before. I still have the screenshot of how long we waited in line (we timed it). Nearly four and a half hours, but it was well worth it. We got everything we were looking for. We made a few line friends along the way. Needless to say, we were ready to go home.
And unsurprisingly, the concert was awesome. We had upper bowl seats near the middle of the diamond and the experience was quite enjoyable, even from that far away.
One of the benefits of being N2 and not N1 is that on N2, the show started about half an hour later. At first, I think a lot of us there thought it was kind of weird but later discovered this was done so that the rep era was done when the sun set. That was the right call for sure. The Rep set at night is bad ass.
I admittedly saw bits and pieces of the tour on TikTok before that day, but I genuinely did not know the full setlist or what had happened the night before. I'm glad we got no body, no crime live with HAIM, and our surprise songs were excellent. More importantly, in hindsight, I'm glad I was able to hear cardigan live.
My wife wasn't a swiftie and still isn't to this day (and that’s fine, we all have preferences). However, she genuinely said it was a great show, just not for her. Though, she was enjoying herself during the Fearless, Red, and 1989 eras.
Overall, it was an excellent show. I remember losing my voice for the next four to five days, though. Worth it.
The Movie Theater Experience
One could argue that the movie theater experience can never beat being there in person. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that. However, I'd argue that the movie theater experience gives you a sense of comradery that gets lost at the concert. For me, I felt like I got lost in my own world at the concert. It's loud (not a bad thing at all) and everyone seems to be on their own world.
I made a few friends going to the theater. The people sitting on either side of me (my wife did not go this time) were some of the nicest and fun people to be around. We had laughs, traded friendship bracelets, and sang our hearts out to our favorite songs.
This time, I knew, and the folks around me knew that certain songs were being cut (The Archer, Long Live, Cardigan [rip], and Wildest Dreams). But that was expected. I was a little sad, sure, but as many of us suspected, those songs would be added back when the movie would eventually be released for home viewing.
The only thing that was frustrating about this experience was that they didn't make enough of the limited edition items (at least at AMC, the pink bucket and the tote bag) and that the limited edition soda cup didn't come with a lid. Thankfully, AMC restocked later and you were able to get the ultra-cool pink popcorn bucket later on (though the tote bag is still MIA).
The At Home Movie Experience
Unsurprisingly, this is the most intimate setting. And if you know me, I also believe it’s a better audio/visual experience than the movie theater. My home theater consists of an LG OLED TV and a full 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos audio system. This movie both looked and sounded incredible with my setup.
And before you ask, no, I didn’t skip to the end of the movie to watch the songs that were cut out first. I’m not a monster. And yes, I pulled out the pink popcorn tin I got from AMC and popped some popcorn. I watched the entire movie from start to finish, again. As you’d expect, the experience was equally as magical at home.
I’d be lying to you if didn’t say I was a bit disappointed at the fact that the songs that were cut were stuffed at the end. I don’t want to discredit anyone here, but this seems very lazy. Especially when you consider you’re paying $19.89 for a rental that you only have 48 hours to watch.
Despite this, I think it’s definitely worth the rental. It’s especially worth it if you didn’t get a chance to see Taylor in concert or on the big screen in the theater. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to see her at any of her international dates, do that first.
It Was Worth It... All Of It
Now that I’ve seen this concert three separate times on three separate occasions, I’d say it was all worth it. I would do it all over again (okay, maybe not the Ticketmaster fuck up again, but everything else? Absolutely).
The incredible friends and peeps I met along the way, the friendship bracelets, all the singing, dancing, and costumes. It was all worth it.
Taylor has such a wide range of music that I’d say the movie is worth a watch even if you’re not a fan of her. Whether you’re into pop, rock, country, hip-hop, or anything in between, there’s bound to be something for you there to enjoy.
Now, I need to get back to clowning for reputation TV and TS11.