The End of My Eras Era: London N5

Tell them how the crowds went wild.

I was on the train home from London on Tuesday night when I watched Taylor Swift not announce the reputation re-recording on the final night of the European leg of the Eras Tour. This didn’t surprise me too much since she loves to subvert our expectations, and I’m not feeling too impatient about rep because I am still so excited about everything else that’s been happening. I went to my final Eras Tour show on Friday, and since the tour took over my life all summer in the most magical way, it feels surreal that it’s ending. If you haven’t already, you can read my posts about the Paris and Gelsenkirchen shows, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experiences at the Eras Tour and its cultural impact at large. Before we go any further, though, I have to mourn the fact that I missed the performance of “Florida!!!” with Florence Welch by just a few days—hearing the two of them sing that song live has been my dream ever since it was released.¹

Please don’t yell at me for this, but I went to the Eras Tour five times: in East Rutherford, Paris, Amsterdam, Gelsenkirchen, and London. I had four of the shows scheduled and planned months in advance as trips with different groups of people, which turned into such precious memories. I don’t know how I was so lucky, but I got my face-value Amsterdam ticket a few hours before the concert off of someone on Twitter after being on the verge of scams all day. Because I went to that one by myself, I talked to the people around me and we bonded over the show. With each concert, I got to watch from a different place around the stadium, from the floor to the nosebleeds. I’m really glad that I got to hear both the original setlist from the US tour and the updated one; in fact, I was at the first TTPD show in Paris. This honestly felt like watching the Eras Tour for the first time again since so much had changed, and it kept me on my toes the whole way through.

People have asked me why I would bother going to the same concert multiple times and, other than the fact that it brings me joy, my simple answer is that it’s never actually the same concert. Although the scale of the Eras Tour requires it to remain quite consistent from night to night, Swift’s acoustic sets define and make every show unique. We know that she’s an excellent performer and songwriter, but it’s extremely impressive to learn and rehearse new songs and mashups every day—I say learn because a lot of the songs are old and/or being played on a different instrument and in a different key than their original versions. That’s not easy to memorize!

The surprise songs at my shows were “Welcome To New York” and “Clean,” “Paris” and “loml,” “imgonnagetyouback” / “Dress” and “You Are in Love” / “cowboy like me,” “Speak Now” / “Hey Stephen” and “this is me trying” / “Labyrinth,” and “London Boy” and “Dear John” / “Sad Beautiful Tragic.” Don’t ask me how I ended up hearing songs named after New York, Paris, and London, that was pure chance. I’m so grateful that I got to hear two extra Speak Now songs since it’s my favorite album, but I will forever be bitter about missing “Long Live”—don’t think I’ve forgotten about that! Still, this selection truly feels like an extension of the Eras Tour because it includes at least one song from every album (besides debut 😔).² Drop your surprise songs in the comments! I love to talk about them.

Beyond the shows themselves, the Eras Tour has inspired me creatively in so many ways. I created four different outfits for the concerts: a “Bejeweled” set, the “Anti-Hero” T-shirt dress, an “ivy” top and skirt, and (my greatest accomplishment) the Speak Now ballgown. For the first outfit, I glued jewels onto existing garments, but I made all the others from scratch; each successful DIY encouraged me to be more ambitious with the next. Through these projects, I learned so much more about sewing and got to create extravagant pieces that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise—I had never even made a dress before. The fact that I successfully planned and drafted the designs has instilled a confidence in my ability to teach myself new skills and follow through on challenging goals. It felt so rewarding to attend the shows wearing clothes that I had made, knowing that I had also contributed to making it feel special.

As a cultural phenomenon, the Eras Tour quickly became a massive collaborative experience for swifties. I have attended plenty of other amazing concerts, but with this tour it felt more like everyone was involved in creating the shared joyous environment. The friendship bracelets certainly played a big role in that, with making bracelets and sharing clever ideas and references among the social media community—not to mention the livestream culture and the popularity of the Mastermind game. The tradition of trading bracelets fostered brief but valuable moments of connection between swifties from all over the world. I now have jars full of friendship bracelets and the light-up bracelets from my shows, a few pieces of confetti (even snagged one piece of “All Too Well” snow), and far too many extra beads because I overbought. But, perhaps most importantly, the prevalence of the Eras Tour in our lives has also inspired me to connect with this community online and to write about my passion for Swift’s art, more generally, on this Substack!

At the end of the last London show, the music video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” premiered. It’s a mini tour documentary in itself (here’s hoping we get a full one eventually), filled with fascinating backstage clips and adorable rehearsal footage of the whole cast of talented performers. There are even a few audience shots! All this to say, the Eras Tour has clearly become a distinct moment in Swift’s career and life, but it ended up being one for me too. I attended shows at 22, 23, and 24 years old, which is mind-boggling to think about as a testament to the sheer longevity of the tour. While the Eras Tour isn’t over yet, my shows are, and I’ll really miss but also cherish the memories of the magic they brought to the last year and a bit. At the end of the day, I am so grateful for the experiences I had with my friends and family as we danced, sang, and held each other in these stadiums. All I can say is that I feel lucky to have been a part of something this momentous: “One day we will be remembered.”

If you’ve been to the Eras Tour or are going to the final leg, I’d love to continue the conversation in the comments!

1. Instead, I was battling my way through countryside 3G and train tunnels, trying in vain to get onto a grainy livestream (the wound is still fresh).

2. Justice for debut!!!!!!! I can't wait for Taylor's Version but I will also be so sad to let go of her adorable teenage voice that I've been listening to for sixteen years.