The lengths I'll go to for Taylor Swift...
Tickets for this tour went on sale in November, but sold out-- that is, all the tickets got taken by resellers-- immediately. But post-pandemic, with four albums having been released since her last tour, missing this tour wasn't an option.
It was January 2nd when I decided to check StubHub to see what was available and how obscene the prices were. I ended up finding something that wasn't much more than I paid for the Reputation tour in 2018. *Well* above face value, but acceptable. For a three-and-a-half hour, career spanning show, it's worth the price. But we'll get to that...
I left home at 9am on Thursday. Google Maps thinks it's a six-hour drive. By the time I got to Worthington, MN, it was clear it's an eight-hour drive. I'm glad I chose to get to town the day before the show (always a good idea in case of car trouble). Getting to town early also let me see a bigger picture of the weekend-- local TV stations ran their "Taylor Swift is coming to town" pieces on the evening news; thousands of fans went to the venue the day before the first show just to buy merch; and one radio station switched to all-Taylor for the weekend, starting Friday morning. It's exciting to feel like you're part of an *event,* not just a concert.
Anyway, yes, on to the concert. [Set list spoilers ahead, obviously.] Gracie Abrams was the first opener. I don't want to reduce her to "JJ Abrams' daughter," but that nugget is worth mentioning. She opened with "Where Do We Go Now?," which is a pretty good song, and one you might have heard. The next opener, Girl in Red, didn't really do a lot for me, but she was energetic.
Shortly before 8pm, Taylor Swift took the stage. The show is broken down by album-- she opens with Lover, the album she was preparing to tour when the pandemic happened, starting the show with the finally-just-released-as-a-single "Cruel Summer."
Several songs later, Fearless is the next era, followed by maybe my favorite album, Evermore. When the tour was announced, I never expected to actually hear "Tis the Damn Season" or "Tolerate It." They're too season-specific and slow/sad, respectively. And add "Champagne Problems," which is both, to that list. But they're *all* in the set, and they're fantastic.
After Reputation and a brief nod to Speak Now ("Enchanted" represents that album all by itself), we get to the Red era, which culminates with the crown jewel, "All Too Well." Hearing a crowd of around 70,000 singing... well, everything... but specifically all ten minutes of "All Too Well" is exactly as cathartic as expected. The same can be said for "August," later in the Folklore section. And "Blank Space," while I wouldn't consider it cathartic, was an absolute blast to sing in a stadium full of fans.
A few words about those fans: it's a crowd that's probably 80% female. A crowd that understands there will be women in the men's room, because there's nothing wrong with that, and it beats standing in line for 30 minutes to pee. A crowd that makes friendship bracelets to trade with strangers because of a line in a song. I was fully aware of that, but I'll tell you I teared up when the maybe ten-year old girl sitting in front of me started getting approached by several 20-somethings to trade bracelets. I don't know why, it was just so sweet.
And it's a crowd that will stand-- and sing-- for three-and-a-half hours straight. But the show doesn't *feel* that long, because there are multiple benchmarks. Every few songs is a new era; and "All Too Well" serves as a mid-show main event, so to speak. There's also a "surprise song" section late in the show to reenergize anyone who's faltering.
She has a two-song acoustic set that's different every night. She's vowed not to repeat herself unless she messes up a song. On this night, we got "Paper Rings," my second-favorite song from Lover, on guitar, and "If This Was a Movie," a bonus track from Speak Now that I always liked, on piano. So I have no complaints. Night two got "Dear John" and "Daylight." The former is historic, but I'm not crazy about the song, and the latter is a perfectly fine song. So I'm still happy with the songs I got.
On past tours, the set would be made primarily of the current album, with very few older hits. The Eras tour is different obviously, as it's a celebration of her entire career. But Taylor has always had the confidence in her current material to carry a show, so it's no surprise that she chose to close this show with the Midnights era. If the current album didn't open the show, it's going to close it.
Is it a bit of a downgrade to close with "Vigilante Shit," "Mastermind," and "Karma" when you've already heard "Blank Space," "Cruel Summer," and so many other huge songs? Maybe. But this is the lady who never does encores, and who closed the Reputation tour with an album track (and not a particularly good one). We just have to trust that Taylor Swift knows what she's doing. I think she's earned that good will.
I know recency bias is a thing, but this has to jump near the top of my list of favorite concerts. A show that long, with the songs I heard, with a great crowd-- yeah, it's right at the top.
So, what are the lengths I'll go to for Taylor Swift? At least as long as this recap, obviously. If you made it this far, have a snack, you've earned it. Be sure to hydrate. Thanks for reading.