632 days, almost three billion dollars spent on ticket sales, 484 hours performing on stage, 149 sold out shows, 51 cities, 21 countries, 18 openers, 5 continents and one star.
The New York Times named “culture dominating” Eras Tour, the highest grossing tour of all time, starting March 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, officially came to an end in Vancouver, British Columbia Dec. 8, 2024.
After nearly two years of shows, fans have found themselves reminiscing about the end of the “eras era.” The Swifties who were able to attend are stuck in a haze of disbelief, and those who couldn’t are finding it difficult to accept the fact that they were unable to have the time of their lives with Taylor.
Though this
record-breaking tour has reached an end, Swifites know all too well that the events of this tour will stay in the books for evermore.
Presale for the first leg of the U.S. tour started Nov. 2022 through Ticketmaster. After a large number of tickets sold out during this time, Taylor was prompted to add additional dates. Many Swifties had issues with Ticketmaster, especially due to people over-purchasing tickets to resale. However, some Swifties went as far as to spend thousands of dollars, or even sell their vehicles to attend a show.
With the kickoff of the tour, Swifties were absolutely enchanted by Taylor’s set list which took fans through a journey that lasted over a decade of her musical career, including special effects, set-ups, dances and outfit changes in the span of three and a half hours.
Taylor made each and every show the best day for those who attended, and though each show was special, those who attended certain shows were the lucky ones as many announcements were made and guest stars were invited on stage throughout the course of the tour.
During a Nashville show May 5, 2023 Taylor announced that “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” would be released July 7 during the surprise song segment of the show.
Within the time before the re-release came out, Taylor released a remix of her song “Karma” from “Midnights” that featured female rapper, Ice Spice May 25, 2023 and premiered the music video during a New Jersey show May 27. Eras tour attendees for a few of her following shows were given a treat, sweet like honey, as Swift invited Ice Spice on stage to perform their version of “Karma” together.
On the day of the “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” release, Swift premiered the music video for her vault track “I Can See You” during her Kansas City show and invited music video stars Joey King, Taylor Laughtner and Presley Cash to the stage, resulting in commotion from the crowd, prompting Taylor to write “hearing the crowd’s reaction to it is something I’ll never forget,” on an Instagram post shortly after.
This July 7 show was also the very first show Taylor’s current boyfriend, Chiefs player Travis Kelce attended.
Shortly after the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” Taylor met Swifties wildest dreams during her final night in Los Angeles Aug. 9 2023 when she announced the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” would drop Oct. 27, the same day it initially dropped 9 years prior.
In between the time of the announcement and release, Taylor made an Instagram post Aug. 31 2023 announcing that a concert film of the Eras Tour over three hours would be released Oct. 13 2023. However, due to “unprecedented demand,” the film was released in theaters a day early.
This film quickly became the highest-grossing concert film of all time. According to Variety, the film broke AMC’s single-day advance ticket sales record, earning a whopping $37 million in presales on its first day. The film also became the very first concert film to receive a Golden Globe nomination.
She also remained in headlines due to her newfound romance with Kelce, who’s game she publicly attended Sept. 24 2023.
Taylor broke records with the re-release of “1989” Oct 27, containing five vault tracks, which sold 693,000 records within its first week.
As if all these accomplishments weren’t enough, Taylor continued to form an outstanding reputation as she was named Times Magazine’s person of the year in Dec. 2023. That same month, the Eras Tour officially broke the record as the highest grossing tour of all time.
During the Grammy Awards show February 2024, Taylor announced that she would be releasing her eleventh studio album The Tortured Poets Department April 19.
She would only mention things about the upcoming album during Eras Tour shows, until April 16 when Taylor used mystery to bring attention to her upcoming album, including a The Tortured Poets Department pop-up library opened in L.A. In the library, fans were able to find many “easter eggs” that this mastermind had planted, hinting at the songs that would be on the album.
At midnight, April 19, 2024 Taylor released the album, and two short hours after its sister album “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” with fifteen additional tracks was released.
During her European leg of the tour, Taylor combined both the “Folklore” and “Evermore” sets in order to make time for her new, The Tortured Poets Department set.
Though the new album received backlash from some it still sold nearly 1.5 million copies during its first day on the market, as well as becoming Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day. Over time, more have come to appreciate the rawness of her most recent album.
As a surprise during her last London show, Taylor premiered the music video for her “The Tortured Poets Department” song “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” which contained behind the scenes clips from Eras Tour shows and practices Aug. 20, 2024.
As always, Swift had more surprises up her sleeves and revealed Oct. 15 2024 through social media that two Target exclusive products: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Book” and “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” on vinyl and CD would drop Black Friday.
According to the Associated Press, the 256-page book sold nearly 815,000 copies Thanksgiving weekend of 2024 alone.
The last stop of her tour was Vancouver, British Columbia Dec 6-8 2024. For the last time Taylor performed an Eras Tour show, she treated fans with five additional songs including “A Place In This World,” “New Romantics,” “Long Live,” “New Years Day” and “The Manuscript” Dec. 8.
Many believed that Taylor would announce the release of “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” during the last show. However, when it ended, there was only glitter on the floor and the events of the Eras tour became lost in a memory.
As numbers show, Taylor was incredibly successful during this time and even used her success to give back to communities, donating to food banks in nearly every tour stop.
Not only will Swifties be running back home with the events, memories and friendship bracelets from this tour but the world will remain changed as Taylor single-handedly becomes a hero (on a history book page). For Taylor, and many others, the end of the Era’s era has become the start of an age. All of those who attended and watched from live streams will remember how the crowds went wild.
