By Jacob Pellegrino
Most concerts, even big ones, are pretty localized to the date and time of the show. However, Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour is more than just a show, rather, it is an event drawing people from around the country for each show. Throughout the whole weekend, I saw ‘Eras’ tour shirts everywhere with people eager for the upcoming show or celebrating the one they saw the day before. The metro red line ran an advertisement over the speakers integrating Taylor Swift song names and reminding people that it could be used to avoid traffic. This ad was effective as every afternoon of a show, trains were packed with people not just heading to the concert, but dressed up as their favorite era of Taylor’s music.
Taylor Swift can draw a crowd like no other and makes it incredibly worth it for her fans with an intricate performance and massive setlist. Swift is the first artist to sell out three dates in a row at NRG Stadium, sales numbers she accomplished in multiple cities and that were still not enough to fill the demand. Not only is the show incredible, but it is amazing how clear and pristine Swift is able to keep her voice with so many shows in a row. For those of you who don’t know, each night Taylor Swift plays a 44-song set, with two surprise songs. The massive set is broken into smaller sets from each album that Swift has released, walking the audience through her storied career in a three-plus hour spectacle.
I attended the Saturday show, the second of the three that Taylor Swift performed in Houston, the city where Swift’s mother, a UH graduate, grew up. The metro was again filled to the brim with excited Swifties on the way to the show, by far the most glitter and sequins I have ever seen on Houston public transit. Getting to the venue, there was a giant banner proclaiming “NRG Stadium (Taylor’s Version),” in a reference to her re-recording efforts to gain control of her catalog. Upon entering the area around the stadium, I saw merch booths filled with people trying to get shirts for the tour and other merchandise like bracelets and tapestries. Once I got into the stadium, venue staff gave me a bracelet with a light on it, similar to those given at stops on The Weeknd’s most recent tour. The bracelet’s light was later used for an effect akin to light sticks at a K-pop concert to fill the audience with color that extends the production design to the whole venue.
The show began with opener Gracie Abrams, who emerged onto the vast stage wearing a Taylor Swift shirt. The stage was kept stark for the openers, with the engulfing video board taking on a variety of colors with close ups on the left, right, and center. Having only heard a few Gracie Abrams songs prior to her set, I was impressed at her smooth vocals and stage energy. She spoke to the crowd about how much Swift means to her and her excitement to be on the tour in between songs before skipping off the stage.
The same stage setup was maintained for Beabadoobee’s set. I saw her on her last tour and she did not disappoint in NRG Stadium. Closing with “Cologne,” Beabadoobee brought a rock energy to the venue with her soft, almost whispery voice. She too talked about Taylor Swift and her excitement to be on the tour, describing Swift as “one badass woman.” She ended her set running down the runway, towards the crowd, before blowing a kiss and leaving. Both openers’ apparent awe at opening for Swift and excitement at the opportunity really underscores how big of an event each tour stop is. Even the people who are part of the production seemed amazed at what was to come, as the crowd’s anticipation only grew.
Suddenly, after a break from Beabadoobee’s set, the stage changed to display a giant clock on the screen with accompanying digital countdowns on either side. At two seconds, the lights in the venue went off and on completion the clock moved out shifting into a range of videos being shown. Backup dancers came out with giant, flowing fans before Swift herself triumphantly graced the stage. She began with the “Lover” era, starting with Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.
After a song or two, Taylor Swift took a breath as the crowd roared in applause, brushing her hair back and glowing in excitement for the experience she was about to provide for the audience. Even at this level, Swift makes the show something deeply personal for fans, showing how much it means to her and imbuing it with more meaning for her long-time listeners by extension. When she talks to the audience, you can tell that she is speaking from the heart and the craft that went into her music. Ending her first segment speaking with the audience, Swift proclaimed, “You’re making me feel like I’m the first artist to play three shows at this gorgeous stadium… you’re making me feel like I’m the man,” a perfect segway to her song “The Man.”
Swift’s stage design heavily utilizes the display behind her, combined with physical elements in a way that led to the band being moved to the wings of the stage. At times, Swift had platforms that raised her up above the rest of the stadium, which also made her easier to see for much of the audience. Physical structures, such as the skeleton of an office used for “The Man,” provided a unique visual texture to the night.
As much as I would like to do a play-by-play of every moment of the night, for concision and to avoid spoiling the whole performance for people who have not gone yet, I will resist and focus on some highlights of the night. First off, Taylor Swift has so many classics. It’s impossible to not know a large number of the songs she played, but eras such as “Fearless” and “Red” were incredibly impactful due to the nostalgia associated with many of the compositions.
“Reputation” is an album that was almost made to be played live. The energy, the aesthetics: everything just meshes so well together to create something captivating to see in the stadium. The era began with a video montage of Swift walking and visuals of snakes, a symbol of that era before breaking into “...Ready For It.” Despite a large number of wardrobe changes throughout the night, her outfit for “Reputation” was perhaps the most striking. Wearing a one-legged black sequined jumpsuit, designed by Roberto Cavalli and finished with red snakes wrapping around Swift, Taylor looked triumphant as she performed songs from an era that saw her redefine her relationship with the media and question many of her personal relationships.
“Red” was another segment that had strong significance for Swift. Within the context of her career, it was a signal of her desire to shed the constraints of country music and explore new sounds. Additionally, it is one of the two albums that she has released re-recordings for as of the performance. Taylor Swift prefaced saying that “Red” is “an album I got to experience twice now,” before thanking her fans for making the re-recordings possible by supporting her and streaming the newer versions. In a classic moment, she began the last song of that era with, “one more song from the ‘Red’ era if you happen to have ten minutes,” before playing the expanded version of “All Too Well” to a captive audience.
“Folklore” brought a woodsy background combined with a house on the stage that Swift performed in. Swift explained to the audience what made “Folklore” different for her in that she created characters, instead of being “so incredibly invasively autobiographical.” One of the persistent things that made the concert so great was Swift’s insight into her work that she shared with the audience. For example, before playing “Betty” in the aforementioned house, she described the song and her writing process, humorously adding that it was a return to her theme of “womansplaining to men how to apologize.”
As stated earlier, the set is not the same every night, Swift includes two “surprise songs,” which are often deeper cuts from her catalog. At this show, she played “A Place in This World” on guitar from her self-titled debut album. Swift followed with “Today Was a Fairytale,” played live for the first time since 2013 on piano. These songs felt particularly meaningful as Swift played alone, accompanying herself, on a bare stage without the visual spectacle of most of her performance. The surprise song section culminated with her famous stage dive, where Swift dives head first into an opening on the stage with video that makes it appear as if she is swimming through the runway, before ending with a selection of songs from “Midnights.”
Taylor Swift is not only one of the most well-known artists of this generation, but also an all-time great live performer. Everything, from the vocals to the visuals and the extra touches, like coordinated lights in the audience given on entry, came together to create something truly memorable. Having last toured for “Reputation,” this tour is the first tour for four of Swift’s ten studio albums. Swift spoke about her excitement to bring those albums to her fans in-person throughout the show, but the real testament to this desire to perform for the people who have been affected by her music was her constant look of joy throughout the show. During the whole performance, Swift’s face was filled with genuine delight that easily transferred to the audience. For around three hours, Taylor Swift provided an escape from the issues of daily life and into the world created by her music for thousands of fans.