Taylor Swift returned to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night almost five years after her “Reputation” tour set records at the venue. Now, she’s set another one: selling out three nights in a row on the career-spanning “The Eras Tour.”
The cheering, hyper-enthusiastic crowd was decked out in costumes representing one of Swift’s personas, and many seemed overwhelmed to be at the concert at all following the Ticketmaster meltdown which meant a lot of fans didn’t get tickets at all.
Swift alluded to this early on in the concert, acknowledging that many of the Swifties had “gone through an extensive effort” to be at the show. In return, Swift delivered a three-hour-plus show with songs from each of her albums. Not just the greatest hits, but deep cuts and unexpected surprise songs that sent the audience into hysteria.
Swift famously had to cancel her “Lover” album tour due to the pandemic in 2020, so she kicked off the show with five songs from the album, including “Cruel Summer,” “The Man,” and “The Archer.” It was clear immediately that the audience knew every word to every song and would be singing and shouting the lyrics back to Swift all night.
The stage setup looked deceptively plain before the concert began, but the high-definition digital wall on the stage extended to the long catwalk in the middle of the arena offering dizzying visuals to accompany each song – from a burning house to a sunlit forest to slithering snakes.
As the concert continued, it was clear that the evening was on the level of a theatrical performance broken down into acts. Swift neatly arranged the songs from across her 17-year career to create a story more than just a concert – and she took the audience with her.
After “Lover,” there was a brief stop in the “Fearless” era (the title song, “You Belong With Me,” and “Love Story”) before trees sprouted from the stage and twilight descended for the “evermore” era – one of the two albums of folky pop she released during the pandemic.
It was during this extended set that an impromptu moment happened that stunned Swift and made her emotional, as well. Seated at the piano for the ballad “Champagne Problems,” the crowd turned on their cellphone lights without any prompting and turned the arena into what appeared to be thousands of fireflies. Only Swift could make a giant sports arena seem so intimate.
“Best night ever ahead of us,” Swift said to screaming cheers. “You’re a bouncy, jumpy, dancy crowd, which is a specific favorite of mine.”
If any era got short shrift in the show, it was “Speak Now,” with just fan favorite “Enchanted” selected to represent the early album in Swift’s career. “Reputation” seemed a little too over-represented, but it was impossible to leave out hits like “Look What You Made Me Do” and “Ready For It.”
The “Red” era was capped off by the 10-minute version of “All To Well,” which recently won Swift a Grammy for best video. Standing at center stage with her guitar, Swift seemed incredibly vulnerable, but never once during the three-hour show did she seem tired. I admired her stamina for all the choreography, costume changes, and her unfaltering vocals.
The other pandemic album, “folklore,” took up one of the largest chunks of the night with eight songs, including “Betty,” “The Last Great American Dynasty,” and “Cardigan.” A treehouse-like cabin appeared on stage and Swift performed many of the songs in and around it.
Then it was on to the “1989” era with big hits like “Style,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood,” before we got to one of the most anticipated parts of the night – the surprise songs. Swift has been selecting two different songs from her career for each night of the tour. Atlanta got “The Other Side of the Door,” from “Fearless,” which caused a fresh wave of screams and cries,” and “Coney Island” from “evermore.” I was hoping for “Getaway Car,” but I guess some other city on the tour will get to enjoy that one.
After the surprise songs, Swift did a neat trick of diving into an opening on the stage and a video projection showed her swimming up the catwalk back to the main stage for the most recent era – “Midnights.” The disco percussion of “Lavender Haze” got the crowd bouncing again while a sexy chair dance was the highlight of the revenge song “Vigilante Shit.”
Swift closed the night with “Karma,” a power-affirming groove where she embraces her own happiness while reminding all those who came for her or doubted her that karma does come back around.
“The Eras Tour” is both exhilarating and exhausting in the best way. You’re not likely to ever see anything as big and theatrical like this from anyone else. When the show was over and the lights came on, many people just sat there trying to process what they had seen. Even writing this review feels inadequate to express just how intense and overwhelming the experience is.
“The Eras Tour” continues tonight and Sunday night. Tickets are selling on the secondary market for ridiculous prices, but this is one of the rare cases where I would say it’s worth the money. You should not miss this.
