On November 1, 2022, multi time award-winner Taylor Swift announces her sixth concert tour. Swift is arguably the most prominent female pop-star in present time and her tour announcement shook the ‘Swiftie’ fandom. Swift came to Seattle, WA, on July 22 and 23 of this summer. Seattle was stop 18 for her and following the end of the first leg; on August 31 Swift announced a movie recording of the Eras tour, coming out on October 13.
Since Swift is one of the largest artists in the industry, the stadiums she visited had expansive capacities. Even so, it was hard to possibly get tickets for such a sought-after show. Her announcement meant people who weren’t able to get Eras tour tickets get to experience the magic anyway. The tour that covers songs from throughout Swifts’ whole musical career and features two songs off the set-list. “I could not pick a favorite part. I was standing, singing and dancing for those two hours and 48 minutes. If I had to pick it would either be the folklore set or all too well ’10-minute version.’ My favorite album right now is folklore and my favorite song is ‘Betty’ and how she made it feel like a story with the love triangle. Another favorite part was’ all too well 10-minute version’ because it literally is one of her best songs, and is a great song to scream to! I didn’t know what the surprise songs were and I’m glad I didn’t. I liked that I had to guess out of the 3 nights. I love those songs and so glad she chose them. I love ‘our song,’ it is definitely one of her best songs from that album. I’m so happy ‘you’re on your own, kid’ [was played] because I was excited to raise my arm full of bracelets to, ‘so make the friendship bracelets.’ [What drew me in was] honestly all of it, the quality was amazing and I honestly wouldn’t know how to make it better because that was how amazing it was! I’m so glad I saw it. It was important to me seeing this because when she came to Seattle I didn’t have tickets so I stood outside. This movie felt like I was there in a different way. I loved the singing and dancing that was in the theater, it was like a concert in itself,” Sage Norman said.
Some people who had luck on their side were able to make it to the extraordinary concert, and through seeing the movie will get to re-experience it. Though the movie will have few songs cut off from the lengthy setlist, the movie still has a run time of two hours and 48 minutes, which could be exciting for any Swiftie. “[My favorite part was] absolutely everything! it was so incredible and I cannot wait to go so many more times. To be more specific I really enjoyed the cinematography. There were air shots, close ups, and every other type of shot that really allowed you to be immersed in the movie and feel like you were on stage with Taylor herself. I also really like the intros for each of the different eras, especially Reputation, our theater went insane on that one! I think the surprise songs that she chose were probably the best options. Her first hit and it being on debut allowed her to include her first album in the movie which I think was important to have all her eras in there. ‘You’re on your own, kid’ at this point is also kind of a song for the fans especially with the friendship bracelet line and since we didn’t get ‘Long live,’ getting Yoyok is definitely the next best thing. [What drew me in was] being able to experience the concert again and getting to see Taylor up close, but once everyone decided we were dressing up and trading friendship bracelets, I couldn’t wait to go even more! I spent weeks making my friendship bracelets and it was so fun to trade them. It was absolutely amazing. It had the same energy as being in the actual concert even though most people were sitting down and I cannot wait until I can go again,” Olivia Camputaro said.
One of the most speculated and talked about parts of the Eras tour was the two surprise songs after the 1989 set. She performs two acoustic songs from her catalog that aren’t included in the reoccurring tour songs. Swift only recorded a select few of her shows from this leg and so the surprise songs playing in the movie are unknown to Swifties around. “My favorite part of the movie would have to be the Reputation part as the effects like the big snake and the stage were pretty cool to me and I feel like the way they edited the scene was really good and got you hyped up. Reputation is also one of my favorite albums as well. I really liked the surprise songs as ‘You’re on your own, kid’ is one of my favorite songs from Midnights. I don’t know many songs from Debut so I feel like it was smart to do ‘Our song’ as that was one of the more popular songs from Debut. However, I think it would’ve been pretty cool if the surprise songs changed depending on the version you saw, like one showing would have surprise song from night one and two then another could have both surprise songs from night three if that makes sense. The thing that drew me in most about the movie was that I didn’t get to see Taylor when she came to Seattle but I still wanted to see her show and get part of the experience that comes with it like dressing up and trading bracelets. I’m really glad I got to see the movie,” Emily Bauman said.