The biggest tour of the decade (so far) rolls up closer to its end in Toronto.
Announced back in June of 2023, for Taylor Swift fans, the long wait ended with the first of six shows kicking off on November 14th at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. To say the city made these shows a priority understates the impact. With ticket demands prompting fans to travel the globe, the Eras Tour resembles a travelling Super Bowl in terms of economic impact. Bars, restaurants, hotels, stores, and destinations embraced these shows to make Swifties feel welcomed in Hogtown and to take their slice from housing, feeding, clothing, and entertaining them during their stay. Sure, there were advantageous splashes of corporate association to these shows, fooling no one into thinking that a monopolistic telecommunications company and a bank that funds the fossil fuel industry more than any other entity in Canada are Swifties at heart. This is how the business of show is done and if they want to throw the service fees we pay to support our favourite artists financially, that’s better than many alternatives. Another controversy around the Toronto stop of the Eras Tour was the reported relocation of unhoused people from Roundhouse Park near the Rogers Centre, citing safety concerns due to the large-scale event. But we’ll leave the negatives at the door because this piece is about the music of Taylor Swift and the community that loves her and less about how city officials and corporations react to such an event. Certainly, people who look a lot like me are taking the opportunity to slander the artist and her fans because of those issues, or other perceptions around celebrity, talent, pop music, and associated topics calcified into their narrow band of opinion. Some people get off on yucking yums. Curs are gonna mudgeon and well, you know how Swifties deal with that.
My personal experience with music and community was formed in my early days as a Deadhead, so I’d like to think I have some experience with superfandom. There is a clear alignment between Deadheads and Swifties that I had considered before and affirmed during the night of November 16th, when my 15-year-old daughter and I attended night three of the Toronto Eras Tour. I’ll keep the comparisons brief, but follow along…
Both Deadheads and Swifties share an unparalleled dedication to their favorite artists, traveling long distances to attend concerts. Deadheads famously ventured to Europe for shows in 1972, 1974, 1981, and 1990, while my own shortest drive to a show before living in the States was two hours, with ten-hour journeys being the norm. These fandoms express their devotion through signature styles: Deadheads with tie-dye and Swifties with sparkles. They both passionately sing along to every word of every song and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Pre-show gatherings are a staple for both groups, with the Grateful Dead parking lot scene being dubbed Shakedown (named after their underwhelming album Shakedown Street) and Swifties “Taylgates.” The creativity doesn’t stop there—Swifties exchange handmade bracelets, while Deadheads trade homemade stickers. Buskers playing fan-favorite tunes are common outside venues, and both groups are collectors at heart. They also deeply understand their fandom’s lore, from lyrics to the broader ‘family’ connections like producers and co-writers, binding them even closer to the music and the community it fosters.
Okay, Deadheads like to enjoy the music with ‘enhancements’ shall we say. However, walking amongst the crowd to the Rogers Centre, the aroma of cannabis was well represented. I’ll just say the strain was Lavender Haze. I assume it already exists. Lastly, I’ll repeat what creates fan devotion in the first place, the music and then the community. Taylor Swift fans aren’t there just because she looks and acts nice. Those factors echo, but they don’t endure. The words, the songs, the connection and the community make fans for life. I know a little something about it after my discovery at the age of 18 (an aged adopter in Swifty Years) and a possibly more fervent fan today 35 years later. That’s enough of a journey down Deadhead Swifty Lane.
When I was approved to review this concert, I was generously given two tickets by Taylor’s amazing publicity team. My youngest daughter was my natural plus one. Interested as she was, she admitted to having moved on from her interest in Taylor Swift due to ignorance than anything else. Today’s musical obsessions are Tyler the Creator and Ethel Cain, but shift and morph all the time. She hadn’t paid as much attention to new albums after 1989, that ubiquitous, unavoidable smash that sent TS to hover at the top of the zeitgeist in late 2014/early 2015. Back when she was five and six years old, Taylor Swift was likely the only artist she could name who weren’t the Backyardigans. Who still dead ass slap, no cap as today’s youth profess. Her excitement did grow and where her idea about dressing up was initially met with vague interest, by Saturday, she chose a sparkly dress and was glad she did. Looking at the setlist, I said “The show is three and a half hours long and the setlist is 45 songs!” The eye-rolled response was “It’s the ERAS Tour, Dad.”
Walking with the crowd to enter the Rogers Centre, it was clear that girls and young women, to no shock formed the core of her fans. Moms and dads hurried their bedazzled and awestruck changes along, but all ages of Swifties were present. I saw some grannies with wrists covered in friendship bracelets and homemade shirts with their favourite lyrics. When asked the next day for a few words to describe the experience, I said “It was being among 49,000 people having their best day ever.” The energy was palpable as it would be through the rapturous phenomenon of collectively seating the population of Santa Monica into an ecstatic state. I imagine each stop of the Eras Tour has somewhat rippled the veil of reality.
After being handed our obligatory PixMob LED bracelets, we headed down to our seats a mere 17 rows from the edge of the B-stage thrust. The lights fell and the first of many feminine roars rose up as Gracie Abrams took the stage, the 25-year old rising star not even attempting to process its impact coolly. In her element, having supported 20% of the entire Eras Tour, Abrams opened her set with Risk, from last summer’s The Secret of Us. Of all the Eras openers, Abrams is likely closest tied to Ms. Swift having shared co-writes and producer, Aaron Dessner. Dessner co-wrote the next song, I Love You, I’m Sorry, a galloping number that grabbed my attention, having never heard Abrams’ music previously. Her set touched on selections from both of her full-length releases, Good Riddance being released in 2023. I apply a dad rock filter, mostly without intention. My particular one has a wide mesh for modern and pop music. As I have said twenty-two times already, as a lifelong obsessed music fan, it’s only about the songs. I don’t care if it’s someone the same age my kids, a robot or some lunatic 300 years dead. If it’s a good song, I like it without fear of dents to my cred. Gracie Abrams, famous dad aside, has serious talent and I’m excited to follow her career as her literal and figurative voice develops further. Each of the nine songs in her set had at least one hair-raising moment created by her voice, melody or music. Yes, the edible I consumed kicked in around this time of the night. Close To You, her big hit, as my date for the evening told me, closed Abrams’ set before she waved goodbye to tens of thousands of happy fans. As I’m listening back to the studio versions of her set, they seem a bit flat (and still great) compared to her performance. That’s high praise, not because it’s from me, but because this is the impression her stadium show made on a dude around her dad’s age.
Opening acts are usually brought on a tour to deliver a bit more bang for the ticket price. Words like ‘warm-up’ or ‘support’ act are used. There are very few artists who you can say never need an opening band because it’s all about the fans. Drawing my questionable lines again between the Grateful Dead and Taylor Swift, this one is indisputable. The fans don’t need any additional reasons to buy a ticket, they’re already in. On the functional side, few artists perform three-hour shows, either from a lack of energy or songs. Granted, those old San Francisco freaks didn’t incorporate choreography and outfit changes, but they even hit the four-hour mark of shows in their earlier days, around the same age as TS. In the Rogers Centre, the gathered masses were already warmed up, and had been since June 2023. Lady Gaga’s Applause kicked the volume up a notch and a cheer rose. I learned later that this was the dawn of the show. For your information, Iron Maiden has been doing the same thing for decades with UFO’s Doctor Doctor. Time to grab your snacks and claim your seat, takeoff is imminent. A countdown clock ticked from the two-minute mark and as the final ten seconds, the crowd volume rose.
While the second, post-Tortured Poets Department leg of this tour did change the standard setlist, each of these shows have the same songs. To quote my daughter again, “It’s the ERAS tour”. There’s none of that Grateful Dead figure-it-out-onstage shenanigans. This is a capital-S Show. My job as a trusty music writer has mostly been conquered by setlist.fm. I along with the many dads chaperoning their offspring Swiftie charges were likely the only ones who hadn’t watched a minute of video of the show. I avoid movie trailers so I can be surprised. Walking into this show without knowing a thing is EXACTLY what I wanted. Thrills are hard to come by in this digital age. I’ll take them where I can find them.
As the Lover era kicked off the night with Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince, as an outsider, I got it immediately. We were in for an event performed by a star. Yep, tens of billions of brain cells and that’s what I came up with. With flawless runs through the bump-raising Cruel Summer, The Man (with our first intro to the show’s set putting Taylor in her neon office) and You Need to Calm Down, the personal highlight of the introductory Era was a silky performance of the title track. The show jumped back to the Fearless Era of 19 year old Taylor with a three song set of Fearless, You Belong With Me and Love Story. The Red Era came next and along with it was some familiarity with the music. Even a Gen X dad like me couldn’t escape the deep global reach of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I Knew You Were Trouble and All Too Well back in 2012. My companion guide informed me that each night for that first Red Era song, adorable dancer, Kam Saunders delivers a new call back to the first song title’s statement. On this night, Kam spoke fluent Canadian by saying “Yeah, no, for sure, no.” Canadians will translate that to mean, ‘no’. The interstitial musical and dance-costume change interludes announced the next Era. Speak Now was a short single full length song but the intro Castles Crumbling instrumental gave us a beautiful duo dance number before being treated to an elegant Enchanted. The fuck-you Era of reputation followed with Ready For It‘s hard beats and snakey vibes and ended with Look What You Made Me Do. A super solid Era that had the whole fucking place moving. We all got dark and snaky. Then we got dragged back to pandemic days, all shuttered into Taylor’s mossy cabin moments with the evermore and folklore Eras which included witchy willow Taylor, illicit affairs, and marjorie which teared me fully up. I had no idea who Taylor Swift is singing about but I know what she’s singing about. I was glad to say goodbye to 2020 and slide back to 1989. Taylor rose up out of the stage to get us to take her home during a bit of Style. The beat kept rolling to Blank Space. This song was the first that smacked me into awareness of Taylor Swift’s music. This song a decade ago made me a Swiftie.
wait. what? whadidisay?
I turned to look at my date, who now reminded me of when she was 6 years old, wearing kid gloves found at a yard sale, a blue and white flowered dress, big sunglasses and the cutest haircut ever, Shaking It Off staring at herself in a small magnetic mirror on our refrigerator. Max Martin’s crushing bass in Bad Blood made the Skydome shake. An addition to the Eras Tour was the new Tortured Poets Department’s Female Rage: The Musical. It was nice mix of indie songs, dancing and production that felt like its own self-realized section of the show. The gut-wrenching The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived really makes me happy Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce look happy. The Surprise Songs set is my adult lifetime of live musical experience. I’m a Deadhead. Every show I saw of my Swift-equivalent fan band included two ninety-minute Surprise Songs sets. You can do that when the spectacle peaks at guys in jeans standing pretty much still. I was told by an excited young woman who’s rent and food is paid for by me that Gracie Abrams coming out to duet for the set was a big fucking deal. Taylor Swift accompanied the two of them on guitar and maybe 40,000 0ther voices for their song, Us. The other writer on the song, Aaron Dessner who was enjoying this Toronto show as well, didn’t make it to the stage unfortunately. Abrams stayed to sing Out Of The Woods another 1989 song. Midnights’ You’re On Your Own, Kid followed on piano which segued into long short story from folklore.
The final Era, Midnights signalled moving towards the end of the show. Lavender Haze opened the Era as it does the album and was another highlight song for me. Anti-Hero followed, yay, another song I recognized. The show wound down with Midnight Rain, Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled and Mastermind. The finale of Karma put a positive note on the end the world’s greatest show, with fireworks launching and a long outro to introduce her band, singers and dancers. With the last blast, Swift bowed deeply to the audience as the lights flickered off, one by one. The cheers didn’t die down until well after the house lights came up. Confetti was still falling from above and snatched out of the air as souvenirs of the best night ever. My daughter and I made the slow walk up and out of the Rogers Centre, gazing at sparkly joy-filled faces and bracelet covered arms. She looked up to me with a flushed face and just said ‘That was amazing.” Yes, child. That was the concert you will compare every next one to for the rest of your life. And it was easy to admit that I agreed. Until she tries to top it, it’ll be hard to consider a show that will weigh up.
The nearest I can reach to describe the show is a Broadway musical level of ‘show’ somehow transported to a 75-metre magically-visual stage in front of as many Deadheads that you’d find in San Rafael, CA. The entire back of the stage features a video wall that is connected to the story of the production. The cinematography is married to the physical space of the concert as it’s displayed onto it. This show is fully filmic and performed live with a scale that isn’t quite overwhelming. Taylor Swift has done something remarkable: she’s turned a stadium concert into an art form, creating and performing in a space where multiple generations can connect, where her personal narratives become collective experiences. For us, it was more than just a concert—it was a shared memory, a moment of connection between a father and daughter, soundtracked by one of the most significant musical artists of our time.
The Eras Tour concludes its run of over 150 shows after three upcoming in Vancouver on Dec. 6.
Photos provided by TAS Rights Management
Aron Harris
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