December 8th, 2024.
The end of the era(s).
Hundreds of grainy live streams. Countless Mastermind games played. Three new(ish) albums. Multiple setlist & costume changes. An unprecedented amount of sequins & friendship bracelets. It all comes to an end on December 8th, 2024.
Taylor Swift takes the stage for the last time on her historic Eras Tour and it’s the end of an era as we know it.
When Taylor came back into the spotlight with her rerecordings (though you could argue that folklore & evermore set the stage for this unbelievable 4 year run), I don’t think anyone expected the ride we would all journey on with her.
Taylor has had an incredible career, but there was something in the air when she released Fearless TV, and then followed up by a historic press tour for Red TV; the bubble was starting to burst, things were picking up like we had never seen and she was everywhere. Our Grammy winning, Easter egg loving popstar was become more famous than ever before.
She’s always been one of the most famous people on the planet, ever since she uttered Tim McGraw’s name in 2006, but this felt different. You could feel that something was changing.
Then, Midnights was announced and so started the streak of Taylor announcing things on a public stage. Then, the Eras Tour was announced…something we as fans had been wanting for ages but didn’t think it was possible.
We should’ve never doubted Taylor Alison Swift that she’d be able to stuff all her eras into one show, and give us the performance of a lifetime.
We were not prepared for what started on March 17th, 2023; how the tour would change the history of music and concerts forever. We weren’t prepared for the friendship bracelets, for the surprise songs, for the outfits, for the note changes, for the theatrics we would get.
We weren’t prepared for the celebrity spottings, the special guests, the announcements we would receive from the Eras Tour stage.
I don’t think we expected this tour to take up so much space in our lives for almost two years; I never expected I’d be driving to a friend’s house while listening to a grainy livestream on TikTok as Taylor sang So Long London for the first time.
What Taylor accomplished this tour is unbelievable. She created a sense of community, a safe space, a movement of women and girls (and gays and theys and even straight men) who felt empowered by their femininity, by her lyrics and melodies; she created something that no one else ever could — an experience that means so much to millions of people from all over the world that brought hope and love back to so many of us. That healed us from the inside out and we didn’t even realize it was happening.
Taylor set the stage for a collective viewing experience; she brought fun back into our lives, especially after experiencing a Global pandemic. She got us talking to strangers, she brought out the fun side of being a girl again — she allowed us a space to create, engage, and deeply feel.
I never thought I’d go to a concert by myself; it didn’t seem fun, until the Eras Tour. Why would I wait around for someone to come with me when I could just experience this once-in-a-lifetime tour on my own.
I might’ve attended the show alone, but I wasn’t lonely. I had never felt more myself, more at peace, more together, than I did at The Eras Tour.
This tour generated billions for the economy; it launched small businesses, it changed the way cities and states prepare for stardom this big. It allowed everyone to let loose, to be fun and lean into their quirky side. Hotels braced themselves for an influx of travelers & hosted Taylor Swift parties to entertain concert goers. Clothing & accessory stores like Stoney Clover & LoveShackFancy threw pre-concert parties with exclusive merch and activities. Airports put up signs during concert weekends, signaling that they were ready for the Swifties & towards the end, the stadiums started hanging friendship bracelets outside to add to the elements.
It was a world wide experience, that had Prince William dancing to Shake It Off, Sir Paul McCartney trading bracelets with fans, and Billy Joel calling her one of the greatest artists of all time.
The Eras Tour cracked something open in all of us, but I think it cracked something open in Taylor as well. After her cancellation, we saw her seclude herself and become someone we didn’t recognize. After her music was stolen, she probably wasn’t too sure if she could keep doing this but we stayed behind her, pushing her and egging her on, reassuring her that we’d be there.
While this was happening professionally, she was dealing with heartbreak privately as her 6 year relationship crumbled slowly and then all at once. She started the tour a little hesitant, a little reserved, a little buttoned up because of what was happening behind the scenes and slowly but surely, she became bejeweled again, right before our eyes.
We watched her fall in love on this tour & find her person; we watched her become more confident and she allowed us to be in on the joke…allowed us to watch her be loved out loud by a man, when we’ve been loving her out loud for almost two decades.
Time gives some perspective, doesn’t it? Who thought that at the start of tour we’d be where we are? Where Taylor is? That we would see one of the best love stories unfold before our very eyes… that Taylor Swift would turn into the ultimate WAG, that she’d bring her boyfriend on stage with her and allow us to celebrate this relationship so proudly and alongside her.
We changed throughout The Eras Tour, so much that I cannot even remember a time before I spent my weekends watching livestreams on TikTok, playing guessing games on what outfit she’d come out in, and hoping for a surprise song that I’d been praying for for weeks.
The Eras Tour allowed me to feel deeply, to get back into my fangirl era, to realize that I deserve to have my dreams come true, that I deserve to be loved out loud. It brought a sense of community back to my life that I had been missing. Being a fan is so special, it’s always been a huge part of my personality, and being able to lean into it at 31 years old, when the idea of being a fangirl is something that only children and teenagers are allowed to do, was incredibly moving. The Eras Tour brought me back to life and gave me permission to love things like music, artists, girlhood so deeply and proudly.
It changed me. It changed the Swifties. It changed Taylor.
I am so sad to say goodbye to this moment in time and I don’t think anything will prepare us for what we feel on December 8th, 2024 but what a joy, what a privilege, it is to have had this experience — whether you saw the live show, watched the movie on repeat, or just enjoyed watching livestreams every weekend with your fellow Swifites… we were all part of this historic moment in pop culture, in society, and for that I’m forever grateful.