TAYLOR SWIFT - ERA's tour
Gillette Stadium
By seth shapiro
If you’ve been watching TV, listening to the radio or have been on the internet lately you must have heard the stories about Taylor Swift “Era’s Tour” her 1st in nearly 5 years. It is the most coveted ticket of the summer, (if not the year). Perhaps you’ve seen a viral video of a surprised fan receiving tickets to the show and the aftermath that follows: Screaming, crying, nearly fainting, and for good reason.
Photo credit Seth Shapiro
This magnitude of this tour is insane! It takes over 65 tractor trailers & thousands of people 4 days to setup. She performs 3 nights in each town, Friday, Saturday & Sunday, and before the show ends & the house lights come up Sunday night, the crew is standing by to take it all down so it can move to the next stop, in under 24 hours.
This isn’t “just another concert”, it’s a full-blown immersive experience, that lasts for over 3 hours. Think about that for a minute, over three hours of stage time 3 nights in a row playing to roughly over 200,000 fans this weekend.
Photo credit Seth Shapiro
On the last night of her 3-day run at Gillette Stadium the anticipation was evident. The parking lots were filling up at 2pm. Everyone was excited, exchanging bracelets, getting merch, taking selfies and making videos. You could feel the energy & emotions of the 68,000 fans in attendance as they filled the stadium, some of whom were there the night before in the pouring rain. But Sundays show had some extra significance, as it was Taylors 13th time performing at Gillette!
Taylor wrote 4 albums during the pandemic, Lover, Folklore, Evermore & Midnights. Those new albums which she is performing for the 1st time, along with her extensive catalog of other chart toping hits could make satisfying everyone tough, but she has found a way packing in 40+ songs per night. The Era’s setlist has been consistent, the exception being that each night there are 2 surprise songs, but these shows are anything but repetitious.
Taylor is masterful at the ubiquitous gaze, making eye contact with the cameras so every person feels seen by her. The attention to detail is evident on this tour, from the costume changes which were too many to keep track of, to even having smoke coming out of the house chimney during American Dynasty, you have to appreciate the time, effort and expense that went into creating this project. Taylor is working with the best names in the industry for this tour: 8th day sound / Clair Global provides all the audio, Solotech runs the video projections and lighting & PyrotekFX handles pyro, Stage Co on the stage & towers and lets not forget the led bracelets run by Pixmob!
After singing Majorie, the crowd without direction spontaneously lit up the arena with their cell phones. Taylor then took a moment to look out at the stadium, absorb the love and energy from the fans while removing her in-ear monitors and said:” I want you to know, I don’t think this is normal, 70,000 of us having the same experience, its abnormal in the best possible way”. She went on to explain how much this tour means to her, and how much she appreciates sharing those moments with all of us and how grateful she is to be able to do it. She then went into Champagne Problems which had everyone singing along.
For the next 2 hour we sang, danced and cried our way thru the remaining albums, while Taylor belted out hits like Delicate, 22, We are never getting back together, Blank Space, Bad Blood…and the hits go on. After working through the 1989 portion of the show Foxboro fans got a very special treat. Remember I said there are 2 secret songs… Well, Sunday night featured the debut of “I think he knows” on guitar which has never been performed live before. Needless to say the cell phone screens popped up all over the stadium! The 2nd song of the night was “Red” which was going to be played on piano, but when Taylor sat down the keyboard had a mind of its own, playing random keys. Apparently, it got a little to wet the previous night, and with out missing a beat Taylor went back to the guitar and carried on solidifying her true professionalism & talent.
For an artist to put on a production of this size, yet still be able to make every fan in attendance feel a personal connection is almost incomprehensible, yet Taylor manages to do it night after night. No matter where you are sitting, the carefully designed stage, video screens and cameras keep you engaged.
Photo credit Credit TAS Rights Managment
Photo credit Credit TAS Rights Managment
Photo credit Seth Shapiro
The last “era” of music came from the “midnights” album 7 more songs bringing the total for the night to a whopping 45! I can tell you that in all the concerts I have been too this was one of the few I DID NOT see many people leaving early to beat the traffic. And the few that did leave missed out on a spectacular version of Karma followed by fireworks.
The love and support of the fans, and Taylors dedication to her music is clearly evident.
If you have tickets to this tour, you will not be disappointed, if you have never been to a Taylor Swift concert, are still on the fence about possibly going, or refuse to “believe the hype”, you’re missing out.
This tour is possibly one of the best produced events to come along! “Ever, Ever, Ever”