“So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.”
– Taylor Swift, You’re on Your Own Kid
Taylor Swift has earned $13.5 million per performance. She has given multi-million dollar bonuses to the people who are working with her on the road. She has donated to local charities in every city she visits. These are easily researchable facts about Taylor Swift and her ongoing worldwide tour, though one may wonder while reading the facts, “What makes these concerts special?” Well, that is what I am going to tell you.
This is a Swiftie’s guide to the ins and outs of The Eras Tour, and all things Eras related.
Friendship bracelet making came back stronger than a 90s trend when it became something people did in celebration of the Eras tour. I think the bracelets are a fun way for fans to make references to songs, people or inside jokes within the fandom. (one, two, three, LGB! If you know, you know). People trading bracelets at the shows they go to has also become a way for fans to interact with each other.
Searching for “easter eggs” in the music has always been a part of the fandom, but it has skyrocketed to a whole new level since the beginning of the tour. There is now a game called “Mastermind,” where fans can guess her outfits for every show. It is fun to guess what she is going to wear, and it leads me to anticipate the release of more music like “Reputation (Taylor’s Version).” Some people have told me that noticing patterns in the show makes me delusional, but I have to admit, searching for easter eggs in the performances is fun for me, even when they do not lead to anything, because the hunt makes the many hours I spend watching TikTok live streams of the concerts go by a lot faster.
I don’t know about you, but I love the 22 hat. If you do not already know, the 22 hat is a hat that Swift wears every night on tour while performing the song “22”. It is a special moment in the show because, each night, a fan gets picked out of the crowd to come to the VIP section just before the song starts. Then, while singing the song, she walks over to the fan, kneels down on stage, takes the hat off and puts it on the fan’s head. It is a sweet tradition and I cry every time a little kid gets the hat. It is so cute that they get so excited and nervous about it.
Welcome to the acoustic set! The acoustic set of the Eras Tour, also known as surprise songs, is the best part of the show in my opinion. It is exciting but scary because you do not know what songs are going to be played and everyone wants to hear their favorites live. If I had to describe the Surprise Song set in five words, those five words would be “shocking, in a good way.”
I went to Metlife night 3 of the Eras Tour in May of 2023. The entire concert was amazing. The surprise songs that night were “Welcome To New York” on guitar and “Clean” on piano. Swifties made friendship bracelets, we took the moments at our concerts and we are not afraid to celebrate Taylor Swift.
Links for Facts:
AJC.
Emma Joyce is an English major.
Featured image courtesy of Emma Joyce.
