Taylor Swift kicks off the Eras tour in sensational style
Excitement was high for music icon Taylor Swift’s Eras tour since the very first announcement.
And while controversy may have reared its head early on - Ticketmaster ran into a great deal of trouble trying to handle the masses of fans and alleged bots trying to secure tickets to the show, and that wasn’t even to mention the “dynamic pricing” debacle.
The tour marked Taylor’s first since 2018, and features some of her biggest - and favourite - tracks from over the course of her illustrious music career … so far.
In fact, for the first show of the tour, the 12-time Grammy award winner (and 46-time nominated artist) performed an astounding 44 tracks, for a total of over three hours. A typical stadium show will run for just under two, and average at around 20 songs.
While some were surprised by the runtime, others barely batted an eyelid after months of speculation over what “a journey through the musical eras of [Taylor Swift’s] career” could entail.
And from the moment people knew it was coming, the tour was set to break records.
Taylor wasted no time with opening night, which became “the most attended female concert in US history”. The record was previously held by Madonna, who had held onto that bragging right for 36 years from her 1987 Anaheim Stadium show.
And Taylor’s fans - affectionately known as Swifties - are well aware, their idol does nothing without careful planning and care. Album releases are often scattered with Easter Eggs for her most devoted followers to pick apart, and everything means something.
So it came as no surprise when Taylor split her show into 10 distinct sections, each inspired by one of her albums. However, none of these were chronological, leaving even the most devoted fans to guess which they were going to hear next.
The entire stage transformed with each new era - from the lighting to the props, videos playing behind Taylor and her dancers, and a mesmerising swim along the catwalk, everything was planned out well in advance to wow her audience.
And in true Taylor fashion, her style on the night reflected this effort too, with the star embarking on no less than 16 spectacular outfit changes to honour each of her beloved albums.
Images: Getty, @taylorswift @kevinmazur @kevincwinter / Instagram