December 8, 2024, was a devastating day for Swifties worldwide; it was the day Taylor Swift finally completed her record-smashing Eras Tour. It was, as she said herself during her performance of “Long Live”, “The end of an era, but the start of an age.”
“We have had so many adventures. It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. We’ve gotten to perform for over 10 million people on this tour and tonight we get to play one last show for you here tonight in beautiful Vancouver. And we’re gonna make it count,” said the 35-year-old singer-songwriter at the beginning of her last show in Vancouver, where she was joined by “Close To You” singer Gracie Abrams.
The Eras Tour was truly something to remember, spanning 21 countries and five continents within 149 shows. Many unique traditions blossomed on this tour; Swifties often made friendship bracelets to trade during the show, a reference to the lyric, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it,” in her Midnights song, “You’re on Your Own, Kid.” Swift herself would give away her hat to one lucky kid during her performance of “22”.
The three-and-a-half hour tour itself was a masterpiece, an opportunity for Swift to perform songs she hadn’t previously had a chance to, due to the Coronavirus pandemic back in 2020. Her setlist spanned ten of her eras (albums) and included fan favorites like “Shake It Off” and “Cruel Summer”, as well as two surprise songs at each show. Three album announcements were made while she was on tour; Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 1989 (Taylor’s Version), and The Tortured Poets Department.
Beginning back in March of 2023, the end of the tour truly felt like the end of an era. Abrams, who had joined Swift for 49 Eras Tour shows, said that the final show felt a lot like the last few hours on the last day of high school. “Everyone had been crying all day. It felt like the last day of school backstage,” she said. “Everyone was walking around with their [Eras Tour] books, signing each other’s books.”
Swift showed her passion for her dancers at the very end of the show, bringing them all together for a very tearful group hug. She then turned to each of them and embraced them individually, before slowly exiting the stage for the last time. While the Eras Tour may have ended, rest assured, Taylor Swift won’t disappear for long. It may have been the end of an era, but as Swift said herself, it was also the start of an age.
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