The morning of Taylor’s second show in Arlington, Texas, my excitement woke me up. The past few weeks I had been constantly telling everyone I encountered about my long-anticipated trip to see Taylor Swift in concert. As someone who grew up constantly listening to her, I have been lucky enough to go to a couple of her shows in the past; however, The Eras Tour is special. 

Hyped up by Swifties across the internet, this tour is making millions per performance alone. This is her first tour since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. Her sixth tour was scheduled to promote her album Lover in 2020, but was canceled due to the pandemic. 

Since her last live concert, Swift has released six albums, including Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Through her discography, Swift has told dozens of stories, reflecting both her own life and those of fictitious characters. One of the most famous stories since her last tour is told through the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”  This song was originally released in 2012, but was just five minutes long. This longer version allows Swift to tell a more complete story of a tough breakup.

On the morning of her concert, it occurred to me that the performance might not live up to its expectations, which were set astronomically high. However, I was not disappointed. Swift’s singing was only part of the experience – merely a chapter in the book of The Eras Tour extravaganza. To me, the three consecutive hours of her songs went by in what felt like seconds. Getting there a few hours early, I saw hundreds of people walking to AT&T Stadium from miles away. I couldn’t believe how far people were walking– it must have taken them at least an hour. Without question, every single person who was walking to the stadium was wearing some type of Taylor-themed outfit representing a different “era” of her discography; there was everything from sparkles to cowboy boots to funny t-shirts. 

Once arriving at the stadium, I immediately went to the line for merchandise, as I heard that it took hours to get through. To my surprise, I got to the front of the line within ten minutes, despite the fact that there were hundreds of people before me. Part of the excitement of the concert was walking around before the start and looking at everyone’s outfits. Those who were not wearing sparkles wore really niche costumes that referenced different lines from her songs, that only real Swifties would understand. 

Now, if you are going to Swift’s concert and do not wish to know the setlist, I advise you to stop reading here. Personally, I wanted to know every song that would be played ahead of time. Across the internet, there was much speculation regarding not only the setlist for the tour, but the reasoning behind the opening song, “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince,” since it is not one of her most famous songs. Fans were able to theorize (as all good Swifties do) that Swift chose this song as the first one in the lineup because of the opening line, which states, “It’s been a long time coming.” This further shows Swift’s recognition of how long-awaited this tour has been for not only her fans, but for herself as well. 

Throughout the next three hours, Swift sang every song with as much energy and excitement as the last, making it feel like this was her first performance of the tour; she did not take a single break in-between songs for the entirety of the concert (except for occasional costume changes which never took longer than 30 seconds). Swift was personable to the audience, making jokes about everyone’s outfits, as well as explaining the reasoning behind her different albums, or “eras,” that she performed. 

With each change of album, the set would change drastically. After all, you can’t have the woods from Folklore be the backdrop for Lover. About three-quarters of the way through the show, Swift announced the two long-awaited mystery songs. Everyone in the stadium sang the words to “Death By A Thousand Cuts” and “Clean,” knowing that we would be the only people to hear these songs at the Eras concert. Overall, the magical evening that Taylor Swift orchestrated lived up to the hype, and I would highly recommend going, even if you’re not a Swiftie.