Concert Review: “The Eras Tour” is a once-in-a-lifetime experience

WSPNs+Selena+Liu%2C+Hallie+Luo+and+Jenny+Shine+review+Taylor+Swifts+The+Eras+Tour.

Credit: Talia Macchi

WSPN’s Selena Liu, Hallie Luo and Jenny Shine review Taylor Swift’s “The Era’s Tour.”

Jenny Shine, Selena Liu, and Hallie Luo

It’s impressive to sell out entire stadiums, and what’s even more remarkable is performing a sold-out show in a full on downpour. There’s only one artist in the music industry who can do this: Taylor Swift.

“The Eras Tour” is a nation-wide tour with over 50 sold-out shows. We were lucky to experience it for ourselves, as we attended night two of Swift’s sold-out concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Although “The Eras Tour” is a very expensive excursion, it’s a full-day experience with over six hours of live music. Swift sang over three hours of her original music that spanned over a decade of her career. Her set list contains 44 songs, two of which change every show. The high-quality production, opening sets, backup dancers, two surprise songs and the pouring rain made the concert unforgettable.

The night we attended, Saturday, May 20, was deemed “a waterpark,” by Swift due to the extensive rain. The elaborate outfits we had been planning for months were soaked in seconds of stepping outside, and we had to throw on uncomfortable plastic ponchos for the remainder of the night. Shockingly, this only made the experience better because it forced us to live in the moment. During concerts these days, some people record on their phones and don’t truly enjoy the show. For our show, artists GAYLE and Phoebe Bridgers opened for Swift. Having opening sets played by artists that we were fans of made the concert all the more memorable.

Although the rain left us shivering with pruned fingers, this became unimportant to us as soon as Swift entered the stage. During the whole night, we were wondering how she was able to perform so flawlessly on a slippery stage in heels, without technical difficulties or a missed beat. It truly felt like the rain didn’t restrain the show.

The visuals during her performance were astounding, and what made it even more monumental was how quickly the props were set up and removed from the stage as she switched between her different eras. For example, for the “evermore” album era, grand pine trees lined the front of the stage. During the song “Bad Blood” in the “1989” era, real fire was shot from the top and sides of the stage. The flames were so big that we could feel the heat from our seats. Colorful and elaborately designed lights shone on the stadium throughout the entirety of the show.

In between eras, while Swift was changing, stunning visuals, such as the closeup of a pine cone or a panoramic view of a dark forest, were projected on the big screen as instrumental music played from the speakers. The transitions seemed to create a completely different atmosphere and allowed us to adjust appropriately to the next era.

While the entire setlist was filled with amazingly produced vocals and backgrounds, a few stood out to us as monumental moments from the night. The religious experience that is the song “Don’t Blame Me,” was unforgettable, especially when a beacon of light appeared during the high note or when the tune transitioned from the bridge into the start of  the song “Look What You Made Me Do.” Swift pulled out all the stops during “august” and “illicit Affairs” during the “folklore” era. She belted out the note change and fell to her knees, causing us to hold back our tears.

Now, arguably the most anticipated part of every show of “The Eras Tour” is the section where Swift sings the two surprise songs. With over 200 songs in her discography, it’s virtually impossible for her to sing them all in one night. So, like the mastermind that she is, Swift keeps the audience’s suspense alive by performing an unknown selection of two different songs each show. Fans have kept lists and made predictions over what songs Swift will sing each night, hoping that their favorite songs will be sung live at the show they are attending.

For the second night of the Gillette Stadium shows, Swift surprised the crowd with “Question…?” and “Invisible,” songs off of her most recent album “Midnights,” as well as her oldest debut album “Taylor Swift.” So, such songs were released 17 years apart from each other.  While these songs choices disappointed some fans, it was amazing for us to experience.

One final thing we want to note is that Taylor knows how to perform. Her charismatic personality shone through her jokes, charming laugh and many smiles she shared with the crowd. She kept us on our toes the entire time by talking about rerecording her albums with “Taylor’s Version,” what Gillette Stadium performances mean to her,  how her New England fans didn’t mind bad weather and her eternal gratitude to her fans.

We aren’t exaggerating when we say that this is the best concert we have ever been to. Singing along with our favorite artist to the familiar lyrics that we’ve been shouting since we were eight-years-old with 70,000 other fans was absolutely exhilarating. This was by far one of our most memorable moments together, and one that we are sure to carry with us for the rest of our lives.