The Eras Tour

The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 shows in 51 cities across five continents, the Eras Tour had a cultural and socioeconomic impact. It became the highest-grossing tour of all time and the first to earn over $1 and $2 billion in revenue.
Swift designated the tour as a retrospective tribute to all of her studio albums and their corresponding musical "eras". Running over 3.5 hours, the set list consisted of over 40 songs grouped into 10 acts that portrayed each album's mood and aesthetic. The show was revamped in May 2024 to incorporate her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Critics praised the Eras Tour for its concept, production, and immersive ambience, as well as Swift's vocals, stage presence, and versatile showmanship.
The tour recorded unprecedented public demand, ticket sales and attendances, bolstering economies, businesses, and tourism worldwide, dominating social media and news cycles, and garnering tributes from governments and organizations. This also gave rise to multifarious issues: ticketing crashes that inspired a string of anti-scalping laws and price regulation policies; scrutiny of Ticketmaster for monopoly by US authorities; diplomatic tensions in Southeast Asia due to Singapore's exclusivity grant; poor venue management in Rio de Janeiro resulting in a death; a failed ISIS plot to attack the tour in Vienna; and a political scandal in the UK.
Swift disclosed and released various works throughout the tour: the re-recorded albums Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) in 2023; editions of Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department; the music videos of "Karma", "I Can See You", and "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart"; and "Cruel Summer" as a single. An accompanying concert film, documenting the Los Angeles shows, was released to theaters worldwide on October 13, 2023, in an uncommon distribution deal circumventing major film studios. Met with critical acclaim, the film became the highest-grossing concert film in history. A self-published photo book of the tour, The Eras Tour Book, was released on November 29, 2024. An iHeartRadio Music Award for Tour of the Century and six Guinness World Records are amongst the accolades the tour received.
Taylor Swift embarked on the Reputation Stadium Tour, her fifth concert tour, in 2018, in support of her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). It broke the record for the highest-grossing US tour in history. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced Swift to cancel what would have been her sixth tour, Lover Fest, in support of her seventh studio album, Lover (2019). In the time since, she released three studio albums, Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022); and two re-recorded albums, Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021.
During her promotion of Midnights on talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Graham Norton Show in October 2022, Swift hinted at an upcoming tour. On November 1, she announced on Good Morning America and through her social media accounts her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, describing it as "a journey through the musical eras of [her] career". She first announced 27 shows across 20 US cities, beginning in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, and ending in August 2023 in Inglewood, California. The opening acts were Paramore, Haim, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Girl in Red, Muna, Gayle, Gracie Abrams, and Owenn, each two of whom shared a tour date. Messina Touring Group, an Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) partner, served as the tour's promoter.
Popular demand led Swift to add eight shows at some US cities on November 4, and 17 more the following week, making the Eras Tour the most extensive US tour of Swift's career (52 shows), surpassing the Reputation Stadium Tour (38). Billboard described the tour's announcement as "the most chaos-inducing tour announcement of the decade." Among the tour's prospective partners were the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange company FTX; a US$100 million sponsorship deal with Swift was in talks but did not materialize. On January 31, tour merchandise inspired by all of Swift's ten album "eras" were made available for purchase on her website. On August 3, 2023, Swift announced a second US leg, featuring three more cities in October and November 2024, with Abrams as the opener.
On June 2, 2023, Swift announced the Latin American shows of the Eras Tour, with Sabrina Carpenter as opening act. A third show in Buenos Aires was announced on June 6, hours after the public sale commenced, due to high demand. Argentine singer Louta was announced as an additional opening act. Additional shows in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo were announced on June 12. Shows in Asia, Australia, and Europe were announced on June 20.
From June to November 2023, new shows were added to the tour. In the Asia-Pacific, the total number of Singapore shows was increased to six, and two extra shows were announced in Australia. In Europe, eight shows were added initially, followed by fourteen more, then two in London; Paramore was announced as the leg's opening act. Nine shows were also announced in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver), with Abrams as the opening act. In February 2024, a second show was added in Madrid after the venue's football club, Real Madrid, asked La Liga to reschedule their match to cover the "extraordinary demand".
Several politicians and government officials demanded the tour be brought to their country or city. Places such as Canada and Chile were expected to be part of the tour but were absent in Swift's announcement on June 20, drawing dismay and demands from fans and officials. Across Southeast Asia, fans decried the lack of shows in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong and demanded the tour be brought to there. In particular, her return to the Philippines had been highly anticipated. Some journalists and fans opined that unlike venues in Japan and Singapore—the only Asian countries that are a part of the Eras Tour—those in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand might not have the proper infrastructure that is required to host the tour. In addition, Hong Kong and mainland China reopened to foreigners much later than most other places following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which may have affected touring plans, as per South China Morning Post. In Malaysia, legal opposition to LGBT rights and the ban on pop concerts during Ramadan were cited as potential reasons.
Ticket sales for the Eras Tour were handled by various ticketing agencies around the world, such as Ticketmaster, over several dates. Met with unprecedented, record-setting demand, tickets at every venue sold out in hours. Sales faced technical malfunctions in many countries; bulk purchases of tickets by scalpers and bots were reported at numerous venues, resulting in tickets being listed on resale platforms for exorbitant prices. StubHub noted that the Eras Tour ticket sales were "tracking to be the best-selling of any artist [they've] seen". Jay Marciano, CEO of AEG, stated that Swift outright refused to impose dynamic pricing on the tickets in the purview of her fans.
The first US leg was set to go on sale to the general public on November 18, 2022. Due to Swift's multi-year partnership with Capital One, cardholders had presale access, which was set to begin on November 15. Fans registered for the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program from November 1 through 9 to receive a presale code that granted exclusive access to the TaylorSwiftTix Presale on November 15; those who purchased merchandise from Swift's website received "boosts", and previous Lover Fest ticket holders also received preferred access to the presale if they registered using the same Ticketmaster account. Swift confirmed ticket prices in advance, abandoning the "platinum ticket" model; they ranged from US$49 to $449, while VIP packages ranged from $199 to $899. According to Ticketmaster, the TaylorSwiftTix Presale provided "the best opportunity to get more tickets into the hands of fans who want to attend the show" by evading bots and scalpers. It also noted that if demand from the program "exceeds supply", it is possible that "verified fans may be selected at random to participate in the presale." It later reported that it received a record 3.5 million verified fan registrations for the Eras Tour. Ahead of the second leg's presale on August 11, Ticketmaster estimated that 14 million users were vying for roughly 625,000 tickets.
Ticketmaster handled the Canadian sales as well, using the Verified Fan program. Members of the Royal Bank of Canada's Avion Rewards program received exclusive access to a separate presale. An estimated 31 million people registered for the Toronto Verified Fan presale, equal to over 77 percent of Canada's population.
Latin American tickets went on sale in early June 2023. Presale access was granted to Banco Patagonia clients in Argentina on June 5; around one million customers were reported to have queued for the 24,000 available presale tickets for the Buenos Aires shows, and over three million during the general sale. DF Entertainment served as Swift's tour promotion partner in Argentina; CEO Diego Finkelstein called the demand "unprecedented", based on which Perfil opined that Swift could fill the stadium 36 times if she wanted to. On the day of the show, more than 1 million users tried to get last-minute seats.
In Mexico, ticket presale was handled by Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program; registrations ran from June 2 through June 7, followed by a general public on-sale. In Brazil, previous Lover Fest ticket holders and C6 Bank Mastercard holders gained access to presales on June 6 and 10, respectively. Instantly after the announcement of the shows on June 2, people camped outside Allianz Parque to purchase physical tickets to the São Paulo shows that would not go on sale to the general public until June 12. The Mastercard presale tickets sold out in 30 minutes, with over one million customers queueing. On June 12, over two million users queued for the general sale online.
Tickets in Japan were sold by Lawson under their Loppi ticket system. Unlike other countries, all Japanese tickets were only sold as lottery tickets. The pre-sale for American Express card holders began from June 23 to 26, 2023, and pre-sale for Lawson began from June 27 to July 10. Due to the high demand, Lawson announced the second lottery pre-sale, which began from July 28 to August 3. The additional general sale took place on August 22, 2023, and immediately sold out.
In Australia, tickets were only available via Ticketek. Guardian Australia reported that the Australian leg was met with unprecedented demand as well. Within 12 hours, over one million people signed up for presale codes. American Express cardholders purchased VIP packages from June 26 to 28; the website crashed within half an hour, and all packages sold out on June 26. Following the scalping highlighted by Australian consumer organization Choice, the Victoria State Government declared the Eras Tour in Melbourne a "major event", a legal provision penalizing scalping and misleading advertisement in Victoria. Because reselling a ticket for more than 10% above the original price had already been illegal in New South Wales, the government investigated the ticket resale platform Viagogo after the scalping reports. On June 28, those registered with Frontier Touring Company gained access to a presale for which over four million users queued, setting a national record; tickets sold out within three hours. Ticketek stated it neutralized over 500 million bot purchase attempts during the presale. The public on-sale began on June 30, with tickets selling out that day. A second sale on November 10 sold out within two hours for Sydney and under one hour for Melbourne. A third sale for a limited number of tickets, including restricted view seats, occurred on February 13, 2024.
For the Singaporean shows, United Overseas Bank (UOB) cardholders in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam had presale access on July 5, 2023, with over one million users in the virtual queue. The Straits Times reported that Swift's fans in Singapore and other eligible Southeast Asian countries began "scrambling" to sign up for UOB cards. Around 22 million users registered for access to the 330,000 available tickets during the July 7 general sale, which happened both virtually and via Singapore Post offices; tickets sold out immediately despite website crashes. Klook, an official experience partner for the Singapore leg, sold travel packages along with tickets, which were purchased by dozens of Filipino fans and instantly sold out. Marina Bay Sands sold tickets coupled with hotel stays and other experiences.
The Lisbon shows went on sale on July 12 and 27, 2023, via See Tickets, with transferrable access codes mailed to registered users, who were limited to four tickets per code. Standard tickets for both shows sold out within 2.5 hours. Following popular demand for an additional show in Madrid, Spain, La Liga approved football club Real Madrid's request to move their match from May 26 to May 25, 2024, to make way for a second Eras Tour show at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on May 29.
Three million people queued for tickets in Germany, and 600,000 registered for the Warsaw shows. All 170,000 tickets for the three Vienna shows sold out within the first few hours, marking the largest and fastest ticket sale ever in Austria. All 95,000 Zürich tickets sold out within 30 minutes. In Italy, two million people tried to access tickets for the two shows in Milan, per Italian organizers D'Alessandro & Galli.
In France, TF1 reported the highest demand ever for a presale. Angelo Gopee, head of Live Nation France, stated, "the demand is such that many have found themselves in a virtual queue just to subscribe to the mailing list which, potentially, will open access to the ticket office. From memory, we had never seen that in France". The Paris presale opened on July 11, 2023, to over one million queued users. Ticketmaster suspended both Paris and Lyon presales within an hour after reports of login glitches; they were rescheduled to July 17 to 21. Over 250,000 tickets were sold for the six French dates, with AEG France executive Arnaud Meersseman estimating Swift could have done twelve shows due to the overwhelming demand. According to RMC, the capacity for the four shows at Paris La Défense Arena was also increased from 41,500 to 45,000; meaning Swift will perform for 180,000 attendees in Paris alone.
Ticketmaster and AXS handled the United Kingdom sale. Those who had previously pre-ordered Midnights were able to access presales from July 10 to 12. London's Wembley Stadium officials described the demand for tickets as "unprecedented" and noted that waiting times were "longer than usual". Cardiff's Principality Stadium tickets were pre-sold on July 14. In addition to website malfunctions, Forbes reported widespread scalping of the tour's UK tickets, with immediate re-listing on sites like StubHub and Viagogo for extortionate prices. Viagogo responded that the demand of the tour's European leg is something the company had not seen "since the Beatles". The UK general sale took place from July 17 to 19. In Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council granted organizers permission to increase Murrayfield Stadium's capacity from 67,130 to 72,990 for Swift's three shows. In Ireland, around 500,000 people registered for the Dublin shows. On account of the website crashes during the UK sale, Ticketmaster announced staggered on-sale times for Dublin on July 20, 2023; tickets sold out in minutes. The Irish Times highlighted that, unlike the UK, "the practice of reselling tickets above face value has been illegal in Ireland since 2021", so no scalping was reported.
The Eras Tour was produced by Swift's in-house tour production company, Taylor Swift Touring. The company hired around 90 trucks to haul staging, costumes and other equipment for the shows. Canadian production designer Ethan Tobman served as the tour's creative director. The Wall Street Journal stated, the tour is one of the most expensive and "technically ambitious" productions of the 21st century. Interior design magazine Architectural Digest named the tour Swift's "most ambitious" set design and praised its worldbuilding.
The Eras Tour staging is expansive, made of digital displays. It consists of three separate stages connected by a broad ramp: a main stage with a giant, curved widescreen; a rhombic middle stage; and a rectangular stage that along with the ramp forms a T-shape at the middle of the floor. The stages feature various visuals and effects throughout the show. The tour's concept centers on worldbuilding, featuring a diverse set of props and performing styles to convey the varying moods and aesthetics of Swift's albums.
The staging is equipped with an in-built "hyperactive" hydraulic platform, with the main and middle stages having mobile blocks that manually rise from the center to form platforms of different shapes, and another car-like platform that is moved on the middle stage, driven by an operator seated within the platform but concealed from the audience. The tour's "massive" production is heavily inspired by Broadway theatre. It was described as a 4D cognitive experience, featuring pyrotechnics, laser lights, smoke machines, fire cannons, indoor fireworks, PixMob LED bracelets, and image projection technology, such as projection mapping.
Designed as a tribute to Swift's discography across her career since 2006, the Eras Tour covers all styles of music from her 11 studio albums, including The Tortured Poets Department which added since European leg of the tour, ranging from country and pop to folk and alternative rock genres. Some media outlets dubbed the Eras Tour the "greatest hits" tour of an artist still in her commercial prime. The set list placed a somewhat greater focus on albums Swift had not previously toured, including first-ever live performances of several tracks. According to the music journalist Alexis Petridis, the Eras Tour is a musically eclectic production, consisting of "dubstep-inspired, dark-hued pop; tweedy folk; monster-chorus-sporting anthems and acoustic guitar-driven songs that show her Nashville grounding".
The concert ensemble included 15 backup dancers, choreographed by Mandy Moore, and Swift's live band of six instrumentalists who have been touring with her since 2007 and four female backing vocalists. Moore was recommended by Swift's friend, American actress Emma Stone, who had worked with Moore on the musical film La La Land (2016). To prepare for the tour physically, Swift trained using a custom workout routine designed by personal trainer Kirk Myers; Swift sang the entire set list daily while running on a treadmill, trained in dance for three months leading up to the first show, and forwent the consumption of alcohol.
Swift's wardrobe at the Eras Tour was a subject of widespread media coverage. Her costumes and those of her accompanying dancers, as well as her microphones and guitars, paid homage to her 10 albums. They were inspired by previous performances, music videos, and public appearances, intended to align with the overarching themes and palette of the era Swift referenced in an act, showcasing the various sonic and visual aesthetics she had adopted in her career. However, crystals were a unifying fashion choice; costumes of every act were adorned with them.
Attire and accessories were mostly custom-made by fashion houses Swift had worked with before, such as Atelier Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Etro, Nicole + Felicia Couture, Zuhair Murad, Elie Saab, Ashish, Alberta Ferretti, Jessica Jones, and Oscar de la Renta. Swift wore variations of some costumes at different shows, usually paired with Christian Louboutin shoes. Swift's black fedora from "22" was designed by Gladys Tamez. Fausto Puglisi, a designer for Roberto Cavalli, stated that he took an "artisanal approach to craftsmanship" while customizing the outfits, claiming "everything must be eye-catching" when designing for concerts. He incorporated Swarovski crystals in the costumes Swift wore during the Fearless, 1989, and Reputation acts, which required over 170 hours of meticulous "hand-craftsmanship by skilled artisans" to make. The sequined tulle ball gown that Murad designed for the Speak Now act required "over 350 hours of atelier handwork". Ferretti used chiffon and micro-beading for the Folklore era dresses, while the Midnights Oscar de la Renta fringed bodysuit was hand-adorned with more than 5,300 beads and crystals.
StyleCaster regarded the Eras Tour wardrobe as Swift's best fashion collection for a tour. The New York Times' chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman considered the Eras Tour a fashion show beyond merely live music and praised Swift's "fabulous" but purposeful wardrobe choices for setting the bar high for future concerts by other artists.
A typical show of the Eras Tour lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes. It consisted of between 44 and 46 songs, grouped into 10 acts, representing each "musical era" of her discography. Each act was characterized by a specific color scheme, costume, and stage design, and transitions between acts were facilitated by on-screen interlude visuals and marked by costume changes with negligible intermissions.
The show commenced with the Lover act. A clock on-screen counted down to show time as Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Own Me" (1964) played. Surrounded by dancers in pastel-colored, fan-like tapestry, Swift emerged from the platform at mid-stage in a bodysuit and boots. She opened the show with the chorus of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" leading into "Cruel Summer". Accompanied by dancers, Swift performed "The Man" and "You Need to Calm Down" in a sequined blazer, through a set emulating office cubicles. She then delivered the welcome note with the dollhouse from the "Lover" music video on-screen, depicting her various album eras. She played an acoustic version of "Lover" on the guitar with her band, backup singers, and dancers, followed by a stripped-down rendition of "The Archer" alone on the ramp. The second act, Fearless, began with the screen showing gold electric sparks raining down. Swift reappeared in a metallic fringed dress and country boots. She performed "Fearless" on the main stage, "You Belong with Me" at mid-stage, and "Love Story" on the T-stage, all alongside her band while her backup singers wore metallic gold and silver jackets and black jumpsuits.
The third act, Evermore, adopted a forest aesthetic. Swift began singing "'Tis the Damn Season" in a long gown, followed by a dark theme that leads to "Willow" in a "witchy" séance; she wore a cape and performed with dancers holding luminescent orange orbs. She continued with "Marjorie", then "Champagne Problems" on a moss-covered piano beneath an oak tree, concluding the act with Swift introducing her pianist Karina DePiano followed by "Tolerate It" with a male dancer at a dinner table reminiscent of Citizen Kane (1941). Snakes visuals and dimming lights started the Reputation act. Swift reemerged in a black asymmetrical catsuit with snake motifs. She delivered a high-energy performance of "...Ready for It?" with female dancers wearing black-dark red gothic leotards, "Delicate", and "Don't Blame Me" featured light beams and Swift on an elevated platform. She transitioned to "Look What You Made Me Do", which featured on-screen visuals of Swift from all of her eras trapped in glass boxes and dancers dressed in some of Swift's older looks. The act concluded with a snake slithering away on-screen.
The fifth act, Speak Now, began with an abstract mosaic of purple lights on the stage. Swift, in a ball gown, walked in from the screen and performed "Enchanted" with female dancers; since July 7, 2023, she also performed "Long Live" with her band. The color scheme changed to match the next act, Red; a female dancer opened a box that plays snippets of "Red", "Everything Has Changed" or "Holy Ground", and "State of Grace". Red balloons emerged, and Swift performed "22" wearing a version of the white T-shirt and black hat from the song's music video. Near the end of the song, she greeted a fan pre-selected from the audience, giving them the hat. Swift sang "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" with male dancers next, dressed in a red-black romper. She donned a red-black ombre coat next, and performed "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" on a guitar, backed by the band. The act concluded with artificial snow falling.
Cottagecore dominated the seventh act, Folklore, introduced with a spoken-word interlude of "Seven". Onstage is a bucolic, A-frame cabin setup, similar to the one from Swift's performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (2021), on an elevated platform with a staircase. Swift performed "Invisible String" or "The 1" on the cabin's roof, "Betty" with her band, and "The Last Great American Dynasty" with dancers dressed in period clothing. She then sang "August", which transitioned to the bridge of a rock-tinged "Illicit Affairs", followed by "My Tears Ricochet" with female dancers wearing sparkly black long sleeved dresses and choreography resembling a funeral procession. Swift returned to the cabin to perform "Cardigan", ending the act with fireflies as the cabin retreated.
1989, the eighth act, commenced with the screen showing a neon-lit city skyline. Swift, wearing a crop top and skirt, sang "Style" with dancers dressed in black-and-white outfits. Moving to mid-stage, female dancers rode neon bicycles for "Blank Space" and used blue golf clubs to smash an animated Shelby Cobra car. She followed with "Shake It Off", performed as a robust dance party; "Wildest Dreams", backed with backup singers and clips of a couple in bed; and "Bad Blood", with female dancers and accentuated by intense pyrotechnics. It was followed by the acoustic set, where Swift performed two surprise songs on guitar and piano. In an optical illusion, a body of water developed around the piano and enveloped the stage; Swift then dove into the stage and appeared to swim underwater, along the ramp and toward the main stage.
The final act, Midnights, began with a wave from the illusion crashing against the screen; Swift woke up from a bed and climbed a ladder into a cloud. The lower screen split, and dancers carried out clouds as Swift reemerged in a purple faux fur coat, a glittery oversized shirt, and dark blue boots to sing "Lavender Haze". She removed the coat and performed "Anti-Hero" alongside a video of herself as a creature terrorizing a city. Dancers performed with umbrellas as Swift sang "Midnight Rain" and changed costumes, reappeared in a rhinestone-adorned midnight blue bodysuit. She then performed a "chair dance" choreographed for "Vigilante Shit", influenced by "sultry" burlesque and the 1975 musical Chicago. Swift followed with "Bejeweled", featuring moves inspired by the song's viral TikTok dance, and "Mastermind" with the entire dance crew wearing black robes. "Karma" was performed last, with Swift, backup singers, and dancers in tinsel-fringed jackets, closing the show with fireworks, colorful visuals, and confetti.
Starting from May 2024, Swift revamped the set list to include a new act with songs from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, released on April 19, 2024. "The Archer", "Long Live", "The 1", "The Last Great American Dynasty", "'Tis the Damn Season", and "Tolerate It" were removed from their respective acts to accommodate the album. The Speak Now and Red acts were brought forward as the fourth and third acts, while the acts for Folklore and Evermore, which are considered "sister albums", merged into one. The Tortured Poets Department act was placed between the 1989 act and acoustic set.
The Tortured Poets Department act featured predominantly black-and-white graphics, drawing from dark academia. It began with the screen showing pieces of furniture descending from the sky alongside paper pieces, which then transform into a deserted road and the furniture crash down. Swift appeared onstage in a white corset dress and sings "But Daddy I Love Him" and parts of "So High School", alongside dancers dressed in white. She performed "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" on a moving glass-plated block and appeared to levitate in an illusion, which ended with the screen depicting an evil-possessed Swift. A UFO then appeared on screen and attempted to abduct Swift, who started singing "Down Bad" on the moving block that hovered over a digital galaxy. Transitioning to "Fortnight", the stage featured a "TTPD"-emblazoned bed and two female dancers dressed as nurses. Swift sang the song as she sat on a typewriter, across from a male dancer. She proceeded with "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived", for which she put on a white marching band jacket as dancers marched beside her with drums. The act ended with a silent skit with two male dancers accompanied by enthusiastic jazz music, where Swift removed her dress to reveal a two-piece bodysuit, leading up to "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart".
The tour received "overwhelmingly positive" reviews from music and entertainment critics, who praised both the high-end spectacle and "polished artistry" of the tour. Billboard described the Eras Tour as "the must-see blockbuster of the year". Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph, Keiran Southern of The Times, Adrian Horton of The Guardian, Kelsey Barnes of The Independent, Ilana Kaplan of the i, and Erica Campbell of NME gave the Eras Tour total five-star ratings. McCormick called the show "one of the most ambitious, spectacular, and charming stadium pop shows ever seen", lauding Swift's musicianship, vocals, and energy. Southern declared the Eras Tour "a pop genius at the top of her game". Horton praised the "rapturous" music selection, concept, "extravagant" staging, and Swift's stamina and vocals. Barnes noted the tour as "a career-defining spectacle" with acts marking the shifts in Swift's artistry, while Kaplan commended the "unparalleled" showmanship, "spicier" choreography, camp styles, and "seamless" transitions between acts. Campbell praised the storytelling aspect of the show that ties all the 10 acts together, enhanced by staging, cinematic ambience and fashion. Australian Financial Review's James Thomson opined, "Swift works the massive stage like a master, cycling through countless costume changes and several elaborate sets, all while belting out 44 songs over three-and-a-half hours."
The versatility of the show's music, visuals, and performance art was often a point of praise in its reviews. Journalists Rebecca Lewis and Carson Mlnarik of Hello! and MTV, respectively, commended Swift's stage presence and commitment to her artistry; Lewis described Swift's alter egos during the tour as shifting from "country ingénue to pop princess and folklore witch", whereas Mlnarik affirmed that the on-screen visuals stayed true to every album's aesthetic. The Week and Dallas Observer critics agreed, highlighting the "jaw-dropping" visuals and "bedazzled" fashion. Billboard editor Jason Lipshutz underscored Swift's "powerhouse" vocals, engaging artistic personas, and skill set. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times highlighted the tour's scale, ambition, and portrayal of all the musical pivots of Swift's career, whereas The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber complimented the show's art direction, suspense, and the sequencing of the acts. Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times described the show as a "masterclass in pop ambition", showcasing Swift's range. According to The New Yorker senior editor Tyler Foggatt, the Eras Tour is a product of Swift's understanding of herself, building a tour "solely devoted to the idea of a trajectory—that of a career, of a musical identity, of a life—that can be traced cleanly from one era to the next."
Critics also appreciated the tour's production value and artistic direction. Philip Cosores of Uproxx dubbed it the "most impressive stadium show ever conceived". Spin critic Jonathan Cohen admired the rich stage design, usage of "state-of-the-art" technology, and immersive experience into Swift's "increasingly accomplished musical world-building". Variety journalist Chris Willman felt that the "epic" show demonstrated that "the person who has come up with the single greatest body of pop songwriting in the 21st century is also its most popular performer". Pollstar's Christina Fuoco and Andy Gensler praised the production as "stunning and tastefully rendered" and "live music at its highest spectacle". Rolling Stone's Waiss David Aramesh opined that it is "a production spectacle of the highest echelon". Melinda Sheckels of Consequence praised the tour's "nuanced and interpretive" approach in depicting Swift's albums and the "sheer magnitude, artistry, and technical prowess" of the production.
The revamped tour, following the release of The Tortured Poets Department, continued to receive rave reviews. Annabel Nugent of The Independent and Fiona Sheperd of The Scotsman praised the tour's choreography, state-of-the-art production, song selection, and Swift's consistent energy. McCormick declared, "there's no doubt that Taylor Swift is the best in the world right now." Critics Mark Sutherland and Anna Leszkiewicz opined that the tour's scale and performances continued to impress despite crossing 100 shows and being available as a film on streaming; Leszkiewicz, in New Statesman, described Swift as "a talented actress" with a "high camp" stage presence—"whether flashing faux-coy smiles, luxuriating in overdramatic eyerolls, or throwing herself into theatrical Wicked Witch of the West arm movements." Petridis described the tour in The Guardian as "an astonishing, risk-taking, strangely intimate extravaganza", adding it is pointless to review the tour anymore as "every conceivable detail has already been dissected and discussed in depth." Reviews published in the Berliner Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung praised Swift for what they considered as a commanding stage presence and charisma that is rare in her peers.
The Eras Tour has broken a string of ticket sales records worldwide. In the first day of the US presale alone, the tour sold over 2.4 million tickets, the most sold by an artist in a single day, surpassing Robbie Williams, who had sold 1.6 million tickets for his Close Encounters Tour in 2005. Billboard reported on December 15 that the Eras Tour had already grossed an estimated US$554 million, and projected the US leg to finish with $591 million, surpassing the former all-time female record set by Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour ($407 million) in 2008–2009. Following the tour's launch, Swift rose to number one on Pollstar's Artist Power Index chart. MetLife Stadium named her their "#1 best-selling artist" of all time after the tour's third East Rutherford show, which was the 100th concert in the stadium's history.
In June 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Eras Tour "on track to become the biggest in concert history, with the potential to gross over $1 billion"; Pollstar estimates projected a $1.4 billion gross. Bloomberg News reported that the average gross per show on the US leg was $13 million. According to Forbes, the Eras Tour has grossed $780 million from 56 shows as of August 2023, making it the highest-grossing tour by a woman in history based on its first North American leg alone, surpassing Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour. In November 2023, Billboard estimated a gross of over $900 million from the tour thus far and that the total could nearly double after the 2024 shows. Swift's team stated they do not intend to announce the box score, but Pollstar reported in December 2023 an estimated gross of $1,039,263,762 from 60 shows that year, making the Eras Tour the highest-grossing concert tour ever and the first to reach the $1 billion mark. In June 2024, the BBC estimated 11 million tickets sold across the entire tour. In October 2024, Forbes reported that the tour had grossed an additional $1.15 billion from 65 shows in 2024, bringing the tour's estimated gross up to $1.93 billion.
After the tour concluded in December 2024, The New York Times published the first gross reported by Taylor Swift Touring, Swift's production company. The publication revealed that the tour grossed $2.07 billion with an attendance of 10.1 million. Pollstar's final estimate was $2.2 billion from 10.055 million tickets, making Swift the first solo act in history to sell over 10 million tickets on a single tour. With an average of 67,487 tickets, she broke U2 360° Tour's record for highest attendance per show. Inc. opined that Swift could have made an additional $1.5 billion if she had adopted traditional ticketing strategies like other artists.
Swift unveiled various musical works during the tour. On the day of the opening show, she released four songs to celebrate the tour's launch: the re-recordings of "Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound", both originally from the 2012 soundtrack The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond; a re-recording of "If This Was a Movie", one of the deluxe tracks from Speak Now (2010); and "All of the Girls You Loved Before", a previously unreleased outtake of Lover.
A special CD edition of Midnights, subtitled The Late Night Edition, was released during the Eras Tour. It was only purchasable in-person at merchandise stands at certain shows, beginning in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 26, 2023. It exclusively contained the bonus track "You're Losing Me", which became a "ravenously anticipated" song; Variety reported that "fans were so eager to get their hands" on the CD, causing queues at the stadium the day before the merchandise store opened.
On May 5, 2023, at the first Nashville show of the tour, Swift announced her third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), and its release date as July 7. She also premiered two music videos, both of which she wrote and directed, during the tour. She premiered the videos for "Karma" featuring American rapper Ice Spice and "I Can See You" before the acoustic set at the first East Rutherford show and first Kansas City show, respectively. On August 9, at the final Los Angeles show, Swift announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) as her fourth re-recorded album, which was released on October 27, exactly nine years after the release of the original 1989 album. On November 3, Hits reported that a live album of the tour was discussed.
On February 16, 2024, at the first Melbourne show, Swift announced a second variant of The Tortured Poets Department, with a bonus track titled "The Bolter". She announced another variant of the album, with the bonus track "The Albatross" on February 23, at the first Sydney show. The fourth variant of the album, containing the bonus track "The Black Dog", was announced on March 3, at the second Singapore show of the tour. On August 20, Swift premiered the music video for "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart", a song inspired by the tour after leaving the stage at the end of the eighth show in London. The video features footage of tour performances, rehearsals, audiences, and backstage moments.
On October 13, 2023, Swift released the self-produced concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, directed by Sam Wrench, to theaters worldwide. It was produced from the footage recorded at the tour's Los Angeles shows. The film, in an unprecedented move, had Swift partnering directly with the theaters to both distribute and exhibit the film instead of a major film studio. It received critical acclaim for capturing the spectacle and energy of the show and became the highest-grossing concert film of all time.
On October 15, 2024, Swift announced her first-ever book, The Eras Tour Book. Dubbed "the official retrospective" of the tour, it is a 256-page photo book with over 500 on-stage and behind-the-scenes images, as well as Swift's personal reflections and notes. Concurrently, Swift launched her in-house publishing imprint, Taylor Swift Publications. The book was released exclusively in Target stores on a Black Friday—November 29, 2024. Selling over a million copies in its first week in the US alone, the book became the best-selling book of 2024.
The Eras Tour had an impact on the music industry, entertainment and beyond. It was described as one of the most prominent cultural phenomena of the 21st century, generating a level of attention similar to the 1960s' Beatlemania. The tour elevated the economy of its stops by revitalizing local businesses and tourism, attracted large crowds of spectators outside stadiums, dominated news cycles and social media, inspired tributes from governments and organizations. Critics often described the Eras Tour as a monocultural event demonstrating Swift's impact on popular culture. The tour fueled an increase in public consumption of her discography as well. Swift's net worth, which was $740 million before the tour began, was updated to $1.1 billion after the first 57 shows of the tour; Swift became the first billionaire in history with music as the main source of income.
On November 15, the day of the first US presale, Ticketmaster's website crashed following what Variety called "historically unprecedented demand". Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, said they prepared for 1.5 million verified fans, but 14 million turned up; published a statement saying they had been "unprepared" to accommodate them; and cancelled any further sales, citing inability to meet demand. The fiasco was the subject of public criticism and political scrutiny. Customers and fans criticized Ticketmaster for its allegedly flawed systems and inefficient technical resolutions. US lawmakers, including attorneys general and members of Congress, took notice of the issue, which became the focus of multiple state, federal and congressional inquiries, and an antitrust lawsuit.
Unrest was reported on June 11, 2023, outside the Brazilian venues' box offices, as scalpers attempted to cut in line, including some armed scalpers who threatened violence, until the police intervened. The agency responsible for the tour in Brazil, T4F – Time For Fun (T4F), was reported over 100 times to authorities for their inaction. On June 20, federal lawmakers in Brazil filed the "Taylor Swift Law", which would penalize scalpers with up to four years in prison and a fine of up to 100 times the value of the ticket.
On November 17, 2023, before the start of the first Rio de Janeiro show, T4F reportedly prohibited concertgoers from bringing their own water bottles inside the venue. It was one of the hottest days in the city, with a heat index of 59.3 °C (138.74 °F), as part of a heat wave in the country. Videos posted to social media by fans showed thousands of queued concertgoers waiting for hours in the sun before entry into the stadium; Swift and her team arranged and distributed water bottles to the crowd. A concert attendee, Ana Clara Benevides, died while being taken to a hospital after she fainted during the first few minutes of the show. T4F attracted widespread criticism from fans and politicians. Several claimed that stadium organizers "refused" to provide concertgoers water; a criminal investigation was opened. Benevides' cause of death was forensically determined to be cardiac arrest caused by heat exhaustion. Swift grieved Benevides' death on social media. She postponed the show that had been scheduled for November 18 to November 20, citing "extreme temperatures".
Srettha Thavisin, then Prime Minister of Thailand, claimed that the government of Singapore offered subsidies of $2 million–$3 million per show of the Eras Tour in exchange for making Singapore the exclusive venue in Southeast Asia. He criticized Singapore for excluding other member countries of the ASEAN from witnessing Swift. The Singapore Tourism Board responded that they did provide a "grant" to bring the Eras Tour to Singapore, and that the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth worked with the tour's promoter, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), but did not reveal the size of the grant or attached conditions due to "business confidentiality". Minister Edwin Tong commented, the alleged sum of the grant was "nowhere as high as what is being speculated". Joey Salceda, member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, criticized Singapore and demanded that the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs seek an explanation from the Embassy of Singapore, Manila. Sandiaga Uno, Indonesian minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, also expressed his disappointment, stating "Indonesia was eager to replicate the success of Swiftonomics". Subsequently, Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004, assured that the exclusivity grant did not have an hostile intention.
Swift included neither the People's Republic of China nor the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the Eras Tour. The tour skipping Taiwan was a topic of political debate during the campaigns preceding the 2024 Taiwanese presidential and legislative body elections. Jaw Shaw-kong, vice-presidential candidate of the opposition (Kuomintang party), claimed he invited Swift to perform at the Taipei Dome and that she initially agreed to perform but later declined due to "geopolitical risks" of the sensitive Cross-Strait relations. The Taiwanese Ministry of Culture commented on the issue but neither denied nor confirmed Jaw's claims. Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai described Jaw's claims about Swift as an attempt at manipulating the voters.
On July 18, 2024, a suspected stalker of Swift, who was accused of threatening her and her boyfriend, American football player Travis Kelce, on social media was detained and arrested as he attempted to enter the second of Swift's shows in Gelsenkirchen. The same month, three children were killed at a mass stabbing attack at a Swiftie workshop in Southport, Merseyside, UK. The incident caused public unrest in Southport, and over the next few days, escalated into nationwide protests and riots. A week later, authorities thwarted an Islamic State (ISIS) plot to attack Swift's three shows in Vienna. Police arrested three teenagers who were "radicalized on the Internet" and plotted to kill "tens of thousands" at the concerts. Initially, Austrian public security director Franz Ruf stated that the shows would take place as scheduled, with additional security measures in place. However, event organizer Barracuda Music announced that all three shows would be canceled with tickets refunded, after confirmation from the Government of Austria of an elaborate terrorist plan. With Swift's permit, Austrian public broadcaster ORF aired the tour's accompanying concert film on August 10 for free. The tour's next stop, London, increased its security for the shows.
In October 2024, controversy ensued in the UK when it was reported that politicians of the ruling Labour Party were gifted with over £20,000 in free tickets to the Eras Tour after Swift's demands for the highest level of security were denied, with the politicians allegedly pressuring the Metropolitan Police to give in to the demands. In advance of the London dates, Swift's team had reportedly demanded additional "VVIP" security from the Metropolitan Police's Special Escort Group and threatened to cancel the London shows if not provided. The police initially turned down the request, claiming their intelligence did not detect any threat to Swift's London shows and hence she did not require the top-level "taxpayer-funded" security reserved for heads of state. However, the police subsequently reversed its decision and provided Swift with the requested protection. Various politicians of the opposition Conservative Party, such as Susan Hall, Robert Jenrick, Gavin Williamson and Andrew Murrison, criticized the Labour government, accusing it of abuse of power. Both the police and the government denied the allegations of bribery; Starmer's spokesperson described it as a conflict of interest.
Swift donated to food bank units at every stop of the Eras Tour, as reported by the respective organizations, and exclusively employed various local businesses to fulfill her crew's daily requirements. At the conclusion of the first US leg, Swift gave "unprecedented" bonus payments totaling over $55 million to her entire touring crew, including $100,000 to each of the 50 truck drivers involved in transporting the stage setup and production equipment. By the end of the tour, Swift distributed $197 million in bonus payments to her crew. She also reportedly purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset emissions generated by her travel throughout the tour. In October 2023, Swift donated Eras Tour tickets to the Rare Impact Fund, a charity and mental health awareness initiative by American singer Selena Gomez's cosmetic company, Rare Beauty. The auctioned tickets sold for $15,000 and were the "biggest ticket item of the event". On April 27, 2024, four Eras Tour tickets raised $80,000 at auction in a gala benefiting the 15 and The Mahomies Foundation, a charity by the American football player Patrick Mahomes.
This set list was taken from the show in Glendale on March 17, 2023. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour.
This set list was taken from the show in Nanterre on May 9, 2024. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour.
Swift performed two numbers from her discography, as either a standalone song or a mashup, at each show as "surprise songs" in the ninth act—the first on acoustic guitar and the second on piano.
Adapted from the credits of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film.
Band & Vocalists
Dancers