Taylor Swift — MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ — May 28, 2023

I don’t know about you, but I really am feeling 22. And 15, and 27, and 31. That’s the effect Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour left on the crowd of 82,000 after Sunday night’s performance at MetLife Stadium. Not only did she take us back through 17 years of discography over the course of the evening, but she provided an OG Swiftie like me with a very nostalgic walk down memory lane. A walk that I never knew I needed… but she certainly did.

Miss Swift has always had a way of anticipating what her fans want to see, and then delivering it, ten fold. And the Eras Tour was no exception. There are so many dazzling elements that would be easy to focus on- the stunning visuals, the non-stop choreography, the incredibly fast costume changes, and the relentless powerhouse that is Taylor Swift herself (the pageantry, the fucking pageantry!). But what really sets The Eras Tour apart, is the feeling. The feeling of camaraderie that comes with being among so many other fans, passionately belting the words to 40 plus songs over the course of 3.5 hours. At a certain point, the crowd was so loud, I was sure that the planes flying high over the stadium could hear us singing, and I wondered if they too sang along with us. After all, even haters know the words to “Love Story”, don’t even lie.

After a serenade of several pleasingly chilling songs by Phoebe Bridgers and her beautifully lilting voice, Swift opened her tour at 8:00 pm on the dot and played a seemingly endless set until well after 11:00 pm. It was such a whirlwind of dancing, lights, props and fireworks, that by the time it was over, we were left in an exhausted haze, the crowd not even bothering to beg for an encore. Swift started off her set with several songs from “Lover”, perhaps a nod to her cancelled tour at the beginning of the pandemic, then made her way through “Fearless”, “Evermore”, “Reputation”, “Speak Now”, “Red” (even treating us to the full ten minute version of “All Too Well” after asking sweetly if we had “ten minutes to spare”), and rounding it out with
“Folklore”, “1989”, and finally “Midnights”. It was a setlist of dreams, perfectly showcasing the wide range of Swift’s singing and songwriting abilities and how she has evolved as an artist over the years.

I think we can all agree that after three years of Covid-induced uncertainty and loneliness, a wistful concert experience might be just what the doctor ordered. It was like Taylor Swift came and swept us all up in one big, comforting hug, patting us on the head and whispering “there, there, Mother is here now.” It’s been well over a decade since Taylor Swift declared herself a household name, but after the Eras Tour, she might have declared herself as something even more- a true music legend, at the height of her career. But in this Swiftie’s heart, she will always be Fifteen.

Words: Alexandra Andreoni

Photography: Erica MacLean