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   “It’s been a long time coming…,” were the exact words that Taylor Swift fans, or as they call themselves, “Swifties”, heard when she opened her long anticipated tour: The Eras Tour. Going into this tour, it was important to Swift to incorporate every album or “Era” of hers into this 3-hour long performance. Having already performed in Arizona, Las Vegas, Texas, and most recently Tampa, Taylor has shown a beautiful representation of each era of hers.

   Looking back to her last tour in 2018 when she performed her album Reputation, the announcement of her Eras tour brought back waves of nostalgia and joy. With the inclusion of every album being performed on this tour, except for her Debut album and only one song from Speak Now, it brought all generations of Swifties back together. The re-recording of her albums Red and Fearless also gave Taylor the opportunity to proudly sing and perform her songs alongside her fans, knowing that they are truly hers.

   After the ticketmaster scandal, in which the site crashed, had many technical difficulties, and “all” of the tickets during presale were released, many were upset. Freshman Julia Cortes explains how “Ticketmaster kicked us out like 10 times and we waited so long. But, we got a good price for our tickets.” Although there were difficulties, others found ways to get around such problems, like going to the box office the day of the concert, going on a different website to pay resale prices, or receiving an email from Taylors Team themselves giving people the opportunity to get tickets which were randomly selected.  Despite all these extra challenges, it didn’t stop Swifties from sharing an enchanted night with Taylor.

   Walking into the stadium, eyes will be greeted with fans in glittery outfits full of shimmer. The main goal of this concert was to embody at least one era of Swift’s into the outfit to feel connected while the songs were being sung. Not only did the fans get the memo, but Taylor did as well. As she went through each album, Taylor made sure to be in her top outfit to correlate with the songs. When “Enchanted” from Speak Now came on, Swift appeared in a gown full of purple and white glitter. But, when Red was being performed, she stormed the stage with the iconic shirt of “Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway? Ew.” or “Not a Lot Going On At The Moment” followed by a black hat. 

   With a fairy lit house including a chimney covered in smoke, Taylor enters her Folklore era with a guitar in hand and a Stevie Nicks-inspired dress. Even before Folklore, she made sure to emphasize the meanings of her songs through performances. When performing“Tolerate It” for her Evermore era, Swift brought out a dinner table, all set up, with an actor on the opposite end of her who she was passionately singing to. “The performances were really realistic and it made the song come to life in its own way,” expresses freshman Kristen Colom on Taylor’s artistic vision. Taylor brought attention to the fact that she made up a storyline during Folklore and Evermore, but used it as a chance to link it with her personal emotions. With these emotions and portrayals of these songs, it gave her the chance to show appreciation to these albums and relate with the audience through the powerful feelings. 

   After taking such time off of touring, it was still easy for Swift to reconnect with her loyal “Swifties”. Whether that be through the inspired outfits from each album, emotions being felt through songs, or her intense performances, Swift never failed to share her experience with the audience. On the nights of April 13th, 14th, and 15th, Tampa walked through each era of Taylor Swift’s one song at a time.