Pop mogul Taylor Swift brought her ever-so-popular Eras Tour to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California last weekend. Swifties from all across the San Francisco Bay Area congregated at the stadium over the course of two sold-out nights. Those lucky enough to score a coveted ticket to the biggest tour in the world currently were treated to a three-and-a-half hour spectacular that many were witnessed saying they wished wouldn't have ended.
Light rail stations, public transit stops, and highways experienced hours of significant traffic as the pop phenom transported her highly anticipated production to Northern California. Tour exclusive merchandise booths saw exponential wait times, almost as much demand as Swift herself, opening the day prior to the event. Trading of friendship bracelets as an homage to the Midnights-penned track "You're On Your Own, Kid" could be seen inside and outside the venue. Swift brought along openers Gracie Abrams and HAIM for this set of dates to get the party started.
Taylor Swift performs during her first of two nights at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Photos by Curtis Vadnais.
The Eras Tour is truly unlike any other tour to date for a few reasons. The first being that the ticket fiasco that was caused by Ticketmaster last fall shattered records with the sheer number of people attempting to secure seats versus the allocated inventory available. If you weren't fortunate enough to be selected to participate in the presale, you were more than likely out of luck (unless you were able to secure a ticket secondhand, which still yields thousands of dollars just for a seat in the nosebleeds). That said, demand is so significant, that hopefuls ultimately unable to obtain tickets have resorted to "Taygating" — a practice in which fans gather outside the stadium just to hear the "Cruel Summer" songstress. Some have gone so far as to find vantage points directly into each stadium, with the upper level of the parking garage adjacent to Levi's being the case for Friday night.
Throughout its country-wide trek, the tour has established itself as Swift's highest-grossing tour to date, surpassing that of her previous expedition in support of 2017's reputation. It is on track to gross an astonishing billion dollars, becoming the highest-grossing tour from any artist of all time. But Swift is no stranger to giving back, going so far as to bless each touring crew member with a fairly generous bonus for her appreciation. She has also played a massive part in the success of local economies, including donations to food banks and bringing unimaginable revenue to each city. In a post-pandemic world, it's almost unprecedented that society would ever see anything of this magnitude.
The whole place was dressed to the nines as the "Starlight" crooner acknowledged her long-awaited return to the city by the Golden Gate. "Santa Clara, it is so good to be back with you! I've had some of the best memories [on this tour] and I'm making some more right now!" Swift proclaimed during the Evermore portion of her set, followed by a long-standing ovation. "I told myself, if I can't play shows and connect with you, I'm going to make and release as many albums as humanly possible," she continued, reflecting on the pandemic. She then addressed what many surmised she would do during this run, such as performing double the number of songs due to the inability to tour her last four projects. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm going to do," she beamed.
With that statement, she absolutely fulfilled. Throughout her effortless 45-song setlist, she packed in a plethora of hits such as "The Man," "Fearless," "...Ready For It?" "Long Live," "22," "Blank Space" and so much more. The stadium itself has a very strict curfew, but that didn't hinder Swift from giving every lucky attendee a full-scale show, ending just shy of 11:30 pm. The Grammy-award-winning hitmaker also surprised concert-goers with a HAIM-accompanied performance of "no body, no crime" and brought along collaborator Aaron Dessner to accompany her for the first surprise song of the evening, "right where you left me." Santa Clara was also treated to the very first live performance of "Castles Crumbling," a vault track off the re-released Speak Now (Taylor's Version), and the second surprise song which also garnered an exuberant response.
Swift is set to wrap the first U.S. leg on August 9 after a sold-out six-night stay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The world-renowned tour will resume in Mexico City later in the same month and will make its way through Australia, Europe, and Asia next year. It is currently set to conclude in Toronto, Canada next November.
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For more information on The Eras Tour, visit www.taylorswift.com/events.
