How does a city prepare for the concert of the ages?
Over the past two weeks, Toronto has pulled out all the stops to welcome Taylor Swift and thousands of her fans for an unprecedented 6-date run at The Rogers Centre, the pop star’s first time performing in the city for more than 6 years.
First, 3 downtown streets were renamed “Taylor Swift Way”. Then, a massive inflatable friendship bracelet was placed on top of the stadium. Public spaces from Union Station to Pearson Airport received Swift-inspired makeovers. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre transformed into a massive “Taylgate” event. Lines for merchandise wrapped around blocks. Fan events popped up around the city: from friendship bracelet-making workshops to drag shows to sing-alongs. On all 6 concert dates, sequins and smiles filled the streets as groups of bracelet-clad Swifties made their way to the stadium en masse, ready to live their dreams.
Toronto was Taylor Swift’s second to last stop on The Eras Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time that has dominated the zeitgeist, quickly becoming the hottest concert ticket in the world. The arrival of the world’s biggest pop star was huge for Toronto, generating an estimated $282 million economic boost. The vibe boost was arguably worth just as much.
It quickly became clear that the atmosphere in the city was something special. Maybe even once in a lifetime. It is so rare to feel in community with this many people—people who not only know and love the songs, but the stories behind them, the outfits that accompany them, the niche references. Even if you didn’t score tickets to the concert—if you offered to trade bracelets with someone walking by, or spotted a fan with matching sparkly cowboy boots, you could make an instant friend.
With a predominantly female fanbase, Taylor’s concerts have become a much-needed safe space for women. An outlet for creative expression, a chance to experience sisterhood with other fans, a place to just feel. It has been powerful to see thousands of women in our city embrace this sheer joy and excitement, especially at a time when it feels like the world is trying to strip that away from us.
I was one of those women, and as a longtime Taylor Swift fan, I was thrilled to attend Night 4 of The Eras Tour in Toronto on behalf of SheDoesTheCity.
This is my review, era by era.
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Lover
Taylor opened the concert with her Lover era, coming out swinging with a little something for everyone. Female empowerment anthem? Heart-melting love song? Infectious pop song with a scream-singable bridge? Lover has it all, and she wastes no time in demonstrating exactly why she is at the top of her game—and the pop world.
But for myself, and so many other fans, this concert was about more than being in the same room as the world’s biggest pop star. It was about connecting with an artist who we grew up with—an artist whose songs were the soundtrack to the eras of our own lives.
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Fearless
Fearless and Speak Now were the first albums I ever bought for myself. I was about 10 years old, and I had no idea that the 2 CDs I picked out at my local mall’s HMV would spark a lifelong interest. I’d listen to them on this tiny CD player I kept in the corner of my room. I’d pour over the liner notes, memorizing the lyrics and decoding all of the secret messages Taylor left in capital letters.
Listening to these songs takes me right back to that time in my life, and looking around me during the Fearless set, I’m willing to bet much of the audience felt the same way. Taylor went straight for the 2000s nostalgia—Fearless, Love Story, You Belong With Me—these are THE classic Taylor Swift ™ songs. Everyone—from diehard fans to tired dads—was singing along.
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Red
This energy continued into Red, the era that marked Taylor’s transition from country to pop. After a few more fan favourites—22, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (…like, ever!), and I Knew You Were Trouble, we were treated to perhaps the best showcase of Taylor’s songwriting—the full-length version of All Too Well. No matter how many times I hear this song, the intricately crafted story makes the 10 minutes fly by.
As a writer, I’ve learned a lot from listening to Taylor’s music. To write what I know. To lean into what makes you uncomfortable. To convey universally relatable feelings through painfully specific details. To not be afraid to name the Stephens, Johns, and Joes. From an early age, I looked up her vulnerability and her constant willingness to lay it all on the table.
As someone who defaults to keeping most of what I’m feeling inside, I need reminders that it’s okay to let it all out sometimes. And, especially right now, getting to scream “FUCK THE PATRIARCHY” along with thousands of other women was incredibly cathartic.
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Speak Now
Selfishly, I wanted this era to be wayyy longer. But if Taylor could only perform one song from Speak Now, I can understand why she chose Enchanted, an earnest, dreamlike ballad about a magical first meeting, and the all-consuming infatuation that came with it. It captures the urgency and restlessness of Speak Now (her only entirely self-written album) and represents perhaps her best era for knockout ballads— this album had Dear John, Back to December, and Last Kiss.
Around the time I bought my first Taylor Swift albums, I was also learning to play the piano. Playing her songs was a welcome reprieve from scales and classical pieces…and actually made me want to practice. Long story short, the piano didn’t stick. But my appreciation for Taylor’s writing did, as well as my respect for her ability to block out so much noise, to push past an insane, never-ending avalanche of public scrutiny, and continue to just create.
I remember I picked Back to December, a ballad that clocks in at nearly 5 minutes, to play on the piano at my elementary school talent show. They weren’t the most patient audience…I’ll never forget when they started clapping before the song was over. But I kept playing.
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Reputation
When all that public scrutiny came to a head, reputation was Taylor’s response. This era was a MOMENT in pop culture. The iconic Look What You Made Me Do music video, my personal favourite, marked an epic comeback for Taylor, and launched perhaps her most aesthetically distinct era.
Taylor leaned into this edginess both visually and vocally with this set. The switch from Don’t Blame Me, a sultry mid-tempo tune with the most dizzying highest notes of the night, to Look What You Made Me Do, was easily the best transition of the show.
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folklore & evermore
Taylor’s music has always made me feel seen. But as I got older, and life became a bit more complicated than high school crushes and fairytale endings, I found myself relating to her songs in a new way—especially when she explored a wider breadth of topics on her pandemic-era albums, folklore and evermore.
A critique of Taylor’s music I often hear is that she only writes about her romantic relationships…but that’s just not true! She has songs about illness, loss, family, friendship, and mental health that are beautifully complex. Some of them are gut-wrenching. I was glad that everyone could experience one of these songs during the “folkmore” set.
Marjorie is a tribute to Taylor’s late grandmother, Marjorie Finlay. She was an opera singer, and her vocals can be heard in the background of this song. While Marjorie is not the flashiest or most popular song, it was by far the most moving moment of the concert for me. When my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago, I listened to this song on repeat for weeks. I would urge anyone who’s lost someone, who’s heard echoes of their voice in someone else’s, who’s felt relief at finding a scrap of paper with their handwriting on it, to listen to this song.
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1989
1989 was Taylor’s biggest era, prior to her current one, and this set was stacked with top-to-bottom bangers—from Style to Blank Space to Shake It Off to Wildest Dreams to Bad Blood. This album was released during the golden age of music videos, and Taylor delivered with her visuals at the time. The bikes and golf clubs on stage were fun callbacks to the Blank Space video, and when real fire erupted around the stadium during Bad Blood, everyone could feel the heat.
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The Tortured Poets Department
This is one perk of attending the latter half of The Eras Tour: a whole new era! Taylor showcased six songs from her latest album in perhaps the most theatrical set of the concert. The hits of this era, Fortnight and Down Bad, allowed for some mellow moments after the energetic 1989 set, but the true highlights of the TTPD set were the cathartic, scream-singable moments. The pageantry of I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Female Rage ™ of Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?, the epic marching band moment for The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived— it’s hard to imagine the show without its tortured poet era.
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The Acoustic Set
The acoustic set is a clever (mastermind, if I may) addition to The Eras Tour. Many fans have already seen a version of the concert online or in theatres. But having a unique set for each night brings the audience back into the moment, to savour a special performance that only they get to experience.
I could feel the energy pick back up when it was surprise song o’clock. On Night 4, Taylor chose a guitar mashup of Mr. Perfectly Fine and Better Than Revenge. I was thrilled with this combo, and in a way, it represents my journey as a Swiftie. They’re both songs from the first two albums I owned, Fearless and Speak Now, but they’ve both been reinvigorated by this new era of Taylor Swift.
When Taylor’s Version of Better Than Revenge was released last year, the song received a rare lyric change, replacing a line that was criticized for slut-shaming. Now, hearing this song conjures up a healthy balance of nostalgia and needed reflection—it’s a marker of how we’ve all grown up a bit, and hopefully arrived a place where we can recognize and learn from our mistakes.
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Midnights
By time the Midnights set rolled around, we were approaching midnight in real time, but Taylor showed no signs of slowing down. In a way, the Midnights set mirrors the Lover set—showcasing the sheer range and broad appeal of Taylor as a performer, from the sing-along radio hits like Anti-Hero and Bejeweled, to cleverly crafted deeper cuts like Midnight Rain and Mastermind. Karma was the perfect euphoric conclusion to the night, and as Taylor descended back into the stage, with a haze of confetti flying in the air, it was over.
During the past two weeks, both inside and out of the stadium, emotions have been high. Taylor herself teared up on stage as she thanked the audience on her final night in Toronto. Our city lived through a moment in music history. And as The Eras Tour wraps up on December 8 in Vancouver, soon it will be history too.
It was a truly unforgettable night. I think I agree with my 10-year-old self when I say: I don’t know how it gets better than this. <3
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