There isn’t anything bigger in music and touring right now than Taylor Swift, lets be honest. The Eras Tour is the most talked about and in demand tour of the last decade if not more with fans rabid to see every show they can, travel for it, and even sit outside the stadium to just hear it. Finally the tour came to Chicagos Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and unlike The Bears fans left the night happy with an evening they’ll never forget.
As 8pm hit and the sun shined down for some of its last moments as the clock on screen struck zero a roar of 60,000+ fans went crazy as Swift rose to the stage and broke into a shortened version of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince”. Breaking right into Swifts current massive hit “Cruel Summer” the crowd showed that they weren’t here to play as they sang and scream every word with every fiber of their soul and body. People were in tears, arms thrown up, and it was clear that this would be an evening of emotions as these songs hit hard and deep for the crowd.
You are almost overwhelmed here early on with the massive production at hand along with how intense the crowd is. Intense in the best way possible though. This was a packed to the gills stadium filled with people who have waited years for this moment. With one of the friendliest and most welcoming crowds you can find with people sharing handmade bracelets with each other, complimenting each others hand made outfits / make up & costumes, as well as just singing along and embracing “The Eras” tour as a whole.
For the demand of these tickets and some of the resale prices, which were actively selling all 3 nights in Chicago, Swift makes sure fans get their moneys worth. The Eras tour is encompassing Swifts careers as a whole and the set reflects that. The set, in non chronological order, consists of each album getting its own section. 1989, Evermore, Lover, Speak Now, Fearless, etc all get their time to shine in various degrees. Each set has a slight break between them, never more than 2-3 minutes max, while Taylor changes outfit and for some a new set piece is introduced.
The various sets work as we get to hear songs from albums that never got their own tours due to COVID, Taylors version stuff like “All Too Well”, and the hits from older releases. The various album sets work great giving fans to a chance to go from the more poppy hits in “Fearless” into the slower, more somber, but still singalong hits in “Evermore”. Its a perfectly structure show that makes the tour feel like a big Broadway show made into small acts. Swift even breaks it up with a small surprise set every night to give fans a treat featuring songs that aren’t being played in the general set and never repeated on another night.
While the stage show as well may be massive it also is shockingly simple in the best way. A giant video screen covers the back and sides of the stage so all can see and the rest is a giant LCD covered run way that spans half the stadium. The set pieces involved are smaller and stay in one part of the stage. I left this thinking that she gave the crowd a massive feeling production in quite the simplest ways. Her array of dancers and back up singers along with her backing band accompany her for chunks of the set creating set pieces that have to be seen for all their small details vs just having a stage show that is all about nonstop massive moments.
Its actually quite the feat to see because at no point does Swift come off tired at all. With a 44 song, 3.5 hour roughly long set, she makes the most of every second up there. Speaking to the crowd you lose track that you are in a stadium as she makes it seem so personal. You can tell as well that she is happy to be doing it as she started to tear up when the crowd gave her a several minute long cheering ovation, not even giving her time to break in to talk in moments.
It doesn’t matter if your a casual fan, a die hard, or just curious because of the insane hype around this tour, this is the tour of the decade easy. You’ll leave this wanting to see it over again instantly, replaying the songs and memories in your head, and going right back into keeping the songs in constant rotation on your phone. Swift has defined herself as the biggest star in music with this tour and after seeing this she deserves it and more.
