By Francesca Polidoro

Header from Taylor Swift's YouTube Channel

Thumbnail from @tswifterastour on X

With 279 million Instagram followers and 109.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, establishing herself as the most streamed artist, Taylor Swift has made a name for herself in the music industry. She currently has ten albums to her name, in addition to four re-recordings, and has traveled across the world five times in order to share her music with her international fanbase.

Taylor announced her newest tour via X, formerly Twitter: “I’m enchanted to announce my next tour: Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, a journey through the musical eras of my career.” On March 17, 2023, she embarked on the Eras Tour, in Glendale, Arizona, which was temporarily named Swift City to celebrate the singer. This tour celebrates her entire discography thus far and is set to have 151 shows, ending in Vancouver, Canada. It has broken many records, being the highest-grossing tour ever by a woman and the second highest-grossing tour overall.

When the tickets dropped, Ticketmaster was flooded by fans, all enthusiastically hoping to get a chance to see this show. A lucky few were able to get tickets, but many were left empty-handed. Despite this, Taylor Swift and her team made this concert more accessible by releasing a filmed version in theaters.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was released to theaters worldwide on October 13, 2023. The day before, Taylor wrote on X, “I can’t thank you enough for wanting to see this film that so vividly captures my favorite adventure I’ve ever been a part of: The Eras Tour.”

Adult tickets were sold for $19.89, a reference to her award-winning 2014 pop album, and child and senior tickets were sold for $13.13, a reference to her lucky number, thirteen. Despite these prices being significantly less than the cost to attend the actual concert, many fans have treated the two experiences very similarly. Some dress up in costumes, which typically reference lyrics from Taylor’s discography. This is a tradition that has existed for a while, but arguably was popularized by Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour. In addition, many fans make and trade friendship bracelets with other moviegoers. This was a fan project which was originally made for the concert in reference to a lyric in the song, “You’re on your Own, Kid” from Midnights, Taylor’s most recent non-re-recorded album. During the actual movie, groups of people run to the front of the theater and sing and dance along to the setlist, a trend that has caused controversy between Taylor Swift fans and those who believe it is disruptive to others who are in neighboring theaters.

Seeing a movie like this, surrounded by people who share a common interest, is a very valuable experience. There are many opportunities to connect with new people, as well as have fun with the people you went with. Trading bracelets, making dance circles, and even just complimenting others’ costumes, are all ways that moviegoers are able to make the best of their experience. Although this concert, among others, is too expensive for many, the accessibility to filmed concerts allow more fans to be able to experience them, no matter their circumstances.