The Final Era of The Eras Tour

By: J. McManus

 The Eras Tour’ has been, undoubtedly, a record-breaking success that defines the music of the modern era. That is why it is such a shame that it will have its closing night on December 8th, in Vancouver, Canada. The tour started 21 months ago in Arizona, U.S.A. and has already completed over 150 shows across the globe with over 10 million attendees. As seen by the number of shows and number of people that attended, it was among the most sought after shows in history. Generating more than $1 billion dollars in revenue, it was the highest-grossing music tour ever, also making Taylor the only artist to become a billionaire solely through her music. The Eras Tour is performed only by Taylor Swift and is separated into 10 eras based on her corresponding albums. The show lasts over 3 hours during which at least 44 songs are performed together with a sophisticated choreography and several costume changes for each act. 
 
This entire montage has inevitably taken a major toll on every aspect of her person and health, in general, with Taylor having stated that “this tour has become [her] entire life”, breaking down in front of the Toronto crowd. In the conclusion of this epoch, we look back at the significance of the tour and what it meant to so many people and places. Elevated commercial activity was reported in the cities that the Eras Tour has visited. This impact was greater than the Olympics and the Super Bowl, with tickets being resold for up to over $14,000 US dollars for the closing night. Politicians including the Canadian Prime Minister and the Chilean president petitioned Swift to tour their countries presumably due to the aforementioned positive economic impacts.  
 
Swift’s talent also extended to the cinematic realm. A musical concert film was produced by Taylor, based on the Los Angeles shows, which she sold directly to theatres in an unprecedented distribution agreement. Although the budget for this production was only $15 million it generated a box office revenue of over $267 million, being nominated for several major prizes (winning two) such as the ‘People’s choice award for favourite concert tour’ and the ‘Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box office achievement’. 
 
Apart from the sold-out stadiums, mass crowds accumulated outside just to take part in the swiftie culture. In parallel, Taylor’s album sales and songs broke several Guinness World Records along with holding the highest number of streams for any artist. Swift has been called one of the last monocultural figures on the 21st century due to her influence and relevance surrounding her and her tours, which established a recognised culture. Also, she was the only person in the arts sector to be named “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine.  
 
To conclude, the Eras Tour will go on record as being one of the most culturally significant events of our time, breaking many records and pushing boundaries from an artistic, economic, musical, performative, and social standpoint.