Unless you have been living under a rock for the last seven months, you have probably heard about Taylor Swift’s ground-breaking tour, dubbed “The Eras Tour.” With 52 sold-out shows in stadiums across the U.S., The Eras Tour was highly popular. Tickets were reselling for thousands of dollars. The demand for the tour was so high that Swift released Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie in theaters across the globe to appease fans who could not get tickets to a live performance.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has already grossed about $130 million in sales, surpassing any other concert film. Audience members are encouraged to dress up, sing and dance as if they were at the live concert.
The documentary was released on Friday, Oct. 13, with sold-out theaters across the world. The movie is a high-quality film of the concert, as Swift had cameras on stage with her in order to get the best possible shots for the film. From up-close footage of her, to clips of her dancers and the stage, to the audience and aerial shots, Swift made sure to capture The Eras Tour in its entirety.
Ahead of the movie’s official release, Swift hosted a premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Along with celebrities such as Beyoncé, select fans were secretly invited by Swift’s PR team to attend the red carpet and watch the movie. Swift made a grand appearance on the red carpet, taking selfies with fans and signing posters. Additionally, Swift made a speech in each theater at the premiere.
Like many artists during the pandemic, Swift released albums without being able to tour for them. Unlike many artists, however, Swift wrote and released four new albums and re-recorded three albums in the span of four years. With so many songs and a continuously growing fanbase, Swift had to find a way to play as many songs as possible to as many fans as possible.
Her solution was The Eras Tour. Spanning 17 years of music, Swift’s performance travels through all 10 of her studio albums, which she and her fanbase refer to as “eras.” The show opens with her 2019 album, “Lover,” and travels through her eras until it comes to a close with her most recent studio album, “Midnights.” The show includes 44 songs, two of which are called surprise songs, changing at each performance throughout the tour.
The movie is two hours and 45 minutes long, while the concert run time is about three hours and fifteen minutes. Swift had to cut transitions, applause and most notably, six songs, in order to reduce the length of the movie.
The songs cut from the film are “The Archer,” “no body no crime,” “‘tis the damn season,” “cardigan,” “Wildest Dreams” and “Long Live.” To fans, this was a controversial move. Many fans were posting online, stating that they would rather sit in the theater for thirty minutes more if it meant hearing all the songs. Other fans turned this into a conspiracy theory, predicting Swift will release an extended version of the movie on streaming services, featuring the songs which were initially cut.
The movie highlights each of the eras, giving each an introduction with its title and additional screen editing, which was not seen at the live performance. For example, the “reputation” era featured a snake sliding around the stage and into the crowd, while the word “reputation” flashed on the screen, until it switched to Swift performing.
Theaters showing the film, such as AMC and Regal, are offering special popcorn buckets and soda cups featuring The Eras Tour logo. Some theaters even offered friendship bracelet making and photo booths prior to the movie starting.
Swift’s fans started making friendship bracelets to trade with other fans ahead of the tour as an homage to the song “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” in which Swift states, “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.” Many fans even brought bracelets to trade at the theater.
Swift is currently on a break from performing, but have no fear, as The Eras Tour goes international, continuing again on Nov. 9 in Argentina. Additionally, “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” a re-recorded album, will be released on Friday, Oct. 27, so be on the lookout for that. For now, fans can (and should) see Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in most theaters nearby.
