Is it the end of an era for Taylor Swift and Canada?
By Leonie O’Sullivan, July 13 2023—
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour was the most goosebump-inducing experience I have ever been privileged to witness. Securing a ticket for one of the U.S. shows felt like unwrapping a candy bar, only to see a golden, shimmering ticket. I made the pilgrimage to Las Vegas to lay my eyes and ears on the talent that is Taylor Alison Swift. I remember walking to the stadium grounds amongst an alliance of Swifties — expressing themselves completely, dressed from head to toe in sparkles and glitter. Outside the Allegiant stadium, there were some older men with megaphones imposingly revealing that we were damned for going to this concert — reminiscent of Swift’s music video for “You Need To Calm Down”.
Listening to Folklore and Evermore comforted me throughout COVID — like a shared pain that seemed to take the edge off. Waiting for her to come out on stage, as the clock clicked down, I could feel the electricity of more than 60 thousand fans around me. The adrenaline coursed through my body as she arose from the stage in her Lover era. The show Swift puts on is not your run-of-the-mill concert. It feels more like a Broadway production, with fun choreography, whimsical outfits and intricate staging. For three whole hours she morphs from genre to genre, taking on pop, country, folk and alternative rock music — seamlessly transitioning from era to era, she ends it out in Midnights.
She took a swing at the misogyny in the world as she introduced her song “The Man”. The feminism was oozing as she kissed her bicep after announcing that she is the first woman to have headlined the Allegiant stadium since its opening in July 2020. The ultimate highlight for me was the entire 10 minutes of “All Too Well”. She set the record with “All Too Well” for the longest song to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This song is so intellectually and emotionally written you can spend an entire class at Stanford studying it.
On June 2, Swift started announcing dates for the international leg of the Eras Tour. First up, South America. Then on June 20, Asia, Australia and Europe were blessed with dates.
But what about Canada? Did she decide to leave us under the bed like an old cardigan? Maybe. I have a bit of hope that she will add Canadian dates. Number one, she didn’t call the U.S. leg of the tour the North American tour and typically if artists are planning on skipping Canada they will do this. Number two, Ticketmaster Canada got fans excited by updating Swift’s homepage with the classic Eras picture on July 12. Number three, often artists will do a victory lap in North America to finish out the tour — so hopefully Canadian dates are still in the works.
Canadians are not the only ones feeling sorry for themselves. The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric reached out to Swift, asking her to bring the Eras to Chile. An Albertan MP, Matt Jeneroux followed suit and filed an official grievance with the House of Commons. Justin Trudeau has even thrown his hat into the ring, replying to one of Swift’s Twitter posts, pleading with her to not make it a cruel summer. These politicians may be more upset about the economic losses Chile and Canada will face, rather than missing out on the opportunity to “Shake It Off”. QuestionPro, an online research group, estimates that Swift will have generated economic activity of $5 billion USD with the U.S. leg of the tour.
If you are hoping to attend the Eras, here are some tips. First off, get everyone you know to preregister for the sales, as there is power in numbers for this lottery system. Day of sales, make sure your internet connection is golden. Also, double-check that all your card details are up to date on your Ticketmaster account — time will be of the essence when you get in. Prepare to wait a few hours in the queue — you might as well go ahead and cancel your plans for that day. If you manage to get tickets, have fun planning your Eras outfit. Bejewel and embroider your denim jacket or make some friendship bracelets in advance and bring them with you to swap with other Swifties. Hit the merch lines at the end of the show — we did this and there were no queues — but it might not hold true for your show. If you’re not interested in merch, wait in the stadium and you might catch a glimpse of Swift leaving the stage.
If you don’t want to spend an exorbitant amount to see Swift you can catch her on a concert-goer’s TikTok live, from the comfort of your bed. I would even recommend doing this just to watch the different surprise songs at each of the shows. If you’re lucky enough to have her come to your city, you can stand outside the stadium and sing along with other like-minded Swifties to enjoy a great show without ruining your savings.
I hope Swift will come to Canada so her fans will have a better opportunity to attend the Eras Tour, be it from inside or outside the stadium. Our generation has grown up alongside Swift, and spending a night getting to relive all of her greatest hits by singing all the lyrics and dancing with our inner children is a monumental experience all her fans should get a chance at. Even if Swift does not bring her Eras tour to Canada, I do not think it will be the end of an era for Swift and Canadians. She gives so much to her fans, from sharing the secrets of her diary with us through her songwriting to directing heart-wrenching, story-telling music videos — seeing is definitely not believing when it comes to Swift.
Swift dropped her third rerecorded album Speak Now Taylor’s Version on July 7th including six bonus tracks from the vault, listen to the album here.
This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.