70,000 FANS CAN’T BE WRONG

Taylor Swift Brings The Eras Tour To Philadelphia

Taylor Swift doesn’t have to do anything. At just thirty three, she’s already lived the life of a thousand storytellers, steadfastly siphoning her soul into pop songs the world has come to know by heart. Watching thousands filter through the gates of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, I couldn’t help but think how it’s a curious thing, why some make it and some don’t. Though the extreme fame and popularity that rushed to meet her at the top of the Billboard charts some seventeen years ago, was so immediate and lasting that it’s hard to envision her story unfolding any other way. The Eras Tour – a clever, conceptual celebration of every phase of her career so far – confirms that every once in a while, an artist ends up exactly where they are meant to. Swift’s songs are undeniably made for the stage, making her colossal success and imprint on the culture feel about as inevitable and certain as the sun making way for the moon. 

If there’s any grand, overarching theme to be gleaned from her catalogue, it may be to trust your own instincts, no matter how loud the noise. That might not be apparent from a distance and it’s not to say her music isn’t larger than life in all of its vulnerability and romanticism. But alongside radiant dreamscapes, character studies and unflinching self portraits, is the tangible understanding that this artist did not get here by listening to anyone else. In its own way, that feeling is the engine that fuels the highly imaginative and triumphant Eras Tour. Refashioning the very idea of what a show can be, it’s another high water mark from an artist adept at reshaping the expectations of an already adoring audience. 

When the countdown clock struck midnight, an entire stadium erupted, euphoric with the knowledge that Taylor Swift’s arrival was imminent. In reality, it was just before 8 PM on Saturday, May 13th, 2023, though the songwriter had encouraged the crowd to suspend their disbelief from the start. Introducing herself at one point as “Your host this evening,” Swift’s performance would spring to life as an intricate and vast exercise in time travel. Although the decision to open with the 2019 Lover track “Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince,” instantly signaled that this would not be a straight forward, chronological affair. Instead, Swift, her band and about 70,000 well rehearsed back up singers would take the precise sonic and visual stylings of 45 songs and fit them together like a puzzle. Through it all, she was gracious and relaxed, her every spoken word punctuated by thunderous bursts of applause, cheers and screams that occasionally drowned her out completely. “Well,” she began one such address early on, before nightfall had turned the towering open air venue into a shimmering, glistening mirrorball in the sky. “What a childhood dream it is for me to say these words to you: Philly, welcome to The Eras Tour.” 

On the second of three consecutive shows in Philadelphia, the Reading, PA native stepped inside the mindset of earlier albums as if they were past lives. For over three hours, elaborate sets changed form and milestone records were brought into focus – the sheer number of pages in her songbook a staggering realization with every passing minute. “Cruel Summer,” “Bad Blood,” “Bejeweled,” “22,” “The 1",” “Champagne Problems,” “Blank Space,” “…Ready For It?” “Enchanted,” “Mastermind,” “Love Story,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and so many more – all separated by years and perspective and experience, all key to a truly jaw dropping catalogue that echoed high above the city’s tallest buildings, bolstered by cheering crowds and massive choruses audible for miles. Where she goes from here is anyone’s guess, but I have a feeling she’ll write more songs that people want to be close to, pull more melodies out of the air like you or I would pick apples from a tree. And eventually, she’ll end up showing the world something we’ve never seen, again.

By Caitlin Phillips
05.16.2023

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