Written by Abbey Williams
Singer Taylor Swift performed opening night of the Eras Tour March 17, performing for three hours, singing 44 songs from 10 albums and making 16 costume changes. She’s performing at 52 stadiums over the course of her tour. Ticketmaster’s sales reported that her fanbase had bought 2.4 million tickets out of 2.6 million tickets available. She broke Madonna’s record for the highest attendance at a female artist’s concert, and it has only been the start of her American tour.
Swift held opening night of the Eras Tour, her sixth concert tour, in Glendale, Arizona, which was renamed temporarily for the show nights to “Swift City.” Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers said, “We know all too well that she’s one of the most influential artists of her generation, and we are writing our own love story for her and greeting every Swiftie in style.” Some people have even called it Swift City, “Era”zona. Her last day of tour is scheduled to be Aug. 9 in Inglewood, California.
Swift hasn’t toured since 2018, when she performed her “Reputation” album. With each new album, Swift has gotten more and more popular. She released her latest album, “Midnights,” in October 2022. It only makes sense that her ticket prices would be extremely competitive.
I happened to be in Germany when her ticket presale happened. This was the end of the Harding University in England trip. After sitting in my hotel room for two hours, the website updated, and I was told by Ticketmaster they would move the Capital One presale to the next day because their system crashed. So I tried again the next day. In my hotel room in Germany, after waiting in a queue of over 40,000 people, I finally got in to choose my seats. I struggled in vain for over an hour trying to get seats, but was unsuccessful.
Due to an influx of bots and scalpers, the tickets sold out so fast there was no option for general sales on Ticketmaster. The issue was even taken to the U.S. Senate, as they slammed Ticketmaster and Live Nation, who basically have a monopoly on ticket sales. A lot of smaller ticket companies are re-selling the tickets for astronomical prices. Swift said she hopes to provide more opportunities for tours in the future.
“And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs,” Swift said. “Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.”
You can imagine my feelings when Swift had her opening night recently. My TikTok feed was Swift’s concert for almost an entire week. Because of all the TikTok videos and livestreams, I actually have been able to watch the majority of her show. With all the Eras Tour content I’m getting, I’m seeing advice for people who are going to see her. For example, some Swifties advise you to show up to the venue hours early because of traffic. The official merch for her tour sells out fast, with fans and re-sellers standing in a line for up to six hours, as I’ve seen on TikTok. My advice for people who didn’t get tickets like myself: Get TikTok.
