Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Captivates 69,000 Loyal Fans in Tampa

On February 7, 1964, Beatlemania hit America when the Fab Four landed at John F Kennedy airport in New Your City. Having been born in the same year, I have always imagined what it must have been like to live through that experience. Well 58 years later pop superstar Taylor Swift announced her Eras Tour and I was finally able to understand. Massive demand for tickets, hours of traffic, and screaming female fans all symbolized the enormity of this tour and incredible popularity of the artist.

Swiftiemania hit Tampa, Fl on April 13^th for a 3-night run. Very few performers are capable of selling out a single stadium show, let alone multiple shows in the same city. Taylor Swift is of these artists. Demand was so great for her tour that it left over two million Swifties who were lucky enough to get tickets overjoyed and brought tears to millions more who didn’t. The Tampa shows alone saw the star perform for over 200,000 fans.

Tampa has probably never seen an event like this other than maybe when they hosted the Super Bowl. The city lit the Old City Hall, the Tampa Riverwalk and downtown bridges red in honor of the Era’s Tour. For those who couldn’t score tickets for the show, there were a multitude of Swift related activities all over Tampa and St. Petersburg leading up to the shows.

I was one of the lucky ones to be able to attend the Friday, April 14^th show. Openers for the night were pop singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams and indie-artist beabadoobee. Unfortunately, it took over 3 hours upon leaving my hotel to reach my seat which caused me to miss both acts. Abrams performed a short 4-song set, while beadadoobee performed a 9-song set including her recent hit, “Glue Song”.

A little before 8:00 pm a countdown timer appeared on the large video panel behind the stage, and everyone knew the time had come. As the timer decreased, the anticipation in the crowd grew greater and greater. Once the timer hit zero screams emerged from the crowd. A slow procession of dancers walked to the diamond section of the stage carrying enormous colorful fans over their heads. They all laid down their fans covering the stage and as they lifted them Taylor Swift emerged from an ascending platform singing “Miss Americana”.

After the song, Taylor took a long pause as she scanned the mass of fans in the stadium before addressing the crowd with “Well now It’s been confirmed Tampa, Florida. You are already making me feel amazing….You’re making me feel like I can do anything I wanted…I guess what I’m saying is your trying to make me feel like I’m the man”. She then proceeded to put on a black suit jacket to sing “The Man” from her Lover album.

Over the next 3 hours she took fans on a musical journey through her 17-year career playing songs from different eras represented by her Lover, Fearless, evermore, reputation, Speak Now, Red, folklore, 1989, and Midnights albums. Along the way there were a multitude of costume and stage changes making the show part concert and part musical. The crowd was on their feet the whole show; everyone singing along with Taylor. It was like everyone in the stadium knew every word to every song. Surprisingly the only album that was left out was her debut album Taylor Swift.

Most everyone in the stadium knew Taylor was performing a fixed 44 song set. Prior to the Tampa shows fans could even listen to Eras Tour playlists which were available on Apple Music and Spotify. However, what no one knew was what her two surprise songs would be for the night. On each night of the tour Taylor is picking two songs that will only be performed on that specific night, although she may be reconsidering this. For this night’s show Taylor performed “The Great War” and “You’r On Your Own, Kid” from her Midnights album.

Joining Taylor for “The Great War” was Aaron Dessner from The National who collaborated with her on the folklore, evermore, and Midnights albums. Before the song Taylor commented that the song took on new meaning when people made jokes about trying to get tickets to the show. The acoustic performance by the duo was one of the fan favorites of the night. When the pair got to the bridge, the crowd’s singing almost drowned out Taylor’s vocals.

Not surprisingly, the last era of the night was from her recent Midnights album. She performed 7 songs from the album including one of my new Swift favorites, “Anti-Hero”. The whole night was a theatrical spectacle, but it concluded with a dramatic climatic end as she sang “Karma” complete with a laser light show and fireworks. At the start of the show Taylor ascended from beneath the stage so if was fitting for the show to end with her descending back beneath the stage.

I traveled 8 hours for the show, but others traveled even further distances from all over the country and from other parts of the globe. One such person was Georgia, who along with her 18-year-old daughter, flew in from London, England to attend the Thursday and Friday shows. It was Georgia’s birthday present to her daughter and what a present it was. I’m sure everyone, including myself, left the stadium convinced that this was the greatest concert they had ever attended.

April 14 Set List

Lover