By MELANIE ROMERO/Staff Writer
Global superstar Taylor Swift premiered “The Eras Tour” Film in Los Angeles on Oct. 12. The film consisted of her Eras Tour performance in Los Angeles. The duration was 2 hours and 45 minutes, but it could’ve been longer if no cuts were made.
As someone who was not able to get tickets to the Eras Tour due to the Ticketmaster fiasco, I am beyond grateful that this film was released for fans who did not witness “Miss Americana” herself.
Enchanted is really the only word that encapsulates the way I felt while watching “The Eras Tour” film. I went with my sister, mom, aunt and cousin to a 10:30 p.m. show.
There were two main groups in the audience: gleaming Swifties and “calmed down” Swifties. The gleaming Swifties were mainly teenage girls, who were dressed in pink dresses with cowboy hats and heart sunglasses. This group was overjoyed to scream their hearts out with excitement. The “calmed down” Swifties were equally excited, but swayed along in their seats instead.
My sister, cousin and I were a part of the gleaming Swifties, and joined them in the back of the theater to truly experience the film as if we were at the tour.
After a few moments before the movie, which my family and I discussed our favorite songs or albums, the screen faded, and a countdown began on-screen. As you can imagine, in a room filled with teenage girls, the noise level certainly made it seem like we were counting down at the actual concert.
The first lyrics sung were “It’s been a long time coming,” as an aerial view of SoFi Stadium was shown on-screen.
Throughout the movie, Swift performed songs from all her eras and even included a surprise acoustic song set. The order of her setlist was: Lover Era, Fearless Era, evermore Era, reputation Era, Speak Now Era, Red Era, folklore Era, 1989 Era, Surprise Set and Midnights Era.
Some of my favorite moments include scenes from the evermore and folklore Eras, as well as the surprise song set.
The songs for the evermore Era were “willow”, “marjorie”, “champagne problems” and “tolerate it.” “Willow” and “tolerate it” were the two main focal points of the set. While Swift sang “willow,” she and her backup dancers made a cult-like circle. During “tolerate it,” Swift and a male backup dancer set the scene by sitting at a long dinner table as she takes the role of a desperate housewife setting the table, only for him to “tolerate it.” This whole performance of the song felt like a scene from a Broadway play.
The folklore Era really outdid any other era in the movie. While “the last great American dynasty” isn’t my favorite song on folklore, it was one of the best performances in the film. The song itself tells a story, and Swift and her backup dancers executed each role perfectly. “Illicit affairs” was the most emotional song in the film, displaying Swift’s anger through repetition and raw emotion. If you aren’t a Taylor Swift fan, just watch this performance.
Every show in the Eras Tour has a surprise song set where Swift will acoustically perform (on guitar or piano) any two songs from her discography. The songs change for each showing, but in my movie one of the two that she sang was “Our Song.”
The surprise set brought up a bittersweet feeling for both old and young Swifties. I’ve gone through life singing this song with my mom, sister, friends and even boyfriends. While it may not be my favorite song in Swift’s discography, it will always be special to me because it was my introduction to Taylor Swift.
“You’re own Your Own, Kid” has started the precious tradition of sharing friendship bracelets during a tour. This song is a love letter to her fans that shows appreciation and a sense of unity, with lyrics like “So make the friendship bracelets, / Take the moment and taste it, / You’ve got no reason to be afraid.” Just from watching her on that big movie theater screen, I could tell that this was a full-circle moment for Swift. She has gone so far from dating the boy on the football team.
Swift has rightfully taken the title of “Miss Americana.” The “Eras Tour” film perfectly encapsulated Swift’s groundbreaking career through eras of her life, which have become so meaningful to fans all around the world. So many people flocked to see Swift globally that she’s made over $4.1 billion from the actual Eras Tour and over $96 million from the opening weekend of the film.
The long and short of it is, this mad woman will forever and always be a timeless superstar. (Get it?)
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