Here on Dec. 6, 2024, on a Friday night in Vancouver — home of Taylor Swift‘s final three Eras shows (Nos. 150-152, for those counting) — we’re among about 60,000 kindred spirits at BC Place.
“You and I, we’re about to go on a little adventure,” Swift, in a bedazzled blue-and-gold Lover bodysuit, teases the crowd. “That adventure is gonna span 18 years of music, and we’re gonna be doing this one era at a time. How does that sound to you, Vancouver?”
Professional camera setups and operators scurrying behind the star on stage indicate this event is being professionally filmed. The Jumbotron is up and running high above the middle of the floor. It’s showing a feed focused on just Swift, so those further back or in upper levels can see her framed in a closeup and take in the full stage spectacle. Some ticket buyers are out only $16 CAD for late-release “no view” seats that turn out to be better than imagined, with slight glimpses at the Eras diamond or end stage, plus screens to watch.
There’s someone sobbing behind me. There’s happiness and sadness in the air being at this concert and knowing this is it.
Swift seems to feel that way, too, with a gaze that glistens when she pauses to take in the crowd for an extended moment post-“Champagne Problems.” She’s used the word “dreamscape” to describe the era of Folklore and Evermore, and in recent captions on Instagram posts and her tour book. From her perspective tonight, that’s got to be how it feels: surreal, even 630 days since The Eras Tour’s debut.
These were the best moments from the first of three dates in Vancouver, the beginning of the end (of Swift’s Eras Tour), from someone who can compare seeing the tour in 2023 vs. 2024.
The City Is … Ready for It
Has a city been more ready for The Eras Tour than Vancouver ahead of Swift’s last three concerts on The Eras Tour?
The landmark Gastown steam clock changed its chime to play “Shake It Off” every 15 minutes, the first time in history the clock’s sound has ever changed.
‘Tis the damn season: There are 13 Swift song-themed signs displayed around Vancouver, or Swiftcouver, for fans to discover as they explore the city. Visitors can see titles including “Anti-Hero,” “Down Bad,” “Style,” “Willow” and “ME!” lit up like holiday decorations. “Lover” shines in pink.
My hotel (and probably others around town) played Swift music videos on the elevator and welcomed guests with friendship bracelets, and businesses in the area could be heard from the street playing her songs. I was even asked about the show, and my tickets, when I went through customs to get here.
The Capilano Suspension Bridge turned its annual Canyon Lights into a Swift wonderland for the weekend, transforming it into a giant friendship bracelet. A giant friendship bracelet also hangs across the concert’s venue, BC Place.
BC Place Is the Place to Be
The Eras Tour is designed in a way that makes each section of seating in the stadium special in its own way. Swift really uses the whole stage — the main stage, the catwalk, the diamond and the end stage — throughout her performance, giving fans all around the floor a chance to see her right in front of them. Concertgoers in lower and upper level stadium seating get a better view of the immersive visual and light design as its meant to be seen, and can also watch the big screen to see Swift’s expression better.
BC Place elevated that already audience-friendly setup by also utilizing its Jumbotron, a raised center video board with screens on all sides. The stadium’s lighting, circling the space and displaying in time with the music, was also engaging. And though the roof was closed, and some assumed this concert might have to skip the production’s pyro elements, the stadium and tour crew worked out a way to safely incorporate that into the show.
In Her Last Friday Night Feelings
“This night is bound to be filled with so many different emotions, just for me, my band, my crew, my fellow performers on stage, the dancers, and for anyone that’s been with us and cared about this tour,” Swift told the crowd from the BC Place stage Friday night. “But right now, honestly, I’m just feeling so overjoyed that we decided to spend our last shows in Vancouver. I love you so much. My face hurts from grinning.”
As the night neared an end, she doubled down on that message: “This has been the greatest last Friday night of the tour that I could’ve imagined with you,” she said during the show closer, the Midnights set.
That reminder of the tour’s imminent end might have left Swifties on X (formerly Twitter) asking if they’re allowed to cry — but it was a sentiment that made those fortunate enough to be in attendance feel like they were making a core memory with Swift.
The “All Too Well” Journey Continues
Having attended The Eras Tour near its start, in spring 2023, and now at its end, it’s interesting to see how “All Too Well” continues to feel slightly different as time goes by.
The 10-minute fan-favorite that inspired a short film and is deeply rooted in Swift’s lore felt like a triumph heard live in its entirety on early tour dates. Now, on the last weekend of Eras, it feels like Swift has mastered the performance. There was a distinct confidence, and more showmanship, in Vancouver’s “All Too Well,” with Swift often incorporating theatrical hand gestures to emphasize key lyrics and feelings throughout the song. As always, it’s incredible to look around and see up to 60,000 people captivated by “All Too Well” — knowing all the words and feeing all the emotions of a diaristic pop song of this length.
I’ll Build You a Cabin on Some Stage
Though I saw The Eras Tour in spring 2023, there was plenty to experience with an entire new era incorporated into the set in fall 2024. For instance, seeing Folklore staged on The Eras Tour after The Tortured Poets Department was added to the show got my the mind in a whirl, connecting themes sprinkled throughout her discography.
Standing back and really taking in the tour’s art design this time around, I made note of all the “home” visuals across the eras: the Lover house in its various iterations, the beloved Folklore cabin, the “asylum where they raised me,” the UFO that beams Swift up “just to send me back where I came from.”
Kevin Winter/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
“You guys have your share of beautiful, natural wilderness and mystical forests, and that’s all part of the imaginary world of Folklore,” Swift said to the Vancouver locals in attendance, while speaking of the cabin’s long journey on The Eras Tour.
There’s serenity found on the Folklore cabin’s rooftop. During her performance of “Cardigan,” Swift is now atop the cabin, gazing up at a moonlit sky while singing about a love that’s endured stages (“I knew you’d come back to me”).
Meanwhile, during The Tortured Poets Department set, I watched Swift beneath a UFO in the sky and thought of the “Down Bad” bridge (“I’ll build you a fort on some planet/ Where they can all understand it”), bridging the idea of a protective fort and this safe Folklore cabin that travels — like it was built on some stage, where they can see it replayed.
“Betty” Feels “So High School”
Another interesting parallel noticed during the 2024 Eras set in Vancouver, after seeing the earlier version of the tour last year, is the matching “high school” vibe of the choreography Swift performs with her dancers at the end of Folklore‘s “Betty” and during The Tortured Poets Department‘s “So High School” later in the set. Though the songs are eras apart, thematically they’re both set in those teenage love affair years. They’re sweet, nostalgic moments to see live. Swift performs with youthful energy during both, grooving alongside her dancers that are assembled like a group of classmates on gymnasium bleachers.
Surprise No. 1: “Haunted” and “Wonderland”
Swift welcomed Vancouver to her always-anticipated acoustic section, admitting at a fast rate of speech that selecting the night’s surprise songs is “kind of the thing that I get kind of nervous about every single night. I get excited about it but it’s a challenge to see like, ‘Are they gonna like it? Are they gonna like it? Are they gonna like it?’ I think about this all week.”
“We’ll see how I do tonight with the picks,” she added, just before strolling across the stage with her guitar and launching into Speak Now‘s “Haunted.”
“Haunted” shifted to “Wonderland,” but not before Swift explained why she just had to play the 1989 era track this weekend: “I had to sing this next song at some point in Canada, eh?”
Surprise No. 2: “Never Grow Up” and “The Best Day”
The piano surprise of the evening was very sweet, and somewhat unexpected, given all the song choices she has to pull from for the last-ever weekend of The Eras Tour.
On the last Friday night of tour, Swift went sentimental with a live mashup of Speak Now‘s “Never Grow Up” and Fearless‘ “The Best Day.” One song is written from the perspective of someone who has grown up and doesn’t wish it on another; the other speaks lovingly of childhood memories. Both honor holding on to your inner child: “Oh darlin’, don’t you ever grow up/ Don’t you ever grow up/ It could stay this simple/ I won’t let nobody hurt you/ Won’t let no one break your heart/ And even though you have to/ Please try to never grow up/ Oh, don’t you ever grow up/ Oh, I had the best day with you today,” she sang.
Vancouver Night 1 Set List
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince Cruel Summer The Man You Need to Calm Down Lover Fearless You Belong With Me Love Story 22 We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together I Knew You Were Trouble All Too Well (10-Minute Version) Enchanted …Ready for It? Delicate Don’t Blame Me Look What You Made Me Do Cardigan Betty Champagne Problems August Illicit Affairs My Tears Ricochet Marjorie Willow Style Blank Space Shake It Off Wildest Dreams Bad Blood But Daddy I Love Him / So High School Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? Down Bad Fortnight The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived I Can Do It With a Broken Heart Haunted / Wonderland Never Grow Up / The Best Day Lavender Haze Anti-Hero Vigilante Shit Bejeweled Mastermind Karma
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