The city was filled with art installations, banners and spirit as Taylor Swift arrived in Liverpool for the first night of the ‘Eras Tour’. It was a monumental night for Taylor and Anfield Stadium as it was her 100th show, her first sold out show in Liverpool and the highest record ever for attendance at Anfield Stadium! Incredible!
Despite the British weather looming over the city most of the day, it cleared up just in time for the support act to take to the stage, which happened to be none other than Paramore. When you think of Paramore you can’t imagine them in a support slot at this stage of their 21 year spanning career but in reality it opens them up to a whole new generation.
Thinking a huge amount of the audience weren’t even born when they began as a band all those years ago, the high energy set and phenomenal vocals from the lovable Hayley Williams is sure to keep the love of Paramore alive for years and generations to come.
The crowd made part of the show. From trading friendship bracelets to seeing everyone’s eras themed outfits the audience were a key part of the eras tour experience. We joined in the fun also and based our outfit around the ‘Midnights’ era with our arms adorned in homemade friendship bracelets and we spent the evening trading with other fans around us in the venue and on the journey home.
After eruptions from the crowd spotting the janitors cart rolling to side stage alongside the dancers, band and backing vocalists who are all adored by Swifts across the world the time came…
Taylor arose from the stage uncovered from giant flower petals into “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” and with that the ‘Lover’ era and night one of the Eras Tour began and it was time to travel through 18 years of Swift’s whirlwind career.
Performing a whopping 45 songs, some abridged and others in full you get to experience key songs from each album. The stadium was filled with cheers and sobs of joy as fans sang every single word and joined in with many of the signature moments and chants seen on Instagram and TikTok.
A highlight for us was “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” which was played in its entirety and we are SO glad it was. The stunning lyrics belted throughout the stadium accompanied by Taylor on stage solo with a guitar. You’d think a song that went on for ten minutes would lose people but not at all.
The audience was gripped from start to finish as leaves and snow floated through the stadium as the song went through the seasons. Other highlights were the ‘Folklore/Evermore’ era, with the witchy vibes of “Willow” and the stunning Folklore cottage during “Betty” and the Reputation era, which personally I think is one of Swift’s most iconic albums.
Strutting onto the stage in her iconic snake jumpsuit to ‘Ready For It’ the dancers, the lighting and whole energy of the ‘Reputation’ era was up there as one of the favourites. The only thing we wished we had more of was the ‘Speak Now’ era.
We were gutted to hear songs from there had been cut for this leg of the tour and whilst ‘Enchanted’ was stunning we would have loved to have heard ‘Long Live’. The addition of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ however was fantastic and so much fun visually, very glad this was an addition to the Europe/UK leg.
The surprise songs were simply perfect. With Taylor just playing the guitar or piano which was so simple and stunning were two tracks from her ‘Speak Now’ album. Among them – ‘I Can See You/Mine’ and ‘Cornelia Street/Maroon’.
Finishing the night with the iconic ‘Midnights’ era which included tracks such as ‘Bejewelled’ and ‘Karma’ the stadium was filled with confetti and fireworks sparkled in the sky marking an end to the day that the 60,000 fans that filled Anfield had waited for.
The whole night was simply magical from start to finish for the most die hard Swifties or those who just love concerts/a few Taylor albums. There really was something for everyone and the entire production from the dancers, band, aesthetic and transitions between eras to Taylor herself were so seamless.
The Eras Tour is set to continue throughout the UK and other areas in the world before concluding at the end of this year and we can’t wait to see the rest of it’s journey. It almost felt like a nod goodbye to some of Taylor’s earlier music but in the best way possible.
Words by Niamh Louise // Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management
