You didn’t think I was going to make you read years of business blogs with Taylor Swift allusions in order for me to refrain from blogging about the Eras tour, the most significant current cultural event?
Right???
OK.
As many of you know, I was lucky enough to be gifted a ticket to see night 3 in Sydney. Not for lack of trying on my end mind you, but the Ticketek gods (aka the algorithm) did not shine on me. Entering the stadium on Sunday night, I watched a mother walk around with a piece of cardboard on a stick with “I need two tickets please” scrawled on it, while towing several young anxious looking women/girls, I also noticed several hundreds of people had decided to set up for the night on the outer of the stadium by my gate, just to soak in the music and the atmosphere (that was at 5.30 pm, I’m sure that grew as the show got closer)I did indeed feel very lucky. And grateful at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
I’m an almost 50 year old woman, and I have indeed been a fan from her Fearless album. Something about this obviously smart, talented, ambitious young woman who was kind of dorky, resonated with me, even though she was close to two decades younger. No, I’m not going to say something moronic about it reminding me of me at that age, because it didn’t. At age 14 when she signed her first publishing deal, I was having my first mid-life crisis and was focussed on becoming a professional basketball player. I’m serious at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
No, I am simply a music fan, and appreciated she was a talented songwriter, and musician. She was nevertheless deeply uncool, it was pop music (yeh I know everyone loves to say her first records were ‘country’, but they always had a far stronger pop sensibility than anything else) which is always waved away as ‘catchy’ music rather than literary or musical genius (which good popsongs actually often are) and she wrote about her teenage experiences so she was easy to dismiss, at least by most people who had never been a teenage girl. However, I remember hearing an interview once during her Red era, where she was co-hosting a radio show in Australia one afternoon with Hamish and Andy during her tour and at 22/23 years old, she was completely holding her own intellectually and comedically, with these whip smart, funny comedians and I thought her poise and self depricating nature, combined with her talent was incredibly rare. I found her intriguing. As a person and an artist at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
It’s fair to say what has been said in so many other opeds, and that is having been in the music industry now for 18 years and living a large chunk of her life on her sleeve, her staying power means she has collected many fans over those years of multiple generations, who have also moved through the last 18 years of their lives with similar experiences — heartbreak, betrayal, loss friendships, disappointment, professional deaths etc and they relate to her and her product (her songs, concerts etc) because of it. In so far as its possible to relate to a global celebrity. Her differentiated talent is her ability to write so specifically about all these things in a way that makes you think you know what she is referring to (or at least you think you do) or makes you think she innately ‘gets you’. This is not the first time an artist has been able to do this, of course. Many have compared her to Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Paul McCartney (who also wrote ‘pop songs’ for those who can’t remember back that far) and that’s fair in a songwriting capacity. And dont get me wrong we have had amazing songwriters and storytellers who have worked across decades in Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen Christine McVie, Lucinda Williams …. But, I do think her direct storytelling ability which speaks specifically to girls and womens experiences combined with her relatability has been missing for the last decade or so in the pop realm. Beyonce is also an amazing songwriter and storyteller, but she is much more distant as an artist. Madonna and Gaga are the same at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
So back to the concert. Bluntly, it was a tour de force. Much has been made of her ability to sing and dance at the same time and the length of the show, the result of her training on a treadmill while singing. But actually, I was simply impressed she sang for 3.5 hours — anyone who has ever tried to do that knows how difficult that is. Only to back it up night after night. And then add a 3.5 hour cardio workout to the mix. It’s an elite athletic and musical achievement. She plays piano, guitar, she does big dance numbers and acoustic sets. Its a multi-media installation with a dance troupe who are clearly having fun, and a band who have clearly been with her for a decades at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
If I was to make a critique, it would be that it was just sooo slick that it was more like a musical theatre production with every move and facial expression choreographed, than a traditional concert where there is substantial engagement with the fans and it’s more spontaneous. However, it never promised or pretended to be anything else, that’s just my personal preference at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
However, despite this, the greatest aspect was not the great T Swift, but the crowd.
Several times throughout the night I turned around simply to drink in the stadium during a couple of song favourites, because while I’ve been to many concerts over my years, I’ve never had the experience of 80,000 people singing in unison. My previous best concert experience was seeing Pearl Jam in Adelaide in 2006 I think, when Eddie Vedder lost his voice due to laryngitis….he made it about 70% of the way through the concert but during the song Black he couldnt go on….and the crowd took over. I remember standing there with my sister while every single grungey fan who were previously too cool to sing, stopped moshing or silently listening and started singing…together, to help Eddie out (fun fact: I ran into a roadie several years later in Brisbane, who worked on that tour and he also verified that was one of the most extraordinary experiences he had ever had and the band talk about that concert to this day) at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
It’s a religious experience….that many humans singing together. At Pearl Jam it was a wonderous experience. At Taylor Swift, 80,000 people singing together made the floor and my body reverberate. You know how powerful it is to witness a large gospel choir, it was like that but to the power of 20. Or 50. Or 300. A communion of sorts. Many people have reported crying at Taylor Swift concerts, but I started laughing. I think with….joy?
But the real marvel that night? The absolute freedom. May I quote Kirstin Hunter, a friend of mine who attended the night after, because she put it better than I ever will at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift:
“I was struck going through central station at midnight, this is what the world should be like. Women wearing whatever the fuck they want. Walking confidently thought public spaces alone. Not being harassed. Men like the guy sitting next to me in head to to toe sequins there with his girlfriend, singing every word”
Myself…I ordered a massive cup of water (no bottles allowed), and I sat it on my chair while Emily and I walked around the stadium floor checking out the vibe. I said to her this was the first time I’m not worried about someone spiking my drink. Everyone was in a good mood, polite, people were complimenting men and women on their outfits, there was literally no feeling of judgement or menace….anywhere at The real marvel of the Eras tour is not Taylor Swift.
I don’t know when I last felt so liberated. Although the expense of the Eras tickets has received a lot of attention, I would spend $900 every day of the week to experience that sense of freedom, even if it was only for a few hours. Taylor Swift isn’t the true star of the Eras tour.