Our Favorite Moments From Opening Weekend Of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
The moment we've ALL been looking forward to has finally arrived, and exceeded our already high expectations in every way. Country phenom turned global multi-genre sensation Taylor Swift has officially kicked off the biggest tour in US history. The superstar delivered a whopping 3-hour performance two nights in a row, with a setlist containing over 40 songs. Last Friday and Saturday brought numerous surprises, resurgence of fan-favorites, and memories that'll last a lifetime.
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur for Getty Images
The Eras Tour, Taylor's first in five years, builds on the already large-scale Reputation Stadium Tour, bringing fans on the journey through the ten albums of her career. The blockbuster tour began at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ (temporarily renamed to Swift City, AZ - we love a cool Swiftie mayor!), and its US leg will run until the beginning of August. As we reminisce on opening weekend and anticipate the next stops in Vegas, here's some moments from the Eras Tour so far that stood out to us!
Surprise drop of four new songs on Friday morning
As if the start of the Eras Tour wasn't keeping us on our toes enough, Taylor Swift decided to add even more chaos to opening day. First thing in the morning, fans got to hear the re-recordings of "Eyes Open," "Safe & Sound," and "If This Was A Movie," as well as a brand new track titled "All Of The Girls You Loved Before," on YouTube. The tracks were later added to streaming platforms.
"Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound" first premiered in 2012 as part of the Hunger Games soundtrack - right before Taylor's original Red era. "If This Was A Movie" is a fan-favorite deluxe track from Speak Now, rebranded as a Fearless (Taylor's Version) cut. "All Of The Girls You Loved Before" was a leaked song that had circulated on social media, rumored to be a scrapped track from the Lover album. None of these new tracks appear on the main setlist, but Taylor might choose them for her two acoustic "surprise songs" on future dates of the tour.
Acoustic versions of "Tim McGraw" and "State Of Grace"
Speaking of surprise songs, two of our favorite gems from Taylor's extensive discography got to have their acoustic piano moment. On Friday, Taylor thought it would be special to throw it back to the first song she ever released, and the Swifties loved it. There wasn't a single dry eye in the room.
Saturday's piano song was "State Of Grace," the opener of her career-defining Red (Taylor's Version).
We can't wait to see which songs she chooses to include in future dates! We'd love to hear acoustic piano versions of "Long Live," "New Year's Day," "Forever Winter," "right where you left me," and "You're On Your Own, Kid" on this tour.
An extensive selection of songs from evermore
Contrary to popular belief, Taylor does not in fact hate her ninth studio album, evermore.
She performed five songs from this album - unexpectedly, these included "marjorie," a moving tribute to her late grandmother. The dark, haunting intro to the album's lead single, "willow," absolutely blew us away. Of course, we can't forget the cathartic scream session to "champagne problems," arguably the best track on the album. The phenomenal set pieces for this section of the concert really helped evermore's themes come to life.
Although she's set the record straight regarding how she feels about evermore, Taylor still seems to have least favorite albums. There's only one song from Speak Now, and zero songs from Debut, in the setlist (not counting surprise songs). Naturally, this has led to some priceless reactions on social media. Checking in on the clowns, specifically those who were convinced Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was next - are y'all okay?
"All Too Well" (10 minute version) (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)
No conversation about Taylor Swift is complete without mentioning her magnum opus - despite its whopping length, there's no way she'd leave it out. We think it's so beautiful that lyrics about an extremely rough patch in Taylor's life have transformed into a love language between the star and her fans. Few things touch our hearts more than hearing a packed stadium of Swifties scream along to this iconic track.
"my tears ricochet" live leaving everyone speechless
One of the most loaded and personal songs in Taylor's catalog, Taylor moved us with this meaningful performance.
Chilling visuals and impressive contemporary choreography accompanied this fan-favorite track, bringing out its theme of betrayal. Taylor also highlights the subtext of trying to fight for her masters.
Later in the concert, Taylor included one particularly striking image. Some fans think that her burning the iconic Lover house, which contains all her previous albums, recalls this lyric from the song's bridge.
These have to be our top picks, but honestly, we could go on forever about the ways that Taylor knocked it out of the park. This is unlike anything any artist has ever done before. After shaping the music industry at large, making her mark in pop, country, and alternative, the Eras Tour once again shows why she's the greatest of all time.