VANCOUVER, British Columbia — If there’s one thing Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ has taught us, it’s that Swifties know no boundaries. This fact couldn’t have been more apparent when diehard fans came to Vancouver to see the pop star play her final three shows of her record-breaking tour.
The tour functioned as a retrospective of the singer’s music catalog and took fans down memory lane. Kicking off in March 2023, the singer serenaded sold-out stadiums around the world with a 40-song setlist celebrating each of her musical eras, from previous recordings such as Fearless And Speak now to newer releases such as Midnights And The department of tortured poets.
But with Ticketmaster’s blunders and rising sales prices, getting a ticket was no easy task; Swifties will be the first to tell you that. They’ll also probably tell you that their fandom will do whatever it takes to see their favorite pop star perform.
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“I am a teacher and I have had a number of parents of my students register for the [Ticketmaster] codes last year when [Swift tickets went on sale]. So I thought, ‘If anyone wants to help, I would really appreciate it,'” Samantha Rizzuto of Victoria, British Columbia, told Yahoo Entertainment about the efforts she made to one of the last ‘Eras Tours ‘ shows in Vancouver. “I didn’t get a code, but the parents were very supportive.”
Samantha Rizzuto wore an outfit inspired by Taylor Swift’s ‘Enchanted’. (Neia Balao/Yahoo Entertainment)
Rizzuto spotted Swift in May during her “Eras Tour” stop in Lisbon, Portugal. When her best friend’s sister received a Ticketmaster code to jump in line on the website to get tickets to Swift’s Dec. 6 show, she knew she would be back.
“I’m so happy to be surrounded by people who love [Swift] and I love what her music does for all of us as much as it does for me,” she said. “So it’s really a celebration of love, light and positivity.”
While some fans deliberately sought tickets to Swift’s shows in Vancouver, others traveled to the Canadian city because it was the only city where they could get tickets for the “Eras Tour.”
“[These were] the only tickets we could get,” Natalie Brehm told Yahoo. Brehm and her best friend, Jaclyn Lochtefeld, flew 16 hours from Columbus, Ohio, to Vancouver to see Swift perform on December 6.
“We had a friend who got [tickets] through his credit card. … [There were] a few [of] different cities he [entered the] lottery for, and this was one of them. He couldn’t come, so we’re here on his behalf.”
Natalie Brehm and Jaclyn Lochtefeld traveled from Columbus, Ohio, to see Swift’s “Eras Tour” in Vancouver. (Neia Balao/Yahoo Entertainment)
Brehm and Lochtefeld consider the “Eras Tour” a celebration of childhood and adolescence.
“Since [her debut album]I was just hooked. It nourishes my inner child and makes me feel like a child again. So it’s everything,” Brehm said.
“It was so much fun interacting with all the fans here and handing out bracelets to little girls [and] for the older fans. It’s just girl time,” Lochtefeld added.
Swifties exchanged friendship bracelets during the concert. (Neia Balao/Yahoo Entertainment)
For Swifties, their love for the 34-year-old pop star extends beyond her critically acclaimed albums and repertoire of hits. It’s more than pop music. It’s therapy.
Perla Ramos of Orange County, California, first saw the “Eras Tour” in Los Angeles in August 2023. After a friend offered her a ticket to Swift’s Dec. 6 show, Ramos hopped on a plane and traveled to the north. She stationed herself in a section of the stadium holding a sign that read “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” – a song from Swift’s latest album, The department of tortured poets, rumored to be about ex-boyfriend Matty Healy – and encouraged fans to sign her white dress with the names of men who wronged them.
Perla Ramos, who traveled to Vancouver from California, encouraged fans to sign her dress with the names of past loves who wronged them. (Neia Balao/Yahoo Entertainment)
“It was therapeutic for me. … I wanted to give people the opportunity to express their anger [onto this] dress,” Ramos said of her “Eras Tour” outfit, which was inspired by another fan who did the same. “This [is] the highlight of my life right now. Honestly, this year has been the hardest year I’ve ever had, and this has brought so much light back into my life.”
In a year that has seen pop music’s newest female superstars emerge, Swift has the industry in his grip. He was recently crowned Spotify’s top artist of 2024, with a whopping 26.6 billion streams worldwide. The end of the “Eras Tour” marks a new beginning for Swift. With no plans published at this time, the singer’s slate appears to be clean.
Lindsay Slade, left, and her friends take part in the “Eras Tour” on December 6. (Neia Balao/Yahoo Entertainment)
So what do fans hope Swift does next?
“I feel like she has grown so much as an artist and has had to deal with so much pressure from what other people expect of her,” Lindsay Slade of Kelowna, British Columbia, told Yahoo. “I think she’s really grown into herself, and I just hope she does what makes her happy.”
“I hope she takes some time for herself,” Rizzuto said. “I hope she maybe writes a bit more and enjoys this next phase of life and has time to grow into whatever she wants her next era to be.”
