Taylor Swift brings The Eras Tour to Anfield for the first of three nights
After months of preparation, the night is finally here. Tonight sees Taylor Swift take to the stage for her first of 3 nights at Anfield Stadium as part of her ‘Eras’ tour. Anticipation for these shows has been building over the last few weeks with the city even putting on a Taylor’s Town art exhibition with multiple installations throughout the city. People have been waiting since 5 am in the wind and rain to secure a prime spot to watch Taylor's performance and now the doors have finally opened. People have travelled from far and wide for these shows and are without a doubt in for a special night.
Kicking the night off, we have the mighty Paramore. This is a band who have been around for 21 years, playing to huge crowds all over the world. Their set tonight has been ‘Taylor'ed’ to suit the crowd they're playing to and that's not a bad thing. Coming out onto the stage to much applause, vocalist Hayley Williams and the rest of the band get straight to it with ‘Hard Times’ before quickly jumping into their cover of ‘Burning Down the House’ by Talking Heads. They are a lot of fun to watch, making full use of the stage as Hayley takes to the catwalk, followed by the rest of the band. Hayley repeatedly thanks the crowd for being so welcoming between songs and also thanks Taylor for the opportunity to join the tour. Songs like ‘Still Into You’ and ‘Ain’t it Fun’ are perfect for the crowd they are performing to, leaning much further into the poppier side of their music, making for a fun and upbeat set. The band also take the opportunity to play one of their biggest songs ‘Misery Business’. They finish the set with last year's hit ‘This Is Why’ before thanking the crowd one final time.
Upon entry to the stadium, members of the crowd were given wristbands to put on which light up throughout the show. As the start of Taylor's performance draws near, the screen on stage displays a video explaining the wristbands before displaying a countdown, as it reaches the final 10 seconds, the crowd begins a countdown and the show begins. A video plays on the screen as multiple giant fans are walked out onto the catwalk before Taylor rises from the stage to a huge round of applause from the audience, before breaking into her first song ‘Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince’. "Liverpool you are making me feel very special.” Says Taylor whilst speaking to the crowd, she also announces that whilst making her way to the stage, she was informed that the crowd have broken the all-time attendance record in this stadium with tonight's show.
The Eras tour is a truly unique tour. The setlist walks through each album or ‘Era’ of Taylor Swift's music over the past 19 years, leaving no stone unturned. It’s interesting to see a tour which blends genres and with such ease and perfect execution. Each ‘Era’ sees the biggest songs and a few deeper cuts performed. Its also an incredibly well put together show with some extremely impressive visuals and a tight choreography to match, making it a visually pleasing watch. ‘The Man’ is the first real taste of this, with a back drop displaying an office block, Taylor climbs a stair set as dancers dance around her. Her ‘Fearless’ era gives the crowd a fantastic performance of hit song ‘Love Story’ before moving into the ‘Red’ era with a back to back performance of ’22’, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ and ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’. These are all huge crowdpleasers prompting huge singalongs and dancing throughout the crowd. Taylor takes a moment to speak to the crowd, announcing that tonight is her 100th show of the Eras Tour before performing the full 10 minute version of ‘All Too Well’.
Following the ‘Speak Now’ and ‘Reputation’ eras, we make our way into the ‘Folklore/Evermore’ era. This is where the blending of genres shines as we move from pop-heavy to a slower pace with a bigger folk and country influence. Taylor also takes some time to talk about the influences of these albums, explaining that they lean into imagination and storytelling as opposed to using real life experiences. A moss covered house is brought to the stage which Taylor sits on the roof of to sing from, before making her way down to the infamous moss-covered piano. Following on from this we head into the ‘1989’ era seeing huge hits ‘Blank Space’ and ‘Shake it off’ bring the energy levels back up before rounding things off with ‘Bad Blood’, before moving into new territory. The next era sees fans getting their first taste of songs from Taylor's latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. For fans amongst the crowd this is something exciting and many watch on eager to soak up every visual and sound.
Each night on the tour, Taylor plays ‘Surprise songs’ and tonight is no different. These are played acoustically and are a mashup of two songs which gives her a chance to show off her musical talent. In 2023, Taylor visited Liverpool to film the video for her song ‘I Can See You’ which made for the perfect choice for her first surprise song which she plays on acoustic guitar. This is a real crowdpleaser, creating an emotional ripple that rolls through the crowd. Next, she shows off her piano playing skills by playing a piano version of ‘Cornelia Street’ leading into ‘Maroon’. Following her acoustic performance, Taylor dives into the catwalk, reappearing on the main stage to run through her ‘Midnights’ era.
Tonight's show was a whirlwind of visual and musical entertainment. There are very few tours which run for as long as the ‘Eras Tour’ but each show has only improved upon the last, bringing us to a point where everything is perfectly executed making it a true theatrical masterpiece. With such a vast back catalogue, this makes for a huge set list of 45 songs and running for up to nearly 3 hours. Performing for this length of time with such energy and precision is a huge feat in itself and one that deserves much praise. This is only the first of 3 nights, fans attending the remaining 2 shows in Liverpool are truly in for a night they will be sure to remember.
