“It’s not like any other concert,” Rian Puri (’26) said. “With all the dancing and different props, it’s really a fantastic show.”
Puri attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium June 23. Swift’s tour took the music industry by storm after its opening show March 17, 2023, setting a record-breaking attendance level in eight different cities throughout the tour, according to the Grammy Awards.
Since its opening night, Stella Albrecht (’26) said her anticipation for the show was gradually growing after she bought tickets.
“It was definitely a hard process getting tickets last summer,” Albrecht said. “It took a long time, and then we had to wait all year for our show.”
“Swifties,” a term coined to represent members of Swift’s fanbase, according to Urban Dictionary, were the reason Albrecht said she enjoyed the Eras Tour so much. She said it was the fans’ kindness and the concert’s “sense of community” that made her experience so positive.
Similarly, Rhea Israni (’25) said she’s made “a lot of new friends” throughout her various Eras Tour experiences — one of her highlights from the concert.
“I still talk to one of the girls I met at a show that happened months ago,” Israni said.
Israni has attended 12 Eras Tour concerts, from Swift’s show in New York to, most recently, her show at Wembley Stadium over the summer. Israni said her continued presence at Swift’s shows is a testament to her overwhelmingly positive experiences.
“When you’re there, you’re surrounded by a lot of people that are really interested in the same thing,” Israni said. “It’s fans like that that are definitely part of the reason I keep coming back.”
With over 40 songs played throughout a three-hour show, the Eras Tour has gained an extensive amount of media attention, according to The New York Times. Despite the media often painting Swift’s concert as a cultural phenomenon, according to IQ Magazine, for fans in the standing section of the stadium, Puri said certain aspects of the experience were a “letdown.”
“Having to stand for three hours during the show, as well as before the performance even started, was exhausting,” Puri said. “Overall, it was probably about seven hours of standing and walking around.”
Similarly, Israni said limited space in the standing section, along with the desire to stand close to the stage, can often create tension between fans.
“Everyone wants to be at the front so badly that they can often get really pushy,” Israni said. “The times that I’ve been queued up to stand near the barricade, people have always been kind of rude or tried to take our spots.”
However, despite these negative aspects, Israni said she “really loved the experiences,” increasing her appreciation for the concert, especially following the cancellation of Swift’s shows in Vienna, Austria.
According to NBC News, following the accusation of alleged terrorist attacks, Swift canceled all three of the Eras Tour concerts scheduled Aug. 8-10 in Vienna, leading to backlash from disappointed fans.
“You have to do what you have to do for safety,” Albrecht said. “However, I feel so much empathy for the fans that missed the show. It must have been so heartbreaking, so I’m just grateful I got to go at all.”
