#tstheerastourfilm review, a cute night with the swifty community
We may have felt a bit jealous that thousands of fans (and a few thousand bots) got to experience the Eras tour live on the first leg of the time, but that can’t stop us from trying. Hence, we still went to the Detroit shows on days one and two to capture the night’s best outfits. We not only photographed the fans, but we also gave out Polaroids of them to cherish the moment as much as they could. After all that, we still felt jealous that we couldn’t experience the night.
That’s when the announcement arrived via TikTok and Instagram. The tour would be available to everyone in the States (At the time of writing this, most of the world also gained access to the chance) via AMC/Cinemark/etc. When tickets were made available, we grabbed our seats as fast as we could. The site not only crashed once but several times. For a fraction of the price, we could see the full taping of the show live and a bunch of fans who also wished they could have gone too.
Advance ticket sales worldwide have already surpassed $100 million. AMC announced that the concert film broke its record for highest ticket sales revenue in a single day. The theater chain Cinemark reported domestic pre-sale records are more than “10 times higher pre-sales than any other cinema engagement event.”
One of the biggest reasons we wanted to see this tour was the number of Taylor Swift theories that could be true at this showing. Now, at the time of writing this, it is Wednesday. The night of the premiere showing in Los Angeles. This premiere is the closest thing to a secret session that we could get with the current popularity that Taylor has garnered, which leads many theorists to question the existence of many ideas. From double releases of the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to Karma the Album to Reputation dates, the fans were most curious to see what would happen. TLDR: No surprise unless you count Beyonce showing up.
Just a few of our freshly made bracelets for the showing!
With that being said, it was time for one thing. Cue the song “Make the friendship bracelets'. “ We may have already received a few from the tour stops, but we wanted to make a few of our own to pass. We do have to say that we give out major props to those who decide to make bracelets with glass/seed beads. Those were a nightmare to work with, but we made a few. Now, on the back of the polaroids, we placed stickers in advertising for our magazine, but this time, we decided to put QR codes on the bracelets.
Now that we got our bracelets, it was time for the outfit. We didn’t want to go big like the paper mache perfume bottle or make our dress from scratch. This is a movie theater, after all. So, staying comfortable and yet on brand is the goal for this event. Luckily, during night two of the Detroit show, we ran into a Girl Tribe Co and bought the last “You are on your own kid” shirt. There was a moment when we thought about digging through old dance outfits from high school to see if we could find the Team Jacob shirt inspired by the Junior Jewel shirt in the “You Belong to Me” music video. We’ll save that story for another day. Matching the outfit with black pants and a jacket, we were ready to get to the venue early.
The showtime we picked was 8:30, the closest to the time frame for any other concert. We may have also liked it because most additional time slots were sold out. We wanted to get there early enough to experience the night's atmosphere. We are glad we arrived early but wish we had gotten there earlier. Parking was filled to an unbelievable capacity. Even the security guard was confused by the limited parking. “Normally, this place looks like abandoned Toy ‘R Us—maybe a few for certain shows, but never like this. Good luck finding parking,” He said, laughing as the one parking spot we both spotted was claimed.
We eventually found parking and made our way towards the theater. You could already hear the fans belting out the lyrics to “22” penetrate through the theater doors. This was a good sign, and the anticipation was killing us. Once inside, we grabbed our popcorn and chatted with fans waiting for the show. We didn’t opt for the custom popcorn and cup combo, but we did snatch a mini poster. It was mentioned in several posts that AMC theaters were going to have AMC-branded friendship bracelets, but this location didn’t get their shipment in time for opening weekend. Another mention is that some AMC locations paid small/local businesses for theirs. Plenty of fans were willing to part with their newly made bracelets.
We spoke to a mother-daughter going to the same show as us. Both are extremely excited to see Taylor on the big screen and ready to pass bracelets in a heartbeat. The mother mentioned to us that she was on the first day of the Detroit show, and she was excited to be able to take her daughter to this version of the Eras tour. “She’s not ready yet for a Taylor Swift show, but we will go out in style when she's older.” Speaking of that, a lot of kids were present at the theater, and most parents would agree to this experience as a best-of-both-worlds option.
As for what everyone was wearing, the basic theme of the night was Eras tour comfort. Fans either wore their tour merch, while some wore TS cardigans representing their favorite era. Our favorite was the fans next to us in our row who wore slippers with the phrase “Meet me at Midnight.” As the lights turn down, the ad rolls appear on the screen. Most of them either had music-related advertising or had a Taylor Swift song. Our favorite attempt at getting the Swifty’s attention was the Troll movie ad where they called out them literally.
Just like that, the film starts with a view of the So-fi stadium as the opening intro begins. After seeing this scene hundreds of times, we still found ourselves getting emotional as the lyrics of all the past works blended into the opening song. Right away, we noticed that fans were hesitant to sing along during the Lover era, but that all changed by the time the Fearless Era started.
As someone who enjoys the production side of the live music industry, it was great to see all of the small-minute things that made this production as powerful as it was. The visuals used throughout the show indicate stage markers for the dancers and Taylor to hit the prop glass during the delicate being filled with water. All of these small things would have gone unnoticed without this being filmed. Even the costumes Taylor and the dancers wore were seen in full detail, from the beaded snake design on the Reputation one-piece, the fraying edge work in the Folklore dress, and even the sequin suits used in the Midnight Rain song. We believe the Red outfit was the best outfit that camouflaged the mic receiver.
As for the film in a filming aspect, we appreciated each era's mini transitional text. It was a cute way to indicate which era we were entering. From the flower fields of Speak Now to the red balloons in Red, all were delighted by the fans. Our favorite text card was the Reputation transition, in which they had a 3D effect of a snake wrapped around the stage going out into the audience. That one made us wonder why that was the full focus moment. What we also enjoyed were the angles that they filmed in. From the back of the venue to propped up on the scaffolding during “The Man.” Very unique approaches to capturing the moment. Since this was filmed during all three days of the LA stop, they did their best to make it look like there was only one main camera.
As for what we didn’t care for, nothing too much. It’s hard to fit an entire show with three hours' runtime into a 153-minute film without making it look basic/traditional. Some moments must be cut to keep the integrity of visual representation intact. Many scenes on a live performance were created with scene changes and quick changes; those don’t usually transition well into the film, so we had no problem with them cutting it out. Now, they did keep the ones that created an impact on the audience, for example, the swan dive into the stage and the Red box scene (Just for the Red title card). This means a lot of fan-favorite songs like The Archer and Cardigan were also cut from the film. Even the appearance of the Haim sisters for No Body No Crime was cut from the film. We were grateful they cut the ten-minute clapping scene after the Champagne Problems song.
Overall, the night was a delightful experience. Our only regret was that we should have picked an earlier showtime as we didn’t return home until the next morning (12 a.m.). Not only did we finally pass out bracelets and meet new friends, but we also got to see the show in a new prospect besides the fan-made Tiktok Live events or live stream moments. Most of the shows are sold out for this weekend, but more venues are gaining access to the film, so be sure to check your local theatre.
