Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” came to New Orleans this past week. Two giant friendship bracelets covered the side of Caesars Superdome as the city prepared to welcome Swift for her three sold-out shows. 

Swift was on stage for three and a half hours, only leaving for brief costume changes, and when she was on stage, she was dancing, singing and interacting with the crowd. During “22” alone, she entered at the back of the stage, danced down the roughly 246-foot-long catwalk, bestowed the iconic “22” hat upon a waiting young fan and finally joined her dancers for some lively Rockette-esque high kicks.

Swift has 43 other songs to perform on the standard setlist, and for each one she uses the whole stage, not at all intimidated by its size.  

This tour, Swift brought on a new choreographer, Mandy Moore, well-known for her work in “La La Land.” Moore said Swift wanted the tour to be “storytelling, cinematic and film-based.” “The Eras Tour” is more than a concert: it is a vehicle for storytelling through song, movement and visuals.  

“The Tortured Poets Department,” the newest set to “The Eras Tour” after the album’s April 19, 2024 release, embodies this. Swift begins her song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” on a raised platform in the middle of the stage. Moore discussed how she was involved with the creation and design of the raised platforms from the original set of the show. When Swift sings “so I leap from the gallows/and I levitate down your street,” the platform begins to glide down the stage, mimicking the lyrics. As the song builds, the platform begins to spin, all the while Swift continues to move around on it. The platform and Swift’s movements match the tempo and emotional intensity of the song, creating a dynamic performance.  

“All Too Well (10 minute version)” was my favorite performance of the show. It’s the summation of the Taylor Swift fan experience. It’s why we’re all there. Swift takes personal moments and distills them to the core emotions at play. It is an extraordinary talent to make the intimately personal relatable worldwide without compromising the intensity of the experience. While very few people have left a scarf at an ex’s sister’s house, many can relate to the postmortem analysis of a relationship — “it was rare/I was there/I remember it all too well.” 

It is what Swift does best, arguably better than anyone else in the industry. Add in a Jack Antonoff synth and you’ve got a number one hit. 

There are certain lyrics you can tell are crowd favorites, as they are screamed a bit louder than the rest of the song. There’s “f— the patriarchy,” “he looks up grinning like a devil,” “’cause she’s dead!” and “what a shame she’s f—ed in the head” from “champagne problems.” There is a reason Swift got a nearly four-minute standing ovation after playing “champagne problems.”  

When I reviewed “evermore” for my high school newspaper back in 2020, I said the following about the song: “And the bridge is worthy to be screamed along to in the car when you should be paying attention to the road.” In hindsight, it is a slightly concerning confession from a 16-year-old who had just gotten her license, but nonetheless, four years later the point still holds. And around 65,000 screaming fans agreed with me.  

The surprise songs are the second to last set. Each night, Swift will play a medley of songs, one on guitar and the other on piano, that are not included on the standard setlist. It is over three hours into the concert, but you would never know it: phones are recording, attention is locked on the end of stage and there is dead silence before the opening notes. During this part of the show, Swift pushes herself creatively. 

On Oct. 25, Swift played a mashup of “Our Song” and “Call It What You Want” on guitar. “Our Song,” the closing track of her debut country album “Taylor Swift,” was a nod to Louisiana’s country music scene. On piano, she played “The Black Dog” and “Haunted.”  

Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” was a three-and-half-hour display of musical prowess and excellence that New Orleans will not soon forget.