Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, which started March 17, 2023, and is set to end December 8, 2024, is projected to make 4.1 billion dollars by the end of its run. Tickets sold out fast, and on average put you out $254, if not more, and resale tickets were running for over a thousand dollars. With the U.S. tour coming to an end, fans who missed out on the event no longer have to worry–Taylor, in all of her glory, is coming to a theater near you. With a run time of 2 hours and 49 minutes, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” offers fans a cheaper, closer-to-home alternative than attending the concert live. Many “Swifties” were highly anticipating the release of the film, and in fact, treated the movie theater just as any concert venue. Videos of fans dancing and chanting in front of the big screen have been circulating online, painting the experience as an interactive and exciting environment. Intrigued by the raving reviews, we decided to see it for ourselves.
Unlike most of the movie’s demographic, neither of us would consider ourselves die-hard fans. Of course, we’ve heard a few of her recent songs and grew up on some of the older ones, but the idea of almost three hours of Taylor Swift wasn’t exactly what we’d consider an exciting Friday night. The initial downside to the film was the price of tickets. To attend “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”, an adult ticket was $21.28 (with tax), over double the price of any other movie which usually runs at $9.64 (with tax). Upon more research, we discovered that minus sales tax, the ticket price is $19.89, Swift’s birth year. Regardless of the “symbolism” there, the price is almost too ridiculous to pay. However, Forbes says it’s justified as, “it’s [a] much cheaper alternative to attending live concerts, as well as a more interactive sort of theatrical experience…” We kept an open mind, awaiting the proclaimed “concert of a lifetime.”
The first thing we noticed as we walked in, was that the theater was mainly composed of moms and their middle school-aged children. Feeling a little out of place, we took our seats. As the movie started, we were immediately hit in the face with the overwhelming sound of a screaming crowd as the first era of the tour began. From the first note, it was clear that Taylor is a great performer, amplified with elaborate sets–which gave us a bit of optimism for the next three hours of our lives. But after that initial wave of excitement wore off, it started to feel repetitive almost instantly. As she sang through the entirety of each 4-minute song, we longed for a faster pace and a change of scenery. This feeling was pretty constant, but as she transitioned into each era, anticipation for the new background and costume refueled our attention spans, at least temporarily. While her more upbeat and catchy songs were pretty fun to watch, complete with backup dancers and a cheering audience, the slower ones dragged on, lacking the exciting concert environment as we sat in a silent theater.
Making the lack of a high-spirited environment worse, the entire film was mainly composed of back-to-back songs, including maybe a total of 5 minutes of dialogue from Taylor Swift. Because there wasn’t much verbal interaction, combined with the back up dancers and sets, watching the movie had the same effect as sitting at home watching a music video on YouTube. This really defeats the purpose of paying the extra money just to see a compilation of performances that we could’ve watched for free on our own. We were hoping there would at least be some extras–maybe some behind-the-scenes, or a special message to fans in order to make there a solid reason for seeing the movie in the first place. At least in our own experience, in which no one was singing or dancing along with the movie, it felt stale and awkward to sit still and quietly watch concertgoers have the time of their lives.
Though we didn’t find watching “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” very enjoyable, all-in-all there’s no doubt Taylor put on a good performance. But no matter how good her performance may have been, it simply didn’t translate well through the screen. In person, you have the excitement of the crowd around you and the personal fan interaction with Swift, making the over 3-hour concert stay exciting throughout its duration. Sitting in the theater it’s hard to have those same interactions replicated. For one, the environment is familiar and lacks the novelty of a stadium and decked-out stage. Not to mention the fact that you’re constantly forced to watch the joy of fans who were able to attend the concert. This makes the pure length of the movie itself take away from the experience. So, if you were heartbroken by not being able to attend the concert and long for any kind of involvement with the tour, it might be worth a watch. On the other hand, if you’re like us and just fueled by curiosity, maybe save the time and money, and wait until it’s released for streaming.