Then it was time for the main event. The excitement was at fever pitch by the time Lady Gaga's “Applause” blared over the stadium's sound system (Swift fans know what's coming next), and fans couldn't contain their excitement as an ornate clock appeared on the stage's giant backdrop, counting down to midnight. The screams got even louder when a bejeweled Taylor Swift emerged from a blizzard of gorgeous feathers. Even though we'd seen her on the Internet for over a year, her entrance was still breathtaking.
From there, she delivered a masterclass in pop performance, effortlessly tackling the tour's ambitious concept and vast stage settings in a way that felt both monumental and intimate — in fact, only the intro to “The Man,” which leads to a wave of Mexican-style screams throughout the stadium, feels a little over the top — but otherwise she barely loses rhythm, somehow making it seem effortless despite the immense effort that's clearly gone into choreographing the show.
Given the scale of the show (she performs 45 songs from 10 albums over the course of the three-and-a-half hour run), the balance is remarkable. Each era is perfectly acted out to best embody its individual personality, with Taylor slipping effortlessly back into her past self. Whether it's the dreamy Scandinavian cottage that appears in her combined “Folklore” and “Evermore” section, the delightfully dark, whip-cracking heights of “Reputation” (undoubtedly one of the show's standouts), or the black-and-white melodrama supporting her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (a section brilliantly named “Female Rage: The Musical”), each new development is equally thrilling and captivating. Even the scale of the production is outstanding. Few stadium shows can hold the entire audience captive, but the staging, with its multiple staircases and runways, works brilliantly.
And yet, even on such a massive tour, it's the tender, unexpected moments that make the longest memories. The teary smile that plasters her face as she hands a “22” hat to a young fan is enough to bring a tear to anyone who witnesses the spectacle. A highlight is Taylor's unexpected proposal in the crowd, which she actually managed to see while the sun was still in the sky. The moment that's sure to be talked about by now, when her hand cramps during “Would've, Could've, Should've,” is a timely reminder that while the Eras Tour is truly otherworldly, the star is only human. That's the magic of this whole tour. This may be the biggest tour the world has ever seen, but when you're actually in the venue, it's easy to forget the hype, the size, the statistics, and just get lost in the woman at the center of it all.