Taylor Swift – Caesar’s Superdome – New Orleans, LA – October 26, 2024
On the weekend of October 25th-27th, New Orleans welcomed Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to their city to perform three sold-out shows at the newly renovated Caesar’s Superdome. Although the Superdome is home of the New Orleans Saints, Swift and the Swifties sure know how to make a place their own. I was excited to get a glimpse into the world’s most in-demand tour and, boy, was I in for the weekend of my life.
When I arrived in New Orleans, I was greeted by pop-up shops, decorations, photo-ops, and even live music at the airport. Little did I know that the city’s anticipation of the Swifties’ arrival would not stop there. Every single restaurant and shop I visited during my stay in NOLA was “bejeweled” with Swift-themed artwork, decorations, balloons, and even giant friendship bracelets draped across the Superdome. I have traveled to New Orleans several times in my life and never have I ever seen the city so decked out. It was the most incredible atmosphere. It was very apparent that New Orleans Swifties missed their favorite performer, as this is her first time returning since her Reputation World Tour in 2018.
When it finally came time to attend the show, the streets were flooded with sparkles, friendship bracelets, and pure excitement. The opener for this last leg of The Eras Tour is fan-favorite Gracie Abrams. The talented songwriter opened for Swift for a few shows of the first leg of The Eras Tour and fans were ecstatic to see her name on this leg’s lineup. Abrams recently released her third studio album The Secret of Us, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 right behind Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department back in June. She began her highly anticipated set with “Risk,” followed by “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” both from the recent release. It was such a pleasant surprise to see fans on their feet and singing along to every single song of the opening act’s set. You could tell this was a surprise to Abrams as well as she shared that fans singing along were “breaking [her] heart wide open in the greatest way.” She also shared that this was her first ever show in New Orleans and it was a “pretty epic start.” Over the course of her set, she played songs new and old- from “Close to You” from her latest album to “21” from her 2020 debut EP “minor.” Needless to say, Abrams was the perfect opener for The Eras Tour.
After what felt like just a few short moments later, the screen behind the stage showed a clock counting down from 2 minutes. Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” began playing, an indicator to fans that Swift would take the stage soon. A sea of screams, cries, and yells filled the Superdome as the clock struck 00:00 and The Eras Tour introduction track began to play. What’s so great about The Eras Tour is that Swift truly brings fans along from “era” to “era” of points in her life musically. The 45-song setlist covers exactly 18 years of music, as the Friday night show was the 18th anniversary of Swift’s debut self-titled album. The first of the evening was the Lover era, with the opening line that Swift sings being “It’s been a long time coming.” As many fans have waited for years to see Swift live, this line really hit home. The Lover era included hits “Cruel Summer,” title track “Lover,” and other fan-favorites from the album. 65,000 fans young and old were on their feet, singing Swift’s lyrics back to her, which must be such a surreal feeling.
The next era up was Fearless, a very nostalgic setlist for older Swifties to be taken back to high school, as Swift says. The rhinestone-studded era included “Fearless,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Love Story” accompanied by golden sparkling visuals on the stage. The LED bracelets that were handed out prior to the start of the show glowed hues of gold for the entirety of the Fearless era and proceeded to match the aesthetic of each era of the show. To say that The Eras Tour is immersive is an understatement. The next two acts were just as nostalgic because Swift revisited the Red and Speak Now eras, her fourth and sophomore albums. During the Red era while singing “22,” her team selected a young fan to receive the “22” hat from Swift herself during the song and even received a hug at the end of the stage. The adorable young fan handed Swift a homemade friendship bracelet and you could tell that it made both of their days.
The next portion of the show was dedicated to Swift’s sixth studio album titled Reputation, another fan-favorite, though that’s true for all of her albums. This era’s setlist consisted of “...Ready for It?,” “Don’t Blame Me,” and other hits from the 2017 album. Following the electric 15-minute Reputation era set was the long-awaited Folklore and Evermore “sister album” era. This was by far one of the most beautiful stage sets I have ever seen with a firefly forrest depicted on the back screen complete with a real-life “folklore cabin” on the stage, on which Swift sings the first few songs of this portion of the show. After singing “Cardigan” and “Betty” from Folklore, Swift made her way over to the moss-covered piano to play the Evermore album’s “Champagne Problems.” After the ballad was finished, fans gave Swift a nearly three-minute standing ovation. Swift exclaimed, “If I could give 65,000 hugs to you, just know that I would.” It is evident that she is incredibly appreciative of her supporters.
Up next was the 1989 era, which brought us all back to 2014. Swift played all the hits from “Style,” to “Shake it Off,” and more while wearing Mardi Gras gold, purple, and green. Everyone was out of their seats for the entirety of the 1989 set. Following 1989 was the newest addition to The Eras Tour setlist – The Tortured Poets Department. This is Swift’s most recent album released in April of this year, so all of these songs had never been performed live prior to this leg of the tour. The Tortured Poets Department era portion of the show was theatric, visually appealing, and a fun time all around. Swift played several of the album's most popular tracks including “But Daddy, I Love Him,” “So High School,” “Fortnight,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” and more.
Following the Tortured Poets Department era was one of the most highly anticipated parts of the show – surprise song time. Every night on tour, Swift plays a different song on the acoustic guitar and piano. Sometimes the songs are mashups, and other times she plays a song all the way through. The NOLA Night 1 crowd was lucky enough to hear two mashups, the first being “Our Song” and “Call It What You Want” on the guitar followed by “The Black Dog” and “Haunted” on the piano. The stadium went wild hearing these mashups, me included.
After surprise song time, we had finally arrived at the Midnights era. Swift began the set with the album’s first track “Lavender Haze,” followed by “Anti-Hero” and “Midnight Rain.” After a few more electric Midnights songs, the night came to an end with fireworks and confetti during “Karma.”
It was a magical weekend in New Orleans thanks to Swift, her fans, and the incredible businesses that made coming to their city for a show an experience to remember. I cannot recommend going to an Eras Tour show enough if you get the chance.
Kayla Marra
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 29, 2024.
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