Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Taylor Swift took the stage in Vancouver on Sunday for the final show of her record-shattering “Eras” tour, a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history. The globe-spanning event kicked off in the US state of Arizona on March 17, 2023. Sunday’s show in Canada was the 149th Eras performance, following stops in cities ranging from Buenos Aires to Paris and Tokyo.
Swift appeared on stage at a sold-out BC Place stadium shortly before 8:00 pm (0400 GMT) and told the crowd, “it’s feeling like a pretty cool night to be in Vancouver,” according to the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Swift’s camp has not publicly released ticket revenue numbers for the tour, but the widely cited trade magazine Pollstar has estimated the figure at more than $2 billion. That smashes the record previously held by Elton John’s pandemic-interrupted “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” which sold an estimated $939 million in tickets over 328 shows spread across five years.
Beyond the concerts, Swift’s presence in venue cities has supercharged local economies. Her second-last tour stop was Toronto, where she performed six shows over two weekends. She generated an additional Can$282 million ($199 million) in economic activity in Canada’s largest city, tourism promotion organization Destination Toronto estimated. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended one of the Toronto shows with his family. Last year, before the announcement that Eras would include Canadian stops, Trudeau issued a public appeal urging Swift to come. “I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another Cruel Summer. We hope to see you soon,” Trudeau posted on X in July 2023, referring to a hit song from Swift’s 2019 album, “Lover.”
Not all the political attention Swift attracted during Eras was positive. Shortly after the US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in September, Swift endorsed the Democrat for president. That triggered an all-caps Trump post on the Republican former president’s Truth Social platform that simply said, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”
Eras also earned sterling critical acclaim, with reviewers praising Swift’s stamina and energy through shows that have averaged just under four hours. The New York Times called opening night in Glendale, Arizona, a “master class.” The Vancouver Sun called Friday’s show, her third last, “spectacular.” A setback came in Vienna this summer when three shows were cancelled after authorities arrested a man in connection with an Islamist attack plot. And tragedy struck when a fan died from heat exhaustion during a show in Rio de Janeiro in November last year.
Unprecedented ticket demand led to frustration for many fans and forced Ticketmaster initially to scrap presale plans. Eras also included a “will she, won’t she” moment of suspense that transcended the world of pop music. The question was whether Swift had enough time after finishing a show in Tokyo on February 10 to make it to Las Vegas in time for kickoff at football’s Super Bowl to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play for the Kansas City Chiefs.
It is rare for a non-football storyline to dominate discussion ahead of America’s premier sporting event. But concern about Swift’s schedule was so acute that the Japanese embassy in Washington issued a statement affirming she would “comfortably” make the game. From a private box, along with Kelce’s mother, Donna, Swift chugged a beer and watched the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers as more than 200 million TV viewers watched her.
© 2024 AFP
