My trip to see Taylor was worth it
Not even four hours of rain stopped this show from being thrilling
Junior Danielle Shumar had a view similar to this one for last week’s Taylor Swift show in Nashville.
May 11, 2023
After releasing four new studio albums since 2019, not including re-records of a few of her older albums, Taylor Swift is back on tour.
“The Eras Tour” is a stadium tour including two opening acts and a three-and-a-half hour setlist, with songs from eight out of her nine albums, excluding her debut album. The tickets were in high demand, and because buying tickets for this concert was so difficult, it caused controversy regarding the reliability and fairness of Ticketmaster sales.
Dedicated fans waited for hours to buy tickets to this event. The Eras Tour has been regarded by many as the “concert of the century” as Swift returns to live performance after her last tour in 2018, for her album Reputation.
I had the opportunity to attend the last of three shows in Nashville, Tennessee this past weekend. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.
After a three-and-a-half-hour rain delay and five hours spent standing in the pouring rain, it was well worth it. Doors to the concert opened at 4:30, with the first opening act scheduled to go on at 6:30.
I arrived at the stadium at 4:30 and after walking around for a bit to find merch trucks, I made it to my section by 5:30. Unfortunately, I was immediately told to go back downstairs to a sheltered area to avoid heavy rain, thunder, and lightning as a shelter-in-place warning was given for the upcoming storms.
We were moved as a group to stand on the ramp outside, which was covered on top but pretty much open on the sides. The concert was held at Nissan Stadium, which was a very nice and organized venue despite the obstacles, but standing on an open ramp with lightning and pouring rain blowing in from all sides for four hours was not necessarily anyone’s idea of fun.
No one knew if all the waiting would even amount to anything, and I was starting to lose hope that the concert was going to continue. Despite the weather, there were lots of memories that were made, and it was special to see groups of fans still having fun, singing different songs together while waiting for more information from the stadium.
At 9:30, three hours after the original concert start time, the shelter-in-place warning was lifted and we were able to go to our seats, with Swift starting at around ten. The concert continued despite the rain, and getting to dance in the rain to my favorite songs was an unforgettable experience.
Swift played a few songs from each album and would then do a quick outfit and set change to perform the next era. The production team, background dancers, and Taylor herself worked hard to give the fans the show they deserved after waiting for so long.
The concert ended at around 1:30 in the morning, and although it was a long and exhausting day, it was worth it when I was singing along to all my favorite songs, from childhood classics to some of Swift’s newest releases.
The production and visuals of the show were amazing as well, and you could really tell all the hard work and time that was put into producing such an amazing concert. This tour will definitely go down in history and I’m so thankful that I was able to be a part of it.