As the Eras Tour bows out, what will she do next? | Global News Avenue

“I used to think one day we’d tell our stories/How we met and sparks flew instantly/People would say, ‘They’re the lucky ones’‘. “

This weekend will be a bittersweet farewell for Taylor Swift and her fans.

When she plays the last notes of “Karma” in Vancouver on Sunday night, the Eras tour will end for good.

The event, first announced in November 2022, has grown beyond even Swift’s wildest dreams – with 149 shows in 53 cities and 10.1 million fans.

Along the way, it generated $2 billion in ticket sales, Stimulates local economy and earthquake events caused.

Swift called it “the most exhausting, comprehensive, yet happiest, most rewarding, wonderful thing that’s ever happened to her in her life.”

Swift writes in her recently released tour book that the 45-song, career-spanning set was inspired by the decision to re-record her first six albums, which made her “fall in love all over again.” Her past work.

She wrote that she continued to perform concerts in “drenching rain, sweltering heat, humidity, high winds, and freezing cold,” even when she was “sick, exhausted, or injured.” Or work through “Broken Hearts.”

But the concert is about more than just the music. Fans exchange friendship bracelets and become lifelong friends with strangers. Outside the stadium, ticketless Swifties gathered in the parking lot to sing together.

At one show in Munich, 40,000 people gathered on a nearby hill just to catch a glimpse of the show, nearly surpassing the number of fans inside the city’s former Olympic Stadium.

For many, the opportunity to hear these songs live for the first time is overwhelming.

“I cried a lot more than I expected,” said Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, who first saw the tour in Santa Clara last year.

“I cried at the beginning, just because it was exciting. Apparently, I cried during (the epic breakup ballad) ‘All Too Well.’ And then I cried during ‘Archer.’ Don’t know why ”

Online, loyal fans watched each night’s live broadcast and downloaded a free, fan-run app – quick alert – which allowed them to speculate on what Swift might be wearing, as well as the surprising songs she might be playing on the nightly sound set. Those at the top of the leaderboard will win prizes.

There is an unrivaled sense of community surrounding the show. When I took my daughter to a show at Wembley Stadium in June, the taller person stepped back to give her a better view – something I had rarely seen in years of attending concerts to the situation.

For other families, the Eras Tour even brought them closer together.

Michelle, from Seattle, Washington, will attend her final concert in Vancouver this weekend with her daughter, and she said the anticipation helps them stay connected.

“I got the tickets about 13 months ago, and even though she doesn’t live at home full-time, I doubt we’ve had a fun conversation in a week about Taylor and what to expect from her show, and what we’re going to do over the weekend Plan for what might happen,” she said.

The end of the tour left Swift at a crossroads. This Eras tour will be the standard by which the rest of her career will be measured, and her next moves will be closely watched by fans and critics alike.

So what options does she have?

“Taylor is a very futuristic thinker, so I think she has the next few years completely planned out.” Brian Taylor Swift Staff Writer, USA Today and The Tennessean said Bryan West, who has seen Eras on tour 89 times.

Noting that Swift tends to dovetail with her projects, he thought there would be some sort of “journalistic” announcement during her final show.

Most likely, this will be the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Edition) – the latest installment in her series of re-recorded albums complete with bonus tracks from the vault.

That said, fans have been anticipating this announcement all year, but the album has yet to materialize, though A lot of, tempting hint It’s on its way.

West has a few other theories.

“We’ve seen film crews on a lot of shows, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been filming a documentary.

“In her new book, she says, ‘See you in the next era,’ so there are reports that she’s working on new music.”

The longer-term prospect is that Swift will turn to movies. In December 2022, she signed a deal to direct a film for Searchlight Pictures based on her own original script.

Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield called her “a unique artist and storyteller of a generation” when they announced the news, but the thread has since faded Aloof. Maybe she’ll return to directing in 2025?

West also tracked several trademarks filed by the star this year, including Taylor-Con and Female Rage: The Musical, “which could be for anything from a TV show to a documentary series to a Broadway production.”

But maybe we’re expecting too much?

“She first needs to take some time off,” says Jack Saunders, host of Radio 1’s New Music programme, “because it’s completely unrealistic to expect someone to reach the level of performance she did last time.” Jump right in after a few years in.

“We’ve heard a lot from Taylor – so it’s healthy for us and it’s healthy for her to step back and rest for a while so she can refuel for what’s coming next.”

In fact, Swift has hinted that she’s tired of the grind of the music industry.

Clara Bow, a song from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, is a scathing critique of the industry’s thirst for new blood.

In other songs, she dreams about wedding rings and “pushing a stroller” – so Swift will likely take a year off to focus on her romance with American football star Travis Kelce.

“She might take a break,” West said, “but she wouldn’t necessarily sit still. She was always creating. She was always coming up with new projects.”

If Swift does return to the studio, singer-songwriter Ego hopes she can use the cultural (and financial) capital she’s amassed over the past two years to do something unexpected.

“If I were her, I would be obsessed with making music in all kinds of different genres and styles that I wouldn’t be able to explore because of brands and expectations,” she said.

“It sounds really worthwhile, but I can’t wait to have enough money to fund working-class people who don’t have access to music – so if I were her, I’d do it.”

(It’s worth noting that Swift has a history of charitable giving, including Donate to a local food bank exist per stop Time Journey).

No matter what happens, it makes sense to take a left turn; in her book Eras Tour, the star says she “hates doing the same thing twice.”

But this weekend, Michelle just wants to savor the final moments of the one-time phenomenon.

“We love concerts at our house. I love being with a group of people excited about the same thing,” she said, “but it feels different.

“I love that this tour brings people together from all over the world.

“It will definitely be interesting to see her next move,” she added, “but I can’t bring myself to speculate.

“I’ll just wait and see – because whatever she does next, Taylor and her team should be very proud of the joy they brought to so many people during the Eras Tour.”