Today marks the beginning of history being made for “Swifties” around the country. Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour is kicking off in Glendale, Arizona and will conclude in Inglewood, California, on Aug. 9.
The singer amped up the excitement, sending fans in a frenzy when she announced the release of four unreleased songs at midnight on the eve of her tour.
Swift posted on her Instagram story yesterday: “In celebration of The Eras Tour, I’m releasing four previously unreleased songs tonight at midnight.” The tracks released include “Eyes Open (Taylor’s Version),” “Safe & Sound (Ft. Joy Williams and John Paul White) (Taylor’s Version),” “If This Was a Movie (Taylor’s Version)” and “All of the Girls You Loved Before.”
Swift has not confirmed what album she will release next.
Swift breaks Ticketmaster
The singer’s tour has already proven to be a record-breaking event. More than 3.5 million people preregistered on Ticketmaster for TaylorSwiftTix Presale, the largest registration in history. Over 2 million tickets were sold in one day for Taylor Swift, breaking Ticketmaster’s record.
“The Live Nation team is sympathetic to the long wait times and fans who couldn’t get what they wanted,” the Live Nation Entertainment company chairman, Greg Maffei, told CNBC.
“Reality is it’s a function of the massive demand that Taylor Swift has. The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans. We had 14 million people hit the site — including bots, another story, which are not supposed to be there. And despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day. We could have filled 900 stadiums,” he said.
Swift’s fans have been patiently waiting for the singer to go on tour again. Since her last sold-out show, the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, Swift has not been on stage. When she released her seventh album “Lover” in 2019, she planned to tour internationally and conclude with “Lover Fest” in the U.S. in the summer of 2020, but had to postpone and ultimately cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Swiftie anticipation
The singer’s setlist is a mystery for all her fans and the singer is known to switch it up to make every concert unique for her audience.
The Washington Post is asking the question all fans are wondering: “You can essentially guarantee big songs from ‘Midnights’ that got the music video treatment: singles ‘Anti-Hero’ and ‘Lavender Haze,’ and perhaps ‘Bejeweled’. ...And will she go with the obvious career-makers (‘Shake It Off,’ ‘Love Story,’ ‘You Belong With Me,’ etc.) individually or as a medley? How will she meld together stadium-shaking pop extravaganzas with quiet, piano-driven moments on ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore?’ Was she being serious on TikTok when a fan begged her to include 2018 sleeper hit ‘Delicate’ and she replied ‘done’ in the comments?”
In honor of Swift’s arrival and to commemorate the start of her tour, Glendale, Arizona, has temporarily renamed its city “Swift City” for the two dates she’s performing there.
“The beginning of The Eras Tour puts the City of Glendale in the national spotlight again a month after Super Bowl LVII,” Glendale Mayor Jerry P. Weiers said. “We are expecting more than 150,000 Swifties to visit our sports and entertainment district for meals, the concerts, and a hotel room.”
Swift’s Eras Tour has 52 dates in 20 cities. Most venues have back-to-back concerts, while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, will have the most, with five concerts.