I’m A Casual Taylor Swift Fan Who Went To The Eras Tour Movie On Opening Night, And I’ve Come Back With A Warning

This has been a remarkable year for Events at our local movie theaters. The latest offerings from Marvel Studios might not be the universal draw that they once were, but studios are figuring out different ways to create buzz at the box office. The summer conversation was dominated by Barbenheimer, with audiences supporting both Barbie and Oppenheimer in record fashion, boosting the bottom line of each picture. And now, pop-culture sensation Taylor Swift – arguably the biggest star on the planet – single-handedly created the current Must-See Event of the season by bringing a fully produced concert film of her massively successful Eras Tour to multiplexes. I’m an enormous fan of the theatrical-going experience, and I get great joy out of entertainment that can possess a theater full of attendees, all dialed in to the collective experience. 

I made sure that my wife and I had tickets for opening night of the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film. I consider myself a casual Taylor Swift fan, meaning that I know more of her biggest hits, but don’t own any of her albums. (I think I owned Fearless at one point. We live in the Carolinas. Country music is pervasive down here, and that album was damn good.) And again, I was eagerly anticipating the live-wire experience of a theatrical showing of the Eras Tour, which was (and still is) a cultural phenomenon. I’d been watching fan videos from the various Swift concerts, and listening to her on Spotify in preparation. I’m not at the point where I’d trade bracelets, but I thought I’d have a great time. 

And I did… for most of it. It goes without saying that Taylor Swift is incredibly talented, and a tremendous songwriter. She has ridiculously comfortable stage presence, and even with a few unexpected moments of faux humility (“Oh, is that for me?” she asks as her crowd erupts into cheers once again), she delivers the show that her audience wants. Die-hard Swift fans buying a ticket to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Movie hoping to experience the Eras Tour are going to get just that.

Personally, though, the movie worked on me about half the time. This is completely on me and my level of Taylor Swift fandom. It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me. 

Our theater played the concert loud, as they should. Swift’s stage is magnificent, and she prowls it like the seasoned performer she is, connecting with the audience while also knowing exactly where her cameras are. The songs I knew sounded great. “Cruel Summer” is a terrific second number, guaranteed to work the audience into a frenzy. I cheered when Swift challenged her audience to prove that they knew every word to that song’s bridge. And I loved the block of Fearless songs (“Fearless,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Love Story”), probably because they were the bubbly country-pop numbers I associated with Taylor when I first found out about her. 

There were, however, some Eras I didn’t know at all. And I didn’t find their presentation as compelling. This is going to be the case with any artist. We all have favorite songs and albums, and you might be heading to the Eras Tour Movie dying to hear the Evermore or Folklore segments of the set list. People in our theater clapped for “Betty” and “Champagne Problems.” And they are good songs. But on balance, it seems like the 2 hour and 40 minute movie had much longer stretches of non-hits, and songs I’d never heard, than hits. So I perked up during the 1989 stretch, and the catchy bangers off Red (from “22” to “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”). But admittedly checked my watch during the bulk of the Midnights chunk. 

I also found one choice indefensible, and was relieved to see on social media that I wasn’t alone in this disappointment. As a casual fan who did pay attention to the Eras Tour as it traveled from city to city, I became obsessed with live performances of two songs, because I loved seeing the audience sing them so loud, they actually drowned Swift out. They are the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” from Red (Taylor’s Version) and “Long Live” off Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). I couldn’t wait to see each of them in the concert film, and to hear the reaction of the crowd at the filmed L.A. shows, as well as the audience in my own theater.

Only, Taylor Swift cut “Long Live” from the set list for the concert. I’m sorry, what? Of all the songs she can trim for time, she chooses the crowd-favorite concert anthem? To be fair, Swift only added “Long Live” to the Eras Tour set list after releasing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), so there are a lot of people who attended the concert and didn’t hear it. But it has become a staple of the show since, so leaving it out seems suspicious. The studio version of “Long Live” plays over the end credits, but that’s too little, too late. Others agreed:

Stunning decision. Again, the majority of people grabbing tickets for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Movie likely own every album represented, and will cheer on each song. I think it’s remarkable that this movie exists, knowing how many passionate Taylor Swift fans couldn’t get tickets to her live show, or didn’t live in a city where Swift’s show stopped. Having the ability to go to a theater, pay movie-ticket prices, and get what basically amounts to a front row seat via director Sam Wrench’s cameras is an opportunity I never could have imagined as a teenager growing up and loving a major artist. To Swift fans, the movie is an impossible gift. To the rest of us, it might be perceived as just another concert movie, a capably staged capturing of a popular tour that’s tailor made (and Taylor made) for the admittedly massive target audience.