Taylor Swift leaves fans in tears with one special moment as Eras tour comes to an end

UK fans who've snagged tickets to a Taylor Swift gig know well enough that the American superstar loves to dazzle with surprise local celebs on stage – think Ed Sheeran or Florence Welch. Now, imagine the buzz for those in Vancouver, Canada, as Taylor wraps up her colossal 22-month world tour on 8 December, having rocked out at 149 shows worldwide. Her musical journey has spanned five continents, hitting spots as varied as Rio de Janeiro, Lyon, and Tokyo, with a record-breaking crowd of 96,000 at Australia's Melbourne Cricket Club. Time magazine reports The Eras Tour is set to rake in over £1.5bn, and the "Taylor Swift effect" is real – cities thrive economically whenever she's around, as reported by OK!

Cathy Pearson, who attended the Munich show with her daughter Fran, gushed, "My daughter and I both cried happy tears when she played her 10-minute version of All Too Well, because it's the first song my daughter ever made me listen to. We'll always remember that special moment – and it felt like we were witnessing history, too. She's a star of a generation. I felt like she was singing to me, dancing to me: she's every woman, but she's The Woman. She's a consummate performer, but one who feels authentic and genuine."

Taylor herself has proclaimed, "[The Eras Tour is] the most exhausting, all encompassing, but most joyful, most rewarding, most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life." Showbiz guru Sacha Taylor-Cox chimed in on the spectacle's significance, observing, "What The Eras Tour has showcased is how well Taylor has prepared, how she's got her finger on the pulse, and how she lives an incredibly healthy life in order to do this. It's just a huge production and a huge show."

Launching with a bang on St Patrick's Day 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, The Eras Tour promised a whopping 52-date spree across the US. Packed with a staggering minimum of 44 hits and extending for over three and a half hours featuring at least 16 wardrobe swaps, Swift's tour is an elaborate salute to her diverse 'eras' encapsulated in each studio album. From her country roots to folk nuances and pop anthems, there was a melody for every type of Swiftie - whether they’ve been fans since her 2006 ascent or only recently hopped on the Swift bandwagon.

Fans often grumble when artists abandon their most beloved hits for their "new stuff" – but in Taylor's case, the alteration of her setlist from the Paris show on 9 May onwards, to incorporate new tracks from The Tortured Poets Department, only amplified the buzz around the tour. The opening number – Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince – remained unchanged, but the singer dropped six songs including The Archer and The Last Great American Dynasty to include But Daddy I Love Him and The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, among others.

Taylor also reshuffled the eras, kicking off with Lover, progressing to Fearless, Red, Speak Now and Reputation, before merging Folklore and Evermore. Then came 1989, followed by the fresh addition of The Tortured Poets Department, the surprise song segment and finally wrapping up with Midnights. For someone like pop culture expert and journalist Kelsey Barnes, it's helped keep the tour vibrant. She's attended seven times, and shares, "I went to the first and second night in Arizona, which was crazy, because every single song was a surprise song at that point. We didn't know what to expect. I've been twice in Detroit, once in Edinburgh and twice in London, on 17 and 20 August."

Kelsey also points out that by re-recording albums [after losing a battle for the master rights to her first six albums, Taylor recorded new versions], new generations have been introduced to her older work, which has also contributed to the success of The Eras Tour. She enthuses, "The message is even if you weren't there back then, you're still welcome now, you can come listen to the new versions of these albums. Regardless of whether you started to be a fan back in 2009 like I was, or you started to become a fan in 2019 and you didn't get a chance to go to the Fearless Tour, The Eras Tour encapsulates her entire career, and that's why people have been so desperate to get tickets for it."

Loyal fans are a big part of the ticket sales triumph. When Taylor announced her UK and European tour dates in June 2023, American devotees realised they had another opportunity to see her perform. Lex Williams, an American fan, ventured abroad for the first time, sharing with Business Insider, "I'd follow Swift to the ends of the earth. For now, I'm just headed to London."

No matter where fans caught the concert, the verdict was unanimously stellar, despite some initial snafus that earned it the nickname 'The Errors Tour'. Throughout the epic three-and-a-half-hour performance, the tireless star switches outfits approximately 16 times and shares the stage with 15 dancers who've garnered their own following. Taylor admits, "Learning choreography is not my strong suit. I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought."

Taylor's team of seamstresses, along with renowned fashion houses such as Atelier Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Zuhair Murad and Oscar de la Renta, spent months crafting the designs. "Everything must be eye-catching" was the brief given at Cavalli – and the outfits certainly didn't disappoint, adorned with crystals, micro-beading, sequins and fringes. Her Zuhair Murad bodysuit alone boasts 10,400 beads. Every dress, bodysuit and sparkly cowboy boot in the colour-themed production is a nod to one of her 10 different eras.

Some were understated, others were flamboyant, but all were flawless – from her Red era "I Bet You Think About Me" and "Who's Taylor Swift Anyway? Ew" T-shirts, to her black and red Reputation Cavalli snake bodysuit, to the fairytale Nicole + Felicia Couture pink sequinned gown she wore to sing Enchanted from the Speak Now era. While some of Taylor's most poignant moments on stage come when it's just her and her piano or acoustic guitar, the breathtaking, adrenaline-fuelled set changes that accompany almost every song cannot be overlooked.

The backdrops evoke memories from previous tours and music videos, leaving fans with plenty to dissect long after the concert date has passed. There's the glittering Fearless era and the blood-red drama of the Reputation set design; folksy, enchanted woods for Folklore and Evermore, and the brooding darkness of Midnights. Taylor Swift's innovative live performances, which feature her moving between the main stage, a diamond stage, and a catwalk, were enhanced in May with the introduction of the nostalgic, burlesque-themed The Tortured Poets Department set complete with its enormous "Roomba" gag. Following this addition, Argos issued a cautionary statement to enthusiastic Swifties against attempting to replicate the scene by placing their cats on Roomba vacuum cleaners.

Indeed, Taylor's entire concert is a spectacle filled with highlights, yet the vibrant Lover house set stands out prominently. This set hails from the 'Lover' album era and inaugurates the concert. It embodies a quintessential Taylor Swift approach, brimming with hidden hints for fans to discover. As tour insider Kelsey elaborates, "All of the eras that she goes through on this tour are represented on the different levels of the Lover house, and they all have different meanings, because each room is attributed to an album."

Topping off the show-stopping moments is when Taylor dramatically plunges into the core of the stage and 'swims' back to the primary platform – via an ingenious roller-coaster-like conveyor hidden beneath the stage - immediately following the surprise song portion of her act. Kelsey reflects on the impact of this performance: "It's larger than life. Because it goes through all her different eras, and because her eras are distinct and unique, being able to see them juxtaposed is really beautiful and moving. When she first popped up on stage the first night, I just started crying. She's such a commanding force on stage, and everything is planned to a T."