Review: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ends with a group hug

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Taylor Swift ended her phenomenal Eras Tour in Vancouver Sunday night with an emotional extended group hug with her dancers. It could have been a metaphor: the tour, which has hit five continents over nearly two years – its final extension included stops in Toronto and Vancouver – has been like a global group hug for Swift’s fans. They have exchanged friendship bracelets, dressed up in clever costumes, watched livestreams of the shows and travelled far and wide – and spent big bucks – to see the heavily hyped concert in person.

“We have toured the entire world with this tour,” Swift told the crowd early into the more than three-hour-and-twenty-minute show. “We have had so many adventures. It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. We got to perform for over 10 million people on this tour. And tonight we get to play one last show for you here tonight in beautiful Vancouver.”

Some Swifties had been hoping the singer would use the big night to announce another “Taylor’s Version” – a re-recording of a previous album so she can own the master recordings to her own music – perhaps for Reputation or her debut album.

But there were no announcements or surprise onstage guests –– just the usual spectacular pop marathon which stuck pretty close to script. There was one last Swiftian point around the stadium during the opening Lover era; one last kiss of her bicep before The Man; one last All Too Well snowfall, one last round of the crowd shouting “more!” when Swift sings about the crowd shouting “more!” on I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.

Swift, who turns 35 this week, was feted with a chorus of Happy Birthday, sung by some of the more than 60,000 fans at B.C. Place after she performed Champagne Problems – typically a spot for long crowd ovations. It’s unclear whether Swift actually heard the birthday wishes, but she appeared to be moved by the extended crowd applause. She shook her head as if in disbelief, laughed and finally hung her head as if to acknowledge the great honour.

“This tour has been the adventure of a lifetime,” she said, and thanked the band, crew and other performers. “I just wanted to say that on behalf of all of us we can never forget you giving us that moment.”

One of the more emotional goodbyes Sunday night came from opener Gracie Abrams, who shed tears as she finished her set. She read a letter, saying she wasn’t ready for the tour to be over, thanking Swift. “Tonight we are all here to remind her how deeply she’s touched us,” said Abrams. “How much we appreciate every single tiny detail that she dreams up to delight us.”

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There was evidence of filming going on during all three of Swift’s Vancouver shows this weekend, sparking speculation of a behind-the-scenes documentary, or another concert film, or an addendum to the current Eras film. Another clue: Swift also wore the same outfits all three nights.

Celebrities spotted at the tour finale Sunday included Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder, Sarah McLachlan, The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza, Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jenna Fischer from The Office.

Swift – the biggest star in the building – shined the spotlight on her fans. “I never thought that writing one line about friendship bracelets would have you guys all making thousands of friendship bracelets and making friends and just bringing joy to each other. That is, I think, the lasting legacy of this tour; the fact that you have created such a space of joy and togetherness and love,” Swift said.

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One of the cheekiest references to the tour wrapping up came during the high-energy performance of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. At each show, dancer Kam Saunders interjects that they are never getting back together “like, ever” – although he changes up the “like, ever” sometimes. On Sunday, he said: “For the last time, no!”

The sparkly crowd – there was glitter everywhere; on bodysuits and dresses, hair, faces, cowboy hats and boots, head scarves and even in the odd beard – cheered.

The anticipation over what Swift would play for her acoustic set, which changes at every show, had hit a high pitch before the final surprise songs. And Swift delivered.

“We had so long to prepare for the end of this tour and so I was trying to think about what songs really encapsulate how I feel about tonight, so I decided to go back to the beginning,” she said, launching into A Place In This World from her self-titled debut album, and then moving into New Romantics from 1989.

Then, on piano, she played Long Live – changing the lyric “It was the end of a decade” to “It was the end of an era” – along with New Year’s Day and The Manuscript.

I paid $16 to not see Taylor Swift at her Vancouver Eras Tour show, and the ‘no stage view’ seats were worth it

There was another lyric switch-up, one she has done before, and which has become a fan favourite. On Karma, the final song of the show, instead of singing “Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me” she went with “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs …” to screams of delight. She was referring to Kansas City football player Travis Kelce, whom she began dating during the tour. (Kelce was not at the final show; the team was playing Sunday night.)

“Vancouver, I want to thank every single one of you for being a part of the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date,” Swift said in her last address to the audience – which was pretty brief, considering how big this moment was.

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During the final bow, Swift could be seen saying “Oh my God.” And after the emotional group hug – there were visible tears – Swift, rather than disappearing underneath the stage on her own as she usually does, exited the stage with the others, choosing to end this era surrounded by the people with whom she spent it.