Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
Saturday, March 2, 2024
It happened! Last summer when the Taylor Swift tickets came up for sale, we weren’t able to get any. I looked on Singapore’s buy and sell platform called Carousell and found some tickets and bought them knowing full well that there was the possibility that it might not work out. Maybe the person would have fake tickets or sell us duplicate tickets so we tried not to get too excited. I actually ended up buying 2 sets of tickets on 2 different nights just in case.
The first set of tickets was for opening night and they were the absolute best seats. They were in section PD3 in the 8th row. This is right beside the diamond part of the stage which is where Taylor sings and performs a lot of the show.
The second set of seats were a little further away in section PD1 and they were for the second night (March 3, 2024).
I was in contact with the people selling the tickets while we were in Canada for our summer holiday and when I went back to Singapore we went to meet with the people to help us make sure that everything was ok. People are technically not allowed to sell tickets so if you are caught selling them, the tickers become void. We met the seller at their apartment block and saw the tickets in their Ticketmaster app. The seller even let me take a picture of his government issued ID to reassure me.
The tickets only get released 2 weeks before the concert so we had to wait and see if everything would work out. However, the tickets for the first night were VIP tickets which meant there was a special gift box included. About 4 weeks before the concert we got a message from the seller that he had received the boxes and we could pick them up. We were starting to think that it was actually going to happen. Ava and I went to pick up the boxes and the excitement built even more.
On Saturday, March 2nd, the day started early as Kelly and Ava got dressed and ready to go. We made some Tiktok videos and they left for the stadium with some threatening clouds overhead. Soon after they left, it poured with rain at our house and later poured at the stadium but only for 20 minutes or so. They were first in line to go through the security line that didn’t have bags and they were allowed through at 3:30 without any hiccups. They then were first at the gate to get into the stadium and had to wait an hour before those gates opened. They were first in and went to go purchase some Taylor Swift merchandise but they didn’t have very much stuff there. In fact, they were missing most of the options and sizes which was disappointing.
They went to get some food as people started to arrive. Kelly and Ava got some pizza and were dancing while waiting. Ava went off to the bathroom and when she got back, there was a Taylor Swift Eras guitar pick on the spot where they had their food. It is rumoured that staff of Taylor go around and give out guitar picks and it was possible they put one close to them because they were dancing and having fun.
Sabrina Carpenter was the opening act and she started at 6 pm. Ava knew her songs and sang along.
Taylor started at 7pm and what followed was more than three hours of absolute joy, excitement and happiness. Ava and Kelly sang along and captured some amazing photos and videos of Taylor. Taylor talked about how her mother partially grew up in Singapore and how her grandmother lived in Singapore for some time. One of Taylor’s songs named after her grandmother called Marjorie even has her singing in the background. It was from a recording when her grandmother was trying to sing opera while in Singapore. They also captured video of themselves singing to Taylor. Taylor sings different surprise songs every concert and Ava and Kelly heard Mine, Starlight, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, and Dress.
As there were 60,000 people in the stadium for the first of the six sold out shows, it was going to be a busy journey home. We had seen a recommendation on Tiktok to walk to a different MRT station instead of using the station that is right beside the stadium as it was going to be too busy. They walked to Mountbatten station which took 20 minutes and the train was still busy. They made it to Tampines station in time to catch the last bus of the night and made it home just after 12 midnight. We stayed up talking and reliving the night until after 1:30 am.
The next day was a chance for Ava to do it all over again. This time it was my turn to go with her and I dressed as a key lime green dog. This was because Taylor mentions a rich woman in Rhode Island stealing her neighbour’s dog and dying it key lime green. Taylor actually bought the house this woman used to live in and tells the story in her song Lat Great American Dynasty.
We didn’t bring any bags so it would be easier to get through security and it was. We lined up to get in and were about 10th in line at our gate which was number 15. The lines were not as organized as the day before but we got in without any problems. Once again, we went to the place where they were selling merchandise and they didn’t have a lot but we thought we could try. Kelly actually had woken up early that morning to get in line for merch at one of the kiosks outside the stadium which opened at 10 am. She got there an hour and a half early and managed to get almost everything we wanted. She only couldn’t get a sweatshirt for Ava in the right size and a grey bag she wanted. I ended up finding those things and getting them on Carousell a few days later.
We had got a Lego figure of Taylor and a Lego figure of her boyfriend Travis Kelce specially made and we wanted to try to give it to someone who could get it to either one of them. We walked around and looked for someone and even asked a few people if they could but we struck out. Travis wasn’t in Singapore as he was back in America as his older brother Jason was announcing his retirement. He did end up coming after the weekend and attending the last three shows.
We were further away than the day before but that didn’t damper our enthusiasm or screaming. I ended up taking off the key lime green outfit because it was SO hot but I did put it back on in time for when Taylor sang The Last Great American Dynasty and we sang along with her. One really exciting thing happened when Taylor sang her song Love Story, someone right beside us proposed to her boyfriend. It is something that happens during this song and later we hear that there were a total of 3 proposals that night. But it was really cool to have one right beside us! Taylor’s surprise songs for night 2 were Long Story Short, The Story of Us, Clean, and Evermore.
When everything was over, we decided to take the MRT from the station right by the stadium. It was very busy but once we got on the train it was actually faster to get home. Once again, we stayed up late talking and sharing.
We created a whole lot of core memories this weekend. Memories that we will never, ever forget.