Live Review + Gallery: Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX (04.21.23)

Madison Raney May 4, 2023 Headline News, Photography, Show Reviews Leave a comment

“It’s been a long time coming but…” Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is officially underway and taking the music world by storm. Swift announced the tour back in November of 2022 and the internet has absolutely exploded with all things Eras Tour ever since. And rightfully so. From the excruciating process of getting tickets, to the intricate outfit planning by fans, and of course the plethora of planned out ‘Love Story’ proposals we’ve been seeing at shows, it’s safe to say the entire journey of this tour has been well documented by fans online. Now with several shows under her belt we’re finally seeing the culmination of it all as Swift continues to obliterate even the highest expectations for this tour night after night.

As someone who has religiously attended as many concerts as I could for the past decade, I’ve been put in the fortunate position of having seen what I thought was everything. From tiny club shows to sold out stadiums I’ve been witness to it all. Or so I thought. Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has taken the experience of live music to a whole new level, and believe me, I don’t say that lightly…

The sheer length of her performance is something to be marveled at all on its own. Effortlessly bringing a 44-song setlist to life for what ends up being just over a 3-hour set is no easy feat and Swift continues to execute it flawlessly, her Friday night show in Houston, TX being no exception.

The night began with openers Gracie Abrams and Beabadoobee who were tasked with opening up the show to a very excited crowd anxiously awaiting Swift to take the stage. No easy task to say the least, however both powerhouse performers proved that they were more than up for the job. Gracie Abrams kicked off the show right at 6:25pm with a short and sweet setlist consisting of 4 songs – “Where do we go now”, “21”, “Block Me Out”, and “I know it won’t work”.

Following Abrams, award-winning indie-pop artist Beabadoobee took the stage promptly at 6:55pm to perform her slightly longer 9-song setlist to a welcoming crowd, excited to sing along to the last opener of the night before Swift would take the stage.

Not long after Beabadoobee wrapped up, a giant clock appeared on screen to count down the 3 minutes until Swift would take the stage. The time had come and the entire stadium was buzzing with anticipation…

As the on-screen clock struck midnight (in reference to Swift’s most recent album) and lights dimmed you could feel the excitement of the crowd finally coming to a head as dancers took the stage and just a few moments later Swift would emerge on a raised platform to a greeting of screaming fans. The Eras Tour had begun.

As the title of the tour would suggest, Swift managed to orchestrate a show that spanned her entire career – giving each of her albums (or “eras”) their own dedicated section of the setlist, allowing her to cater the performance to every type of Swift fan out there. Her set opened with songs off of the album “Lover” – perhaps a subtle nod to Lover Fest, a series of shows that were supposed to take place in the summer of 2020 but were canceled due to COVID. Opening the show with the song “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” and thus resulting in Swift belting the line “it’s been a long time coming but..” hit fans pretty deep seeing as Swift hasn’t been on tour since 2018 for her Reputation Tour. This show was definitely a long time coming and here we were, finally in the midst of it with a long and wonderful night ahead.

You could feel the sense of awe and adoration that took over every single fan at NRG Stadium that night, completely mesmerized by Swift as she continued to roll through her setlist. With each new era came its own intricate set designs and outfit changes, demanding and keeping the crowd’s attention for every second of Swift’s 3 hour performance. Some eras lasted longer than others, with 7 songs being played from her album Folklore while only 1 song from Speak Now was included on the setlist.

As Swift took fans on a nostalgic journey through her career you could feel the magic pulsing through the stadium as she transformed her stage from a witchy Folklore forest, an intense, high-energy Reputation catwalk, and everything in-between.

As the show started rolling into its final eras, the most anticipated portion of the night had finally come – the surprise songs that would be inserted into her setlist for this night and this night only. For every show on The Eras Tour, Swift has been playing 2 songs each night that would only be played at that particular show. Fans had taken to excitedly awaiting the reveals and making guesses each night as to what the two songs would be. For the Friday night show in Houston fans were lucky enough to get to hear “Wonderland” from the album 1989 as well as “You’re Not Sorry” from the album Fearless – the first time the song had been played live since 2013.

As Swift wrapped up the surprise song portion of the show it was time to finally enter the 9th and final era of the night – Midnights. Playing 7 songs off her latest album, Swift officially brought the night to a close with the song “Karma” and a fantastical performance in a glittering dark blue one piece, sparkling fringe jacket, and an explosion of colorful confetti. A magical ending for an incredible and awe-inspiring show that only Swift could have possibly brought to life.

It’s evident that The Eras Tour has and will continue to impress even Swift’s most skeptic critics. It’s no wonder Taylor Swift is one of, if not the, biggest artists of our time and The Eras Tour is a testament to exactly that.

Gracie Abrams