Taylor Swift: As the Eras Tour bows out, what will she do next?
"I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us / How we met and the sparks flew instantly / And people would say, 'They're the lucky ones'."
This weekend will be a bittersweet goodbye for Taylor Swift and her fans.
When she plays the final notes of Karma in Vancouver on Sunday night, the Eras Tour will be over, forever.
First announced in November 2022, it's been even bigger than Swift could have wildest-dreamed - with 149 shows in 53 cities seen by 10.1 million fans.
Along the way, it hoovered up $2bn in ticket sales, stimulated local economies and triggered seismic events.
Swift has called it "the most exhausting, all-encompassing, but most joyful, most rewarding, most wonderful thing that has ever happened" in her life.
Writing in her recently-published tour book, Swift said the 45-song, career-spanning setlist was inspired by the decision to re-record her first six albums, which made her fall "back in love" with her past work.
She went on to play concerts in "the pouring rain, in the blazing heat, in the thickest of humidity, in the wildest of winds and in the bitter cold," she wrote, even when she was "sick or exhausted or injured," or working through a "broken heart".
Getty ImagesBut the concerts were about more than the music. Fans swapped friendship bracelets and made lifelong friends with strangers. Outside the stadiums, ticketless Swifties gathered in car parks to sing along.
At one show in Munich, 40,000 people congregated on a nearby hill just to catch a glimpse of the show, almost outnumbering the fans inside the city's former Olympic Stadium.
For many, the chance to hear these songs live for the first time was overwhelming.
"I did a lot more weeping than I expected," says Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, who first saw the tour in Santa Clara last year.
"I wept at the start, just because it was exciting. Obviously I wept during [epic break-up ballad] All Too Well. Then I cried in The Archer. Don't know why."
Getty ImagesOnline, the faithful watched nightly livestreams and downloaded a free, fan-run app - SwiftAlert - that allowed them to speculate on the outfits Swift might wear, and the surprise songs she might play in her nightly acoustic set. Those at the top of the leaderboard would win prizes.
There's an unparalleled sense of community around the gigs. When I took my daughter to one of the Wembley Stadium gigs in June, taller people moved back to give her a better view - something I've rarely seen in years of concert-going.
For other families, the Eras Tour has even brought them closer together.
Michelle, from Seattle, Washington, is attending one of the final concerts in Vancouver with her daughter this weekend, and says the anticipation has helped them stay in touch.
"I got the tickets almost 13 months ago, and even though she doesn't live at home full time, I doubt even a week has gone by where we've not had a fun conversation about Taylor, and spoke about looking forward to the show, and what our plans for the weekend may entail," she says.
Female Rage: The Musical
The conclusion of the tour leaves Swift at a crossroads. This Eras Tour will be the yardstick against which the rest of her career will be measured - and her next move will be watched closely by fans and critics alike.
So what options does she have?
"Taylor is a very future-minded thinker, so I imagine she has the next few years already completely planned out." says Bryan West, a dedicated Taylor Swift reporter for USA Today and The Tennessean, who has seen the Eras tour 89 times.
Noting Swift's tendency to dovetail her projects, he thinks there will be some sort of "news-making" announcement at her final show.
Most likely, this will be the reveal of Reputation (Taylor's Version) - the latest instalment of her re-recorded album series, complete with bonus tracks from the vault.
That said, fans have been anticipating that announcement all year and the album is yet to materialise, despite numerous, tantalising hints it's on its way.
West has some other theories, too.
"We've seen film crews at many of the gigs, so I'd not be shocked if she's been shooting a documentary this entire time.
"And in her new book, she said, 'See you next era', so there have been reports that she's working on new music."
Getty ImagesA longer term prospect is that Swift will pivot to film. In December 2022, she signed a deal to direct a film for Searchlight Pictures, based on her own original script.
Making the announcement, Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield called her "a once in a generation artist and storyteller", but the trail has gone cold since then. Perhaps she'll return to the director's chair in 2025?
West has also tracked several trademarks filed by the star this year, including Taylor-Con and Female Rage: The Musical "which could be anything from a television show to a documentary series to a Broadway production".
But maybe we're expecting too much?
Pushin' strollers
"She needs to take some time off, first and foremost," says Jack Saunders, host of Radio 1's New Music Show, "because it's completely unrealistic to expect a human being to operate at the performance level that she has been doing for the last couple of years and dive straight back in.
"We've heard a lot from Taylor - so it's healthy for us and it's healthy for her to step back and take some time away, so that she can fuel herself for whatever's next."
Indeed, Swift has hinted she's tiring of the music industry grind.
Clara Bow, a track from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, is a barbed commentary on the industry's lust for new blood.
Other songs find her daydreaming about wedding rings and "pushin' strollers" - so there's every possibility Swift will take a year off to focus on her romance with American football star Travis Kelce.
"She probably will take a break," says West, "but she's not one that necessarily sits still. She's always creating. She's always coming up with new projects."
If Swift does head back to the studio, singer-songwriter Self Esteem hopes she'll spend the cultural (and financial) capital she's built up over the last two years to do something unexpected.
"If I was her, I'd indulge myself in making music in all the different genres and styles I hadn't been able to explore because of branding and expectations," she says.
"And it sounds really worthy, but I can't wait until I have enough money to fund working class people who can't get access to music - so if I was her, I'd do that."
(It's worth noting that Swift has a history of charitable giving, including donations to local foodbanks on every stop of the Eras tour).
Getty ImagesWhatever happens, a left-hand swerve makes sense; in her Eras Tour book, the star says she "hates to do the same thing twice".
But for this weekend, Michelle just wants to savour the final moments of a one-off phenomenon.
"We love concerts in my family. I love the buzz of being in a whole crowd of people excited about the same thing," she says, "but this feels different.
"I love how the tour has brought people all over the world together.
"It will certainly be interesting to see what her next move is," she adds, "but I can't bring myself to speculate.
"I'll just wait and see - because, whatever she does next, Taylor and her team should be very proud of the joy that was brought to so many during the Eras Tour run."
Source: BBC
