On the first weekend of November, pop artist Taylor Swift came to Indianapolis for her Eras Tour concert.
Swift’s arrival was highly anticipated, and many students attended the concert.
Her tour – “The Eras Tour” — lasted a year and a half.
The Eras Tour has established itself as one of the most interactive and fan-based tours of 2023-2024.
After a two-month break from touring at the start of 2024, Swift announced she would return to the United States.
The last show of the U.S. leg would be in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Taylor Swift’s fans, or “swifties” planned out their outfits months in advance, made friendship bracelets, and would “taygate” outside the stadium.
“We went to the whole city, and I came in like a whole sparkly dress, then we got merch, and you know, just kind of ate dinner there,” freshman Maddy Hood said.
Sparkly outfits, tassels, glitter and many colors are the theme that revolves around many kids’ outfits.
Fans go downtown hours before the concert starts to set up their taygates, trade bracelets, make signs and wait in the merch lines before they go in.
In downtown Indianapolis, “tay gates” were set up in parking lots and streets surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium. However, Indianapolis officials made it clear fans were not allowed to stand outside the stadium as the concert went on.
“We had a lot of time to kill because we went downtown early, so we got merch at the convention center. We also taygated before,” freshman Maya Stuteville said.
Although Swifties are dedicated fans, ticket prices for the Eras Tour have been a controversial topic since the start of the tour.
At face value, tickets range from $150 to $600. However, the majority of tickets are sold by resellers on TicketMaster, and they range from $1000 to $50,000.
“I think if you’ve got the money, it’s worth it,” senior Anthony Benjamin said.
While some students believe the concert is worthwhile, others oppose it and argue that ticket prices are incredibly overpriced.
“No, no, that’s not worth it to me,” junior William Nolan-Watkins said. “I feel like 10,000 is way too much. I know Taylor Swift is a big artist, but even though she’s a big artist, she should at least help lower the cost for her fans.”
The Eras Tour made millions of dollars, so people believe prices should be lower because the tour has already made a large profit.
However, Swift always donates the proceeds from the tour. For her tour, Swift donated $5 million to Feeding America, $1 million to the Mountain Ways foundation and $100,000 to each truck driver.
Swift has donated approximately $6.5 million to charity this year.
The majority of Swift’s fans are women, specifically teenage girls.
“She has a strong message of female empowerment,” junior Lillian Tabor said.
Swift’s concerts are known to uplift fans. Throughout her career, Swift has known she is a strong feminist. Young girls look up to Swift as a role model and ambitious businesswoman.
“She’s been able to accomplish many things, start from pretty much nothing, and build her career,” freshman Sydney Veatch said.
Swift’s Eras Tour made history as the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Indianapolis locals and fans across the country were thrilled to end the final U.S. leg of the tour in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
