At Friday’s opening night show, Swift gave an answer to the roughly 70,000 people at State Farm Stadium: She would play for three o’clock. (Technically, about 3 hours and 10 minutes, as she breaks her albums into short segments and plays full-length or shortened versions of more than 40 songs.)
Here’s a full recap of the set list for the show that really lived up to the hype after causing a complete meltdown on Ticketmaster.
The Lover Era (2019)
1) “Miss Americana and the Prince of Heartbreak”
Although this was a part of the album that didn’t get much attention among fans, it contains a perfect opening line for the first track: “It’s been a long time.” Back-up dancers wore huge pastel-colored parachutes and all floated together in a circle before lifting the fabric to reveal Swift center stage, where she wore the first of many shimmering bodysuits and jewel-encrusted knee-high boots that she would to wear over the course of the evening.
This upbeat pop track was destined to become a summer 2020 hit until, well, you know. Fans have been obsessed with it ever since, even though it never became a radio single and Swift has never performed it live, until now. A glance around the stadium revealed scores of people openly crying.
Swift casually slipped into a sequined business professional jacket as the set transformed into a dark office space similar to the music video as she sang about how people would take her a lot more seriously if she were a dude.
4) “You need to calm down”
That single and music video, celebrating gay rights and ignoring the haters, was somewhat controversial and led to debates about whether Swift focused too much on a song that was supposed to be about an ally. But Swift still busted out a few lines, including the much-discussed lyric, “Shade never made nobody less gay!”
The crowd roared as Swift came out with her guitar and explained to the crowd that they were about to embark on an adventure through the 17 years of her career – and while there will be plenty of breakup material, it’s a “good old fashioned love a song.
Swift walked slowly down a giant catwalk that led her into the middle of the stadium for the final song of this era, a laid-back ballad with lyrics about her insecurities.
The Fearless Era (2008)
As gold sparkles rained down, Swift quickly returned to her breakthrough country album, wearing a gold fringed dress and the boots that defined her style in her early Nashville days.
8) “You Belong to Me”
It was pandemonium when Swift broke out one of her first country singles, which became an international hit. The crowd really went wild for the famous high school love triangle story, especially with the signature line: “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts / She’s the cheerleader captain and I’m in the bleachers.”
Including this was a given. Swift’s career-making song from when she romanticized the idea of happy love stories closed the second phase of the concert.
The Evermore Era (2020)
10) ‘Tis the Damn Season
Swifties claim Evermore is the “forgotten child” — it never got the same attention as its pandemic sister album (and Grammy Album of the Year winner) Folklore. But Swift jokingly insisted on stage that “Evermore” is “an album that I really love, despite what some of you might say on TikTok.” She changed into a burnt orange gold fall dress, kicking things off with a song about hooking up with an ex over the holidays.
Swift donned an emerald cape for her “dancing witch” version of the album’s opening track, surrounded by backup dancers holding glowing orbs.
She slowed things down with an emotional ballad about her late grandmother Marjorie Finley, an opera singer who Swift often mentions in interviews when asked if singing runs in her family.
13) “Champagne Trouble”
TikTok users begged Swift to include this in the set list so they could hear the stadium crowd singing their favorite line: “She would have made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s f—– in the head.” She indulged in them as she sat on a moss-covered piano.
A rather soul-crushing ballad about being in love with someone who just puts up with you, Swift showed off some acting skills as she sang and sat opposite one of her backup dancers, looking devastated as he acted like he didn’t want anything do with her.
The Reputation Era (2017)
15) “… Are you ready for this?”
Swift released “Reputation” following the biggest backlash of her career, her “feud” with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who called Swift a “snake.” At the time, people were shocked by her image at the album launch, with Swift bristling and angry and wearing dark lipstick. It was somewhat of a controversy at the time, but many fans decided that the album — which opens with this bass-heavy track — was one of her best. Of course, Swift wore an ensemble with a slithering snake on one leg.
Fans were eager to hear this sleeper hit because of one of their many inexplicable inside jokes with the singer; at one point in the song, when she pauses, people like to yell, “1, 2, 3, go b—-!” Indeed, they screamed it here.
17) “Don’t Blame Me”
It’s the strongest station where Swift can showcase her vocals in a way that shuts down critics who still insist she can’t sing.
18) “Look What You Made Me Do”
The music video for this single was essentially a mini Eras Tour – Swift dressed up as different versions of herself and made fun of the mean things people said about her. This time, a somewhat horrifying screen showed dozens of Swifts and backup dancers dressed as her trapped in boxes.
The Talk Now Era (2010)
Quick conspiracy theorists, speak up now – why did she only include one song from her third album? And just an album cut? Swift stayed true to the very sparkly and dramatic era by donning an elaborate ball gown for this shortest era of the night.
Swift just turned 33, but had a blast reminiscing about being “happy, free, confused and lonely all at the same time” in her early 20s. She wore a twist on her famous t-shirt from the music video, which read “Not much going on right now.”
21) “We’re Never Getting Back Together”
Swift let one of her dancers deliver the two words at the end of the spoken word bridge about how she and her lover never got back together: “Like never.”
22) “I knew you were trouble”
Swift only played a shortened version of this one, but it’s important to include your first dubstep song on a tour looking back at your musical eras.
23) “It’s All Too Good (10 Minute Version)”
Swift re-recorded her first six albums after a dispute with her former record label in Nashville, and that included an updated version of the critical and fan favorite “All Too Well.” Although Swift, who changed into a dramatic red jacket, has performed it live several times before, including on SNL, hearing an estimated 70,000 people scream “YOU’RE SEEING ME AGAIN JUST TO BREAK ME AS A PROMISE, SO NECESSARY CRUEL OF THE NAME YES BE HONEST” was something else.
The Age of “Folklore” (2020)
24) “Invisible string”
Dressed in an airy pink dress, Swift sprawled out on the roof of a small cabin. It was the perfect preview to open the part of the show about her cottagecore album and this dreamy song about the relief of finding your soul mate.
Swift noted that her albums tend to be “painfully autobiographical,” so it was fun to invent characters for “Folklore” — and this one featured her favorite genre of song, where she teaches men how to apologize for bad behavior.
26) “The Last Great American Dynasty”
The backup dancers were out in full force as a ballroom scene from “Bridgerton” for this story based on the life of Rebecca Harkness, the heiress who drives her neighbors crazy by throwing wild parties at her beachside mansion in Rhode Island.
It was a real scream – along with the audience, a song about a couple of teenagers having a summer relationship – complicated by the fact that the boy already has a girlfriend. This led right to…
28) “Illegal Deeds”
… a pain-filled ballad from a woman who is tired of being a lover. Swift collapsed to the floor at the end of this one.
29) “My Tears Bounce”
Perhaps the most solemn moment of the evening came during one of the slowest and most melancholic pieces of “Folklore”.
Swift peeled herself off the floor and returned to the tiny cabin for this piano-centric song about finding comfort in a relationship as images of fireflies lit up the top of the giant screen.
The 1989 Era (2014)
This really was when Swift became a pop megastar, and it’s the song where the singer showed off her best catwalk figure on the 1989 tour – only then, it was the moment she invited her celebrity friends on stage with her .
Back-up dancers had to ride bicycles and pretend to destroy a car with golf clubs in this hit, which Swift wrote as a satire on how she was covered by the media. (Like “crazy” boy-crazy “nightmare dressed as a dream.”)
Swift’s biggest worldwide hit, it was just a big dance party on stage with almost the entire crew.
This wistful ballad certainly had a top-rated PG-13 video on the big screen, showing a brief glimpse of a couple entangled in sheets.
Known for what is suspected to be her one-time crazy nemesis Katy Perry, Swift had a lot of fun running around the stage as random streams of fire erupted around the stadium.
This deeply introspective tune is actually on “Folklore,” and Swift pulled out an acoustic guitar to play it. She said she’ll play a new song at that spot on the set list every night of the tour — unless she messes it up and wants to try it again in another city.
The Taylor Swift Era (2006)
Finally, back to her self-titled first album—or “Debut,” as the kids call it—and her first big hit at country radio.
The Age of Midnight (2022)
For the last and most recent era, Swift did quite a trick where she pretended to dive center stage and then swim back to the front of the house. As the audience puzzled over this, backup dancers brought out clouds and Swift re-emerged in her most sparkly dress of the night under a purple fur coat as the synth-pop beat kicked in over her latest single.
While the real Swift danced on stage, a fake Swift towered over her on the screen, threatening to destroy an entire city. (According to the oft-quoted lyric, “Sometimes it feels like everyone’s a hot babe and I’m a monster on the hill.”)
Backup dancers went all-in with umbrellas for a very literal rendition of this mind-blowing, mid-tempo track, where Swift reflects on a relationship gone wrong because one guy was too nice and the other wanted drama.
The audience went crazy for Swift’s performance in a chair dancein a song about her beloved quest for revenge on someone who wronged her.
“I shine real good!” Swift sings brightly, and for a show that already had tons of sequins and sparkles, this song offered another explosion of jewels and diamond imagery on the big screen.
Swift doesn’t like to be called “calculating,” but on this dynamic track, she takes credit for her work, asking with a wink, “What if none of this was an accident?” To drive home the point, the bottom of the stage became in a chessboard.
Swift wrapped things up with her favorite subject besides revenge: Karma. She piled a sequined fringe jacket over her bedazzled suit as she gleefully sang about how “Karma is a cat purring on my lap because she loves me” before fireworks exploded and confetti shot from the ceilings, falling on fans who they were losing their minds.