Swifties took over Toronto Thursday as pop superstar Taylor Swift played the first Canadian show on her globe-spanning, record-breaking Eras Tour.
Swift opened her Rogers Centre set just before 8 p.m. with a shortened version of Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince, before launching into her 2019 hit Cruel Summer, with thousands of screaming fans singing along.
Moving on from the Lover album, she performed tracks from Fearless and Red, with fans singing along to every word from hits like I Knew You Were Trouble. Swift took several breaks to address the crowd, saying she’s ending her tour in Canada because she wanted to spend her last shows with “the most generous, encouraging, welcoming, passionate” fans.
Thursday’s show is the first of six consecutive sold-out concerts that had fans scrambling for a year to secure tickets and accommodations.
The stadium began to fill up after 6 p.m., turning into a sea of tassels and sparkles. Fans were laughing, taking selfies and buying Swift-themed drinks and friendship bracelets from the bar.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got in on the excitement, posting on social media platform X, “We’re ready for you, @taylorswift13. Good choice wrapping the Eras Tour in Canada.” He also threw in a reference to Swift’s 2017 hit End Game, asking, “Has this always been your endgame?”
Opener Gracie Abrams took the stage at 6:45 p.m.
The singer-songwriter released her album The Secret of Us in June this year, and it’s been topping the charts ever since, with the song That’s So True currently the No. 1 song in the U.K.
‘It’s once in a lifetime’
Thousands of lucky fans who found a way to attend were buzzing with excitement at Swift-related events across the city before the show, many dressed in colourful, glittery, Taylor-influenced outfits.
Julisa Brace, a 25-year-old who came from Newfoundland and Labrador, said she paid $1,500 for a resale ticket to see the singer she’s been a fan of since she was eight years old.
“I just think it’s once in a lifetime. You can’t really put a price tag on something that brings so much joy to so many people,” she said.
Some fans travelled from the U.S. and abroad to be in Toronto Thursday.
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Caitlin Merrill from Winnipeg flew to Austria with her best friend to see Swift in August, only for the concert to be cancelled following a foiled attack plot.
She and some family members secured tickets to the Toronto show just one week ago.
“It’s so huge. We’re super excited to be here. We’ve been listening to Taylor Swift since I was in probably Grade 2, Grade 3, so a lifelong fan,” she said.
“I’m just really grateful and happy that I was able to come to the Toronto show.”
Swift will also perform at the Rogers Centre on Friday and Saturday, then three more shows will take place on Nov. 21, 22 and 23.
City expecting 500,000 visitors
The City of Toronto is expecting up to 500,000 visitors during the nearly two-week period around the shows, including parents and travel partners.
Destination Toronto, a non-profit representing the city’s tourism sector, estimates the Eras Tour will bring more than $152 million in direct spending, and $282 million in economic impact to the city.
Swift will close out the tour by playing three shows in Vancouver next month, in her only other Canadian stop.
The dates were announced in August 2023, a month after Trudeau pleaded with Swift on X to come to Canada.
The concert announcement set off a mad scramble for tickets and accommodations, with many Swifties being unable to secure either. Hotels and Airbnb hosts were criticized for hiking prices on accommodations for people coming from out of town for the shows.
The Eras Tour is the first tour ever to gross more than $1 billion US.