Night 3 of Taylor Swift’s ERAs Tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey definitely did not disappoint. The festivities began even before the 83,000 fans entered the stadium. Fans began tailgating at noon when the parking lots opened. Swifties were trading bracelets and posing for photos, showing off their unique outfits before the gates opened. At 4:30 fans flocked to both their seats and the merch stations – hoping to grab some exclusive merch including crewnecks, hoodies, and more.

The performances began with a six song set by OWENN an indie soul singer and former Taylor Swift backup dancer. His performance included: “Baby Girl,” the unreleased “Devil May Care,” and a cover of Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.”

Pheobe Bridgers took the stage next to kickoff her last night on the ERAs Tour. Her band took the stage to Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness” and then jumped right into Pheobe’s “Motion Sickness.” The indie folk singer-songwriter performed a nine song set that included: “Kyoto,” “Scott Street,” and “Graceland Too.” Before performing “Kyoto,” a song about her relationship with her father, Pheobe recognized all the dads in the audience that evening. Her meaningful words hit home as she reminisced on this being her last night on the tour and the recent loss of her father. She closed her set with “I Know the End.”

As soon as the countdown clock preceding Taylor Swift’s entrance showed on the video screen the sold out Swiftie crowd began to scream. As each minute ticked off the crowd got louder leading to them counting down the last ten seconds as if it was New Years Eve. The show encompassed all 9 ERAs of Taylor’s illustrious career. It kicked off with the Lover Era including hits like “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” and “The Archer.” Each Era featured at least one beautiful costume change, fantastic set design unique to the specific album, and perfectly choreographed dancing. The next two Eras to be featured were Fearless and evermore. These Eras included performances of “You Belong With Me,” “Love Story,” “willow,” and “champagne problems.” Before performing “champagne problems” Taylor discussed how she wrote this song during the pandemic with the hope of performing it in a stadium with fans singing along. 

Up next were reputation, Speak Now, and Red. Highlights from these Eras included: “…Ready for It?,” “Enchanted,” “22,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” The Red Era also included a performance of “Nothing New” with opener Pheobe Bridgers. They both expressed their joy at being able to tour together and the bittersweet sadness of Pheobe’s last night on tour. The crowd was then treated to the folklore and 1989 Eras. This included performances of “the last great american dynasty,” “cardigan,” “Blank Space,” “Shake it Off,” and more. Taylor then performed an intimate acoustic set that included stripped down songs on both guitar and piano. Her Surprise Songs this evening were “Welcome to New York” and “Clean.”

Taylor closed out the night with her most recent Midnights Era; featuring performances of “Anti-Hero,” “Lavender Haze,” and “Midnight Rain.” For her finale Taylor was joined on stage by rapper Ice Spice. Together they performed their new single “Karma” as fireworks exploded around them. This was definitely a night I will not be forgetting very soon.

Review by Simon Lindenblatt. Photo credit: TAS Rights Management.