Fans are the stars as Eras tour lights up the Aviva

And yet it has never been bigger. All of these albums, except those from 2019, Lovercame out after March 2020, when the pandemic left us desperate for live shows (Swift noted this on Saturday night). We were all entering different, er, eras – Swift saw her change her sound and bring in Aaron Dessner of The National as co-producer for Folklore/forever. New fans and renewed critical acclaim followed.

Their first stadium tour since CallThe Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023 and was a sensation across the US last year. It is the highest-grossing tour of all time, the first to surpass the $1 billion mark. In short, Taylor Swift returns to Dublin as the biggest act on the planet.

She could have played a week of sold-out shows at Croke Park. Instead, she has settled for three nights at the 50,000-capacity Aviva Stadium. The stadium is home to Ireland’s national football and rugby teams and has probably never seen so much joy as at this weekend’s three shows (apologies to Stephen Kenny). Sequins, pink cowboy hats, glitter, gems, colorful cowboy boots and bracelets – so many beaded friendship bracelets – are the order of the day, both inside and outside the venue.

And everyone knows what comes after Paramore (what an interesting career Hayley Williams has had) finishes their support duties: Swift’s show lasts over three hours and 15 minutes, includes more than 44 songs and stretches back to her promising second album. Fearlessand chooses songs from all eras. Everyone has their own favorites, which they count down to (i.e. after “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”) and those for which they plan their bathroom break.

We knew 1989 was full of bangers, but the way it follows the Folklore/Evermore era — honestly a bit yawn-inducing during the show — makes “Style,” “Blank Space,” and “Shake it Off” sound like the best songs in the world by comparison. Of course, Swift has released her latest album, The “Tortured Poets” sectionin April. It sounded like she was resting. The songs are good live, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” with its moving podium is the highlight.

Taylor Swift herself is magnetic as she struts down the walkway that divides the field, and no one can show off better than her, extolling the virtues of Ireland (especially how folklore just feels like an album written here) and you just can’t take your eyes off her, even if it feels like there are moments where she gives less than she could.

She also sweet-talks us and explains to us during the folklore Era: “I just think that all the issues in folklorehow I imagined the world of the album – Ireland, storytelling, lots of different characters. You guys have that too, it’s very Irish, the storytelling. When I made the album, it was two days after the pandemic started when I started writing folkloreand I wasn’t in Ireland, so I had to make an album where the imaginary world I pretended to go to every day when I wrote it – I have to be honest – seemed kind of like Ireland. So we’re back where we belong. Conceptually, folkloreWe all agree on that, it’s just one of you guys.”

But the fans are the star of the show. It’s incredibly loud from the start and never lets up. The bridge to “Cruel Summer” (“I love you, isn’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?”) is incredible. “Love Story” is beautiful.

The cry of “Fuck the patriarchy” from “All Too Well” is life-affirming. The cheers after the boring “Champagne Problems” were something else entirely. It’s incredible. A security guard agrees that he’s never heard anything like it. There’s nothing like the screams of a pop audience. If only we could bottle them.

Just as Marvel fans predict/analyze the end credits sequences, the “surprise songs” that precede the closing segment of “Midnights” are eagerly awaited. Friday night featured “Sweet Nothing,” with Wicklow mentioned by name. Saturday featured a song she says she’s never played live before – “The Albatross,” with a bit of “Dancing with our Hands Tied,” “This Love,” and “Ours” thrown in.

The Eras Tour ends Sunday night at the Aviva Stadium and is scheduled to end in Canada in December. The millions of fans who were there will never forget it. As Taylor Swift sings in “22,” it feels like a perfect night.