Taylor Swift gets rapturous welcome in Vancouver as Eras Tour enters endgame

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VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift has received a rapturous welcome to the stage at BC Place for the first of three sold-out shows in Vancouver this weekend that bring her blockbuster Eras Tour to a close.

The pop star appeared from beneath the stage in a shimmering blue-and-gold sequin bodysuit, kicking off the show around 7:50 p.m. with her usual “Lover” era set to the tune of “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.”

She told the audience there was a reason Canada and Vancouver were chosen as the final stop of the 149-show tour that has spanned five continents.

“Where have the crowds been so generous, so welcoming, so warm-hearted? Where do they know every single word? And they not only sing them, but they scream them? Oh, we’ve got to go back to Canada, and so here we are in beautiful Vancouver,” she said.

She also struck a wistful note, reflecting on the end of the tour that has lasted almost two years.

“This has been a tour of many traditions. It’s been a tour of many, many Friday nights. But this will be the last Friday night that we ever play on the Eras Tour.”

Outside, fans were singing along in the rain, undeterred by warnings from stadium officials that those without tickets should stay away.

They were watched by dozens of police, but there were no signs of trouble early on, save for some fans having the difficulty of enduring the wintry night in outfits better suited to the dance floor.

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Security was tight, with street barricades cutting off some of the downtown core’s busiest streets, including West Georgia, Smithe, Beatty and Robson. The closures had snarled traffic in the afternoon.

Support act Gracie Abrams warmed up the crowd before Swift took the stage, calling the tour “the most magical place on Earth.”

She said she would never forget the experience and lamented its end on Sunday.

“Vancouver, I don’t know how any of us are supposed to have the words to begin to talk about the end of the Eras Tour, but all I know is that I could not be more grateful to be in the same room as all of you tonight,” said Abrams, who also opened all six Toronto dates last month.

Before playing her Grammy-nominated song “us.,” which she co-wrote with Swift, she told the crowd, “We are all the same in that Taylor is my favourite artist and my favourite writer ever.”

Swift typically performs for about 3 1/2 hours, playing songs from across her discography as she moves through various “Eras,” each marked by set and outfit changes that reflect the albums.

For instance, she often wears a ball gown for the “Speak Now” section and a snake jumpsuit during her “Reputation” set.

Sociologist Rebecca Yoshizawa said Swift’s outfit choices are “really symbolic,” noting how the singer-songwriter reclaimed snake imagery after a 2016 celebrity feud with Kim Kardashian, who had suggested Swift was a snake.

“She is curating and encouraging our experience through her clothing,” Yoshizawa said. “She knows people are watching and are also wanting to channel that.”

Swifties’ costumes denote membership to the fandom.

“It’s very cathartic. It’s an opportunity to kind of let loose, have fun and be free, and clothing really is central to identity _ it’s central to the expression of our identity,” said Yoshizawa, a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C.

The Eras Tour, she said, had provided fans an opportunity to dress in ways they wouldn’t normally and build a sense of connection with strangers.

That was true for Eliza Sylvia, who is attending the show with three friends. She wore a handmade “Midnights”-inspired body suit that she spent more than 100 hours bedazzling.

It is her first Swift concert ever, Sylvia said, adding that it was highly anticipated after nearly two years of watching the show on “grainy livestreams.”

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said of attending the final weekend of shows.

Cassie Leonhardt from North Vancouver, B.C., dressed in a shimmering red leotard, travelled the world to attend seven of Swift’s concerts. She was attending both Friday’s and Saturday’s shows.

Leonhardt confessed she purchased her outfit, rather than making it herself.

“I tried to make my own, but then I couldn’t like pull it up my legs because the glue was too tight, and then I just ended up ordering it because I gave up … I’m not very crafty.”

BC Place has put up the giant friendship bracelet symbolizing the fandom on its exterior, a feature that has appeared in all Eras Tour stops since New Orleans in October.

An estimated 160,000 fans, many of them international visitors, are expected in the city’s downtown for the three performances.

Vancouver has embraced the singer. Eras Tour posters can be seen around almost every corner, businesses are hosting Swift-themed events and the city has put up light installations to encourage visitors to explore.

The warning not to gather outside the stadium for traditional “Taylgate” parties didn’t reduced the enthusiasm of fans like Brittany Hood, who has travelled from Orlando, Fla., to attend Saturday’s show.

She said it was her first real trip out of the United States.

She’s already been to Eras Tour shows in Los Angeles and Tampa, Fla., dressing up in handmade outfits for both shows. But Vancouver will be special — a girls trip abroad and the end of the Eras Tour.

“When the world’s on fire, but we all get to kind of celebrate music and girlhood together — it’s giving me chills,” she said.