Taylor Swift's Eras Tour hits Toronto this week — here's what to expect

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After nearly a year-and-a-half on the road, Taylor Swift is finally bringing her Eras Tour to Toronto this week.

The pop superstar will be performing six sold-out nights at Rogers Centre beginning this Thursday, with shows scheduled to take place at the downtown venue on Nov. 14 to Nov. 16 and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23. She’s the first artist to play the ballpark six times as part of the same tour.

The city is expecting 500,000 visitors with the shows predicted to have an economic impact that will total $282 million.

If you’ve been following the tour on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and Facebook, you already know that Swift’s shows are full of surprises when it comes to her mammoth 45-song setlist and the moments in between. Here’s everything you need to know.

WILL REPUTATION (TAYLOR’S VERSION) BE ANNOUNCED IN TORONTO?

Swift has dropped a few bombshells throughout the Eras Tour, which kicked off in March 2023 in Arizona, including the announcement of a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which she released back in April, as well as re-recorded versions of 1989 and Speak Now. In the run-up to her shows at Rogers Centre, some fans are circling her Toronto dates for Swift’s next expected announcement: Reputation (Taylor’s Version).

Known for her penchant for dropping Easter eggs, one Swiftie fan account says “all signs point to Toronto Night 6” for her to plug her re-recorded release of 2017’s Reputation LP.

For those not already in the know, Swift is reworking all of her older albums after record exec Scooter Braun obtained the master recordings of her first six albums in 2019.

“You know how I love to plan things, and how I love to surprise you with the things I plan. It’s my love language with you,” Swift told the crowd ahead of the official announcement for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in Nashville last year. “I plot, I scheme, I plan and I get to tell you about it.”  

TAYLOR TAKES THE STAGE EARLY AND PLAYS ALMOST ALL NIGHT

The three-plus hour shows begin with Swift and a squad of dancers and backup singers traversing a stage that will cover nearly the entire length of the Rogers Centre baseball field as she first dives into songs from her 2019 Lover LP, including The Man, You Need to Calm Down and Cruel Summer, which became a chart hit four years after it was released.

The tour, she says at one point of the show, came about during the pandemic as she conceived a concert where the sinewy anthems of reputation could bleed into the pop sounds of Red. A show in which the cozy songs from folklore, which she performs in a prop cabin, would give way to the hip-shaking tracks from 1989. A night where all the highlights from her 18-year career would get a moment to shine.

During the evermore portion, as she introduced Champagne Problems when we saw the show last year in Cincinnati, Swift conceded that she didn’t know if she would ever get a chance to perform some of these newer songs.

“I made this album really without any hope that I would get to play it live,” she said, seated at a moss-covered piano in a makeshift forest. “It was too sad to think about not being able to play shows without you guys. But there was one song where I thought, ‘It would be so fun if one day I get to sing Champagne Problems.’”

But unlike the show we saw last year, Toronto fans will get a chance to hear songs from The Tortured Poets Department, including Fortnight and I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.

SWIFT’S SURPRISE SONGS

Deep into the night, Swift slips two surprise songs into her set that she plays by herself with an acoustic guitar or on the piano. During her 2023 leg, she never repeated the songs, and they often earned the biggest cheers as fans fanatically kept track as to which ones she’d played and others that were still outstanding. At the first Cincinnati show we attended, she played I’m Only Me When I’m With You and evermore. Fans who went to the second night got to hear three tracks — ivy (with the National’s Aaron Dessner on guitar), a cover of Gracie Abrams’ I miss you, I’m sorry and Call It What You Want. 

Swift has sung several songs multiple times after changing the rules around the surprise set earlier this year, but there are still some she hasn’t played, including Cassandra, Soon You’ll Get Better, Forever Winter and others.

WHAT ABOUT THE MERCH?

If the Toronto shows are anything like Swift’s other tour stops, Swifties will be out in full force as they try to score one of Tay’s sought after blue crewnecks (these are only sold at her concerts and sell out quickly). Other hot items include quarter-zip pullovers, hoodies, T-shirts, posters, water bottles and more. Merchandise will be available inside Rogers Centre and at select exterior locations outside the stadium.

CAN I STILL GET A TICKET?

Earlier this week, Ticketmaster quietly released a limited number of tickets for the sold-out concerts. It’s unclear if more will become available. Resellers on StubHub and Seat Geek show seats are still available, but it will cost you. Obstructed view tickets behind the stage are currently selling for more than $3,000 each. Fans without a ticket can visit Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ‘24 — a fan event happening next door at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

WILL WE BE ABLE TO HEAR ANYTHING OUTSIDE?

Unlike other stops on her Eras Tour in which tens of thousands have gathered outside to dance to her music, Swifties without tickets are being urged to stay home as there will be no designated fan zone.

HOW AM I GETTING THERE?

Toronto traffic is bad pretty much every day of the week, but police plan to limit the number of cars surrounding the stadium on show days. There’s no parking onsite and organizers are urging attendees to take the TTC, walk or cycle. Drop-off zones will be located on Front Street West (between Bathurst and Spadina), Lake Shore Boulevard West (between Rees and Spadina), Queens Quay (between Bay and Freeland), Bay St. (between Richmond and Wellington) and York St. (between Wellington and Adelaide). But, if you insist on driving, paid Green P lots will be available on York St. and Church St. as well as nearby office buildings including BCE Place.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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