By Canadian Press

T-minus-zero in Vancouver as Taylor Swift and fans prepare for final Eras Tour shows

Dec 6, 2024 | 6:11 AM

VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift is preparing to hit the stage tonight at Vancouver’s BC Place for the first of three shows to close out her marathon Eras Tour — but she’s not the only one getting ready as T-minus-zero approaches.

About 160,000 fans, many of them international visitors, will converge on the city’s downtown for the performances that are the glittering climax to the 149-show, two-year tour that has shattered records around the world.

Some will be hard to miss.

Brittany Hood from Orlando, Fla., will sport a blue velvet, star-studded jumpsuit that pays homage to an outfit Swift wore to the 2022 VMAs after-party.

Hood, who is attending Saturday’s show, spent months perfecting the look.

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“It wasn’t supposed to be this sparkly but 25 hours later and I was still going,” she said.

“Where else can you wear a super-bedazzled outfit — I mean I probably would be the person who would wear it to the grocery store — but it just makes it a little bit more special for the moment.”

The shows are billed to start at 6:45 p.m. with opening act Gracie Abrams.

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.

Jonica Tebo from Ogdensburg, N.Y., said that’s why she has spent hours making her costume for Vancouver, a friendship bracelet fringe jacket.

“I have every single Taylor song on the outfit, in the beaded fringe that is sewn on,” she said. She also plans to wear pink boots and friendship bracelets to trade.

Vancouver has embraced the singer, who performed six shows in Toronto last month.

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.

Security is tight around the venue, with barricades surrounding BC Place, and ticketless fans being told not to gather outside for traditional “Taylgate” parties.

That hasn’t reduced the enthusiasm of fans like Hood, who says it’s 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. “I’m in my feels this week.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press