Umm, So I Flew All The Way To Europe Just To See Taylor Swift, And I’m Here To Reveal If It Was *Actually* Worth The Trek

Another thing us Swifties can’t stop talking about: the European leg of The Eras Tour. Many of us around the world spend our nights (or days, for all my fellow North Americans) refreshing livestreams waiting for surprise songs and outfit combos. Because we have no life besides being Swifties.

Buuuuut, some of us got SUPER lucky (or have mad tech skills like me) and won the Ticketmaster battle a whole year ago, which means we scored tickets to one of Taylor’s gajillion shows in Europe. And I was one of those lucky people!!!!

Abby Zinman

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So because I’m still living on a Taylor Swift high and I’m pretty sure that night will go down as one of the greatest in my lifetime, I thought I’d recap my experience — from prices, to my favourite performances, to the outfits we wore. And I’m definitely rating the surprise songs I got.

Abby Zinman

This was me and my sister the moment Taylor came out. Sheer joy.

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But before we get into that, let me just explain: this was monumental for me. Not only am I one of those Gen Z’ers who grew up with Taylor’s music — like, I definitely made Sims 2 music videos to “You Belong With Me” as a kid — but I also have been a huge fan for many years. And to prove my Taylor fan status, here is a God-awful photo of middle-school me from the 1989 World Tour:

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So first things first: the prices. NGL, I was sort of preparing to spend my very last dime on these tickets. But GET THIS. My general admission (AKA floor!!!) tickets for Amsterdam night 1 were €93.50, which is $140 CAD!!! Like, that’s a steal if I’ve ever seen one. And our view was pretty darn good — especially when she came to the very front of the stage.

Abby Zinman

We couldn’t really see the effects on the actual stage, though, but I’m 5’9″ so I wasn’t really blocked by anyone. My sister is 5’4″, on the other hand, so she didn’t have as great a view. BUT STILL. Less than $150, in today’s economy??

And must I remind you? Tickets in Canada and the US are going for WAYYYY more. It’s actually ✨factual✨ — tickets in Europe were “87% cheaper” because of consumer protection laws. Add that to the list of reasons why Europe is better than North America, I guess. So I figured may as well make a trip out of it, since I was saving money anyway.

Now, for the outfits! I dressed as my favourite era AND album, reputation. I wore snake tights from Amazon, which looked soooo cool, and snake earrings. I made my own shirt, which said “let the games begin” from “…Ready For It?”. Which also happens to be one of my favourite songs ever.

Abby Zinman

Singing this song during the show was seriously a core memory.

My sister, who is also a die-hard Taylor fan and rep girlie, decided to go a different route than me — she dressed as her favourite song, “ivy” from evermore (yes, she has A+ taste). Our vibes were veryyyy different, but they actually looked so good together.

Abby Zinman

As long as you’re decked out in an outfit from one of the eras, there’s really no wrong way to dress. But it was so much more worth it to make our costumes meaningful and personalized.

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We also made sure to make TONS of friendship bracelets beforehand, but didn’t trade much (IDK, people weren’t really trading and besides, we were happy with the ones we made). My personal favourite one I made said “heart, hips, body, love” from “Death By A Thousand Cuts.”

Abby Zinman

Honourable mentions: “On the mattress” from “Better Than Revenge” (the original version), and “Antithetical dream girl” from “Hits Different” (because, yes, I relate).

It was a bit of a trek to get inside the arena, but once we were there, it was surreal and so incredible to see all these fans, dancing and singing together. The vibes were more immaculate than ever. Like, how often will you see over 50,000 people uniting over a shared love of music, positivity, and feminism? 🥹

Abby Zinman

Yes, that’s us screaming “1, 2, 3, LGB.”

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And now, THE MUSIC!!! Of course, I’ve seen the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie three times now, so I knew what I was in for — and I figured I’d love hearing “…Ready For It?” and “my tears ricochet” the most. But neither of those ended up being my #1 most fun in the moment (although it was VERY CLOSE).

I’m shocked to say this, but I think my favourite to hear live ended up being “Shake It Off.” IT WAS JUST SO MUCH FUN, I CAN’T EXPLAIN IT. And I decided on this before learning that TikTok agrees with me, dubbing it the “Shake It Off theory”!!!

@clara.good.2 / TikTok

I know, it’s not what you’d expect! But there’s something about singing that song in a huge stadium that just does something to you. 

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I also committed to remaining spoiler-free for the new TTPD set, so I deleted ALL my social media for 2 months so that I could experience it for the first time in Amsterdam. And let me tell you, it was SO WORTH AVOIDING SPOILERS. I literally couldn’t have picked better set of songs myself and was absolutely mesmerized!!!

Abby Zinman

You should have seen my face (hehe, pun intended) when I saw that moving platform for the first time. And when she started singing “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” which was my first favourite song off the album.

Okay, okay, I know this is getting long, so I’ll get to the part I know you’re all curious about: what surprise songs did I get? And how happy was I with those choices??? The suspense!!

Abby Zinman

I will say, it’s a gift to be there at all and every surprise song is technically great, so take my ratings with a grain of salt.

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Welllll. I happened to get my favourite TTPD song on guitar, “Guilty As Sin?” mashed up with “Untouchable” from Fearless. I haven’t listened to the second one in awhile, but it’s super nostalgic, and she sounded SOOOO good. This mashup gets a 7.5/10 from me!

@arjunvignesh / TikTok

I seriously couldn’t believe I got “Guilty As Sin?”. I play that song at least once a day. 

And on piano!! I happen to be an anxious girlie, so I was pretty excited (albeit very surprised) when she played “The Archer,” the anthem to everyone with any anxiety whatsoever. And although “Question…?” isn’t my favourite song, I LOVED THIS MASHUP. Like, the way she mixed these lyrics is just GENIUS. So this gets an 8/10 for me.

@killatay13 / TikTok

I will say, it was so much fun that the whole crowd started clapping after every time Taylor sang “they were clapping too” in “Question…?”. 

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OK, so overall? Legendary experience. Worth going all the way to Europe for, definitely. And besides, Amsterdam is also an incredible city — I had wayyy too many stroopwafels!! 10/10 would recommend.

Abby Zinman

Until next time, I’ll be giving my blood, sweat, and tears to go to The Eras Tour in Toronto. Because no, once was not enough!