And in the end, the love Taylor Swift took from Swifties at the last-ever U.S. Eras Tour show on Sunday night (Nov. 3) in Indianapolis was more than equal to the love she gave. There were tears of joy and glitter galore, elation and wonder at being the last ones in the room as Swift brought a close to 141 shows on the tour that spanned the globe, and her career over the last 20 months.
And while Sunday’s was, by most accounts, a standard Eras show — none of the surprise guests or big announcements fans buzzed about before the gig — the 69,000-plus attendees at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on night three went home secure that they saw the same type of over-the-top musical masterpiece as the Swifties who attended the tour kick-off in March 2023.
But, also, the last Eras gig ever in the U.S.
Swift, of course, treated them to one more magical mash-up of favorites during the surprise song segment near the end of the show in the city that, like all the others, gratefully gave itself over to the sparkling, happy-to-spend Swiftie mobs. The singer, literally, strode like a Colossus over the Midwestern town better known for its thirst for professional and college sports, via a 330-foot mural of the pop icon plastered on the facade of a downtown hotel just blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium.
It was a fittingly way-larger-than-life image for a spectacle that was all-encompassing, touching everything from the mundane — the check-in clerk with a flowing weird beard manning the desk at a hotel near the stadium who had Swift’s favorite number (13) drawn on the back of his hand above one of the tour’s ubiquitous friendship bracelets — to the sublime: a burly cop with an wrist-full of colorful bracelets signing a little girl’s white Tortured Poet’s Department dress as she skipped her way into the venue.
For the final curtain before the tour finishes up for real in Canada with eight more shows later this month, as in other cities on the Eras Tour, Indianapolis rolled out the red carpet for the singer. The state capital was transformed into TaylorTown for the weekend. Everywhere Swifties went, there Taylor was.
More than 30 streets around downtown were temporarily transformed into Eras avenues, including The Man Dr., London Boy Ln., So High School St., … Ready For It? Rd., Bad Blood Blvd, and, of course, Cornelia St., which also happened to be one of Sunday night’s surprise songs.
The Indianapolis Zoo declared itself “In Our Wildest Era,” local vendors threw “Taylor” terrarium building parties and there were Tay-themed drink at bars all over town (Sun King Brewery’s ‘1,2,3 Let’s Go B*tch” Cherry Limeade Ale and an Eras Cider Box from Ash & Elm Cider Co. As well as snacks in Lucas Oil (Back to Decemberger Basked, Fearless Fries), a “Sweat Stretch Simmer” Swift-themed hot yoga class and even an “Era Sparkle Party for Voter Registration” at the Easley Winery in the lead-up to Tuesday’s (Nov. 5) presidential election, in which Swift has endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
It was all in honor of the singer whose tour created its own ecosystem, with new traditions (trading themed friendship bracelets, dressing in different Eras costumes) and a radiant joy that kept event the youngest fans staving off yawns as they danced in their light-up shoes and sequined skirts well past their bedtimes.
“The fact that you would do that for us, for me, for my band, my crew, my fellow performers. You have just completely confirmed that we chose the right 69,000 people to spend our last night with,” Swift told the capacity crowd on the third night in a row that she set attendance records at the stadium.
Check out our eight best moments from the final Eras Tour U.S.l show below.
