I went to both the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Concert and the Eras Tour movie. In my opinion, the movie equaled, if not exceeded the concert experience in some ways and fell under the shadow of the concert in other ways.

There were a few big similarities to the overall experience of the concert movie and the concert, with the main one being costumes. Everyone I saw that attended the concert and the movie was in either an outfit inspired by a Taylor Swift era (“1989”, “Reputation”, “Lover”, etc.) or wearing Taylor Swift merch. The second biggest similarity was the friendship bracelets. I showed up with arms full of bracelets and managed to leave the concert without a single bracelet made by me.

Visually, the movie exceeded the standards set by the concert. When I attended the Eras Tour Concert in-person, I sat at the top of NRG stadium with an obstructed view. However, I am not complaining about the view I had at the concert. I personally did not feel as though I missed anything compared to people who had lower- bowl seats or floor seats, but I will admit that upon seeing the movie, I was able to see things in the performance that I could not have been able to in the concert. For starters, in the movie the close-up camera angles allowed me to see Swift’s facial expressions which she used to annunciate the lyrics. The camera angles also allowed the viewers to see behind the dancers.

Personally the time I felt the concert was most visually different to the movie was during the song “Tolerate It”. From my viewpoint of the stage, the visual effects were in black and white, whereas in the Eras Tour movie, the film it was shot in color and was close enough that I was able to see small details of the set whilst Swift set the table in the scene and polished the glass and filled the glass with water.

The movie also provided labels for each era. For example, in the movie there is a screen behind Swift, and “Lover” is written on it. Also, during the “Reputation” portion of the movie a 3D-snake engulfs the stage. Although I personally am aware of the vibes for each era, I felt that the headers in the movie encapsulated what each era was, and what the tone of the music would be like.

For me though, the true place that the concert surpassed the film was the way in which people acted. When you are in NRG stadium of 72,000 people, the screaming of excited concert goers molds into one overarching drone that is not as noticeable compared to when people are screaming in a movie theater. Before viewing the movie my mom and I asked what the rules were when it came to the the Eras Tour movie, and we were told we could dance in our seats and sing at an appropriate volume but that screaming and dancing in the isles was not allowed because it was a safety risk, and in my opinion that is perfectly understandable. So, throughout the movie my mom and I conducted ourselves as we were told to by participating in chants and singing at a mindful volume. Some people did not. Which is where the size of an auditorium becomes glaringly obvious because when someone is screaming in a room of 72,000 it is less noticeable than in a room of around 60. Unfortunately, there were points during the movie where we could not hear Taylor due to the people around us who were yelling.

The most interesting change in the movie from the concert were the surprise songs! I saw the concert in Houston on her final night in the city, so my surprise songs were “Begin Again” from her “Red” album and “Cold as You” from her “debut” album. These surprise songs mean alot to me because “Begin Again” is my favorite Taylor Swift song, and “Cold as You” was from the “debut” album which was the first Taylor Swift album I ever heard. Because these songs have so much sentimental value to me it is hard to top it, but luckily the surprise songs in the Eras Tour movie did that for me. “Our Song” was the first surprise song. It was also a song that I grew up with, being my mother’s favorite, so seeing it with her was magical. The second surprise song was “You’re On Your Own Kid” which is my favorite song of the “Midnights” album, and seeing a crowd full of people raise their hands when she sings “Make the friendship bracelets” was so cute.

All in all, I would highly recommend seeing the Eras Tour movie because it is beautifully shot and Taylors ability to perform in my opinion is unmatched. If you are going to see it please be mindful of those around you, as there are many viewers in the theater.