Newbie Notebook: How attending the Eras Tour made this reporter a Swiftie

I don’t consider myself a Taylor Swift fan but I can confidently say I will never experience a concert with the same atmosphere as the star’s Eras Tour ever again.

Last week, the TorontoToday team scored a pair of media passes to cover the opening night of Swift’s Toronto concert leg at the Rogers Centre. My colleague Eva Zhu used the “you never know until you ask” method, and it paid off immensely.

After coordinating with the media folks at Rogers, we eventually received direct instructions from Swift’s public relations team on how we’d be covering the concert. Swift’s well-known publicist, Tree Paine, even sent us a couple of messages personally.

My job on Thursday night would entail taking closeup shots of the pop star during her first two songs. Then I would join Eva, who is a big fan of Swift, in the audience and review the three-hour show — a pretty sweet gig.

The only concerts I had ever covered as a reporter were back in my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. No crowds exceeded 4,000 people and no stage extended beyond 30 feet in length, so I knew this was going to be a fun learning experience.

To prepare, I watched the opening minutes of The Eras Tour movie — as well as many, many TikTok videos — so I knew what to expect for those all-important pictures at the beginning of the set.

Fast-forward to Thursday, Eva and I sifted through waves of Swifties and arrived at Gate 9 where we met with the Rogers media team. Eva was directed to our floor seats in the stadium, located 16 rows from the front of the stage. That blew us both away.

Meanwhile, I was escorted downstairs to the media holding room. Roughly ten other photographers and reporters from various outlets in Toronto had already arrived with their bulky cameras and long zoom lenses.

That’s when the butterflies started. If any of them were as excited as I was, they were far better at hiding it.

We were taken into the stadium shortly after 7 p.m. to photograph singer Gracie Abrams — the opening act — during her first two songs. I was so close to the stage I could almost touch it.

Abrams brought the crowd to their feet and before I knew it, I was back in the media holding room to await Swift’s set.

During that wait, Tree Paine stopped in and provided the photographers with some additional tips for shooting. My Swiftie friends couldn’t believe I got to meet her. By this point, I was pretty starstruck too.

I tried asking Paine if Swift had brought her cats on the tour to Toronto — a question recommended to me by a friend — but she couldn’t give me a solid answer. It was worth a shot.

A short time later, the photographers and I returned to the stadium.

Once that iconic Eras Tour countdown was revealed on the screen, the Rogers Centre filled with screams and excitement. My heart was pumping hard as the timer counted down. When the clock hit zero, I was dialed in. 

I had never wanted my photos to turn out as perfectly as I wanted them to that night.

Moments later, Swift emerged on stage. Even with my ear plugs in, I was deafened by the most thunderous screams and cheers I’d ever heard.

While the excitement and nerves were a lot to take in, my goals were simple: keep a steady hand, take as many photos as possible and hope some of them turn out okay.

Swift’s first two songs — technically three — flew by. Afterward, I was escorted out of the pit and returned to the media holding room. 

Those ten minutes of shooting really felt like a blur. I took more than 600 photos in that span — eight of which made the final cut for the TorontoToday photo gallery.

After I dropped off my camera equipment, I joined Eva at our incredible floor seats to watch the rest of the show.

My biggest takeaway from the night: Swifties didn’t miss a beat. Every lyric of every song from every one of the singer’s many eras was belted out like a gigantic version of karaoke. 

If I had ever questioned Swift having the most dedicated fanbase in music, that sentiment was silenced quickly.

To my surprise, I was far more familiar with certain parts of her set than I thought I’d be. Most of the songs from Lover, Fearless, Red, Reputation and 1989 brought me back to my elementary and high school days. 

I may have even sung a few songs myself, embarrassingly off-key.

Three hours had never gone by so fast. Once it was over, Eva and I picked up my camera equipment from the holding room and exited the Rogers Centre. 

It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, professionally and recreationally, and I was thrilled with how the pictures turned out.

I know All Too Well any concerts I see after this will be downhill from here.