entertainment

End of an Era

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

By: Adison Poole 

Fans walk out of the stadium leaving glitter on the floor and friendship bracelets behind after superstar Taylor Swift closes her tour.  

After over a year of touring, Swift has officially wrapped up her longest tour ever, The Eras Tour. The tour opened on March 17, 2023, and ended on Dec. 8, 2024.  

Over the course of The Eras Tour Swift played a total of 149 shows, which brought in around $2 billion, making The Eras Tour the highest grossing tour of all time. The tour consisted of 51 different cities that spanned over 21 different countries. 

Taylor Swift shows off her new bodysuit in Miami N1.

Photo By: Adison Poole

GS students have attended shows all over the U.S. Senior Cecilia Ecklund attended Cincinnati N2 and shared her experience of the show.  

“I enjoyed every moment of the show, but if I had to pick just one part it would be the surprise song segment,” Ecklund said. “Taylor brought out two special guests, Aaron Dessner and Gracie Abrams. Additionally, it was the first time she played three surprise songs.” 

Every night Swift opened the show with songs from her seventh album Lover. She then went through the rest of her eras as the show went on, usually playing five songs from each of her 11 albums, for a total of 44-46 songs a night.  

The surprise song segment was different every night of the show, making it a unique experience for those in attendance. Swift opened with a song or mashup on guitar followed by a song or mashup on piano.  

“On other nights, I would occasionally watch the livestreams on TikTok and YouTube,” Ecklund said.  

When people couldn’t attend shows, many tuned into different livestreams on social media platforms. Over the course of The Eras Tour many creators on sites such as Tik Tok gained followers by livestreaming the entire concert for everyone to enjoy from the comfort of their own home.  

Viewers at home not only followed along just for the show, but some also even took part in a game known as Mastermind. The game was presented by a mobile app named Swift Alert. In the game players selected each of Swift’s outfits for the night and answered open ended questions such as what surprise song she might play or if she’d bring out a special guest.  

“I was late to the game, but I started playing Mastermind during the second leg of the U.S. tour,” Ecklund said.  

Senior Lauryn Swierczynski attended Pittsburgh N2 and spoke highly about the experience.  

“My favorite part had to be the electric atmosphere in the stadium,” Swierczynski said. “When the Reputation era [started], the stadium legitimately shook beneath your feet.” 

The shows brought people together all over the world. All over social media influencers posted different videos and pictures that showed them traveling and following the tour. Much like some of those people, sophomore Reese Pittler traveled to attend Nashville N2. 

“When I went to the show it was the night after she announced Speak Now Taylor’s Version,” Pittler said. “Everything around the stadium was purple and very magical.”  

Over the course of the tour Swift was also able to release both Speak Now and 1989 under her own name. She also announced and released her newest album The Tortured Poets Department. 

Swift made an effort to create this atmosphere on each night of the tour. In her recently published book on The Eras Tour, Swift spoke about her experiences and said this tour was her most “ambitious” project yet.  

Swift was able to bring people together in and out of the stadium over the course of her tour. Each night fans gathered outside the event and hung out while Swift performed.  

By the end of the tour Swift was able to play to a grand total of 10,168,008 Swifties inside the stadiums. This number does not account for the fans outside, but on certain nights such as Munich N1 there were an estimated 50,000 fans outside as well.  

“It was such a once in a lifetime experience,” Swierczynski said. “I’m so glad I had the opportunity to be a part of it.”  

Fans gather before the Pittsburgh N2 show.

Photo Courtesy: Lauryn Swierczynski

Luke Bryan, $uicideboy$ and Billie Eilish Tours 

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

By: Kerrick Shaw

The Fall season brought cool temperatures, leaf-covered sidewalks and another year of Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour. 

Bryan wrapped up his 15th iteration of the Farm Tour just 20 miles from Greensburg in Smithton, Pennsylvania, on September 28. The tour had only six shows in total and took place over the course of nine days, starting in Grantville, PA, on September 19. The tour featured special guests Conner Smith, The Peach Pickers with Rodney Clawson, Tucker Wetmore and DJ Rock.  

Four of the shows were held at never-before-played family farms, including the Smithton show at the Cunningham Family Farm. 

Luke Bryan’s stage set up on the Cunningham’s Family Farm.

Photo Courtesy: Brooke Ropchock

“I enjoy going to concerts, I like to go to at least a couple country concerts a year,” Learning Support teacher Mr. Luke Ewing said. “Going to the Farm Tour was something I haven’t done before, so I was really excited to experience it.” 

Several roads were closed and only available to local residents in anticipation of the heavy traffic from nearly 20,000 fans attending the show. Mr. Ewing said this led to “turnarounds,” “overflows” and long waits for parking. 

With the overwhelming attendance and through the help of the tour’s presenting sponsor, Bayer, Bryan has been able to provide over nine million meals to Feeding America food banks since 2015 with his hashtag campaign, #Herestothefarmer. 

“He mentioned at the concert, if you post the show, to use the hashtag,” Ewing said. “He comes and plays at these farms and in doing that he’s really able to give back; you don’t see a lot of artists do that. He’s helping a lot of people out.” 

On the day following the Farm Tour’s end, PPG Paints Arena was packed full for the fifth annual $uicideboy$ Grey Day tour.   

Since its first run in 2019, Grey Day has been combining rap and hardcore genres with its long list of supporting artists over the years, some of which have been smaller artists from $uicideboy$’ record label, G*59. 

“I had so much fun with everyone around me,” senior Brenna Kohl said. “The experience was great. The energy, the music and seeing the career they’ve built for themselves was so good to be a part of.” 

For this 41-date arena and amphitheater North American tour, $uicideboys$ were joined by Denzel Curry, Pouya, Haaper, Shakewell and Ekkstacy. The tour began in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 7 and wrapped up in Lincoln, Nebraska on October 11. 

“The openers were good, but I was most looking forward to the boys themselves,” Kohl said. “The people I was with loved the openers though, so I was glad to dance and try to sing along with them.” 

This year is their fourth time visiting Pittsburgh during the Grey Day tour, but only the second time they’ve played PPG Paints; the first two shows instead being at Stage AE. 

“They gave a great show with such a large crowd and really expressed their emotions in the music,” she added. 

On the same day, Billie Eilish kicked off her Hit me Hard and Soft tour in Quebec City, Canada. The tour has 83 total shows; the North American leg ends mid-December, and the entire tour will last until late July of 2025.  

Eilish stopped at PPG Paints Arena on October 13 for her ninth show this year, supported by Nat & Alex Wolff. 

“I’ve heard so many good things about her concerts and it completely lived up to my expectations,” senior Carlie Wilcox said. “It was my second big concert of an artist I’ve been listening to for years. It was amazing.” 

Similar to Bryan’s efforts to give back, Eilish is committed to making a difference with environmental impacts. A portion of all ticket sales during the North America leg will go to REVERB, a nonprofit organization trying to educate and engage musicians and their fans on environmental sustainability. 

Every show will have two REVERB Eco-Villages, a place for fans to help take action for the planet, at the main entrance. 

“I wanted to go because the music itself was meaningful, too,” Wilcox said. “Some of her music is sad and some is exciting; she really made you feel the music with her. The performance she gave with each song made the show unforgettable.” 

Pittsburgh has over 100 more concerts coming throughout the remainder of the year and into next. Upcoming Stage AE shows include Ken Carson and Tucker Wetmore on Oct. 22 and Nov. 9 respectively. PPG Paints Arena has almost 20 upcoming shows such as Iron Maiden playing on Nov. 8, Rod Wave on Nov. 12 and Justin Timberlake on Dec. 14. 

“We have the golden opportunity to see any kind of concert we could want with Pittsburgh only an hour away,” Ewing said. “Having all these venues so close is awesome.”