Taylor Swift live updates: Toronto enchanted as Swift belts through Lover, Red, Speak Now eras

9:30 p.m. ET

‘Folklore’ era ‘belongs in Canada,’ Swift tells cheering crowd

– Angela Pacienza

We’re now in the ‘Folkmore’ era, where Swift combines her Folklore and Evermore albums.

The stage has transformed into a cozy cabin in the woods. Perched atop the cabin, Swift is in a flowy cream dress.

“The entire ‘Folklore’ era belongs in Canada,” she told the crowd to loud cheers.

“The kind of place that I envisioned in my mind where ‘Folklore’ took place, it’s very natural, wilderness, beautiful. Forests have been there since the beginning of time. It feels like we’re returning the Folklore era to where it belongs.”

She then sang “Betty.”

8:36 p.m. ET

Canadian quip colours Swift’s Red Era

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– Angela Pacienza

For her Red era, Swift wore her “This is Not Taylor’s Version” t-shirt. She has six shirts with different statements that she rotates between shows.

As she does in every show, she handed her black fedora, which she autographs, to a young fan at the end of the stage during “22.”

Fans love to hear what dancer Kameron Saunders quips during “We are Never Getting Back Together.” He’s been known to change it up depending on the city.

“So he calls me up and he’s like, ‘I still love you,’ and I mean this is exhausting, like we are never getting back together,” says Swift.

Saunders answers with a clearly Canadian nod: “Sorry aboot it.”

8:30 p.m. ET

Ticket prices riding high

– Danielle Webb

Almost a half hour, and two eras, into Swift’s set and ticket prices on resale site Stubhub are still riding high. For $1,516, the cheapest price on offer at this hour, you can get a standing-room-only ticket in the Rogers Centre’s Corona Rooftop Patio, complete with an obstructed sideview of the main stage. Tickets behind the stage or across the stadium in the Park Social area are still listed for just over $1,600 a piece.

8:12 p.m. ET

Swift enters the ‘Lover’ era

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– Angela Pacienza

Swift was very chatty as she entered the “Lover” era.

“Oh Toronto we are so back,” she said beaming.  “I’m feeling dangerously good right now. You’re making me feel really powerful,” she said as she kissed her bicep.

“We get to play our first ever Eras tour show in Canada.”

She then launched into “The Man,” where she wore her black sequins jacket.

“We have taken the Eras tour all over the world ... “We thought if we’re going to bring the Eras tour to a close, which we are in nine shows, I really want to spend those last shows with the most generous, encouraging, welcoming, compassionate, excitable fans.”

She brought out a blue guitar for “Lover.”

7:57 p.m. ET

‘It’s been a long time coming,’ Swift says as she arrives on stage

– Angela Pacienza

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The show has begun.

Like many fans who were unable to get tickets I am watching from my Toronto home via a livestream (thank you folkleric) with my daughter.

In her sparkly gold and blue bodysuit and knee-high boots, Swift came out to “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” opening the show belting out “It’s been a long time coming.”

Swift hasn’t performed in Toronto since 2018′s Reputation tour due to the pandemic.

“Cruel Summer” comes next, and this is where we get our first of Swift’s chatter with the audience.

“Oh hi!” she says, with a big wave to the audience.

“Alright Toronto, we have arrived. I have a question. Does anyone here know the lyrics to this bridge? Prove it.”

The crowd goes wild.

7:47 p.m. ET

Hopeful fans ‘just looking for two tix’ to one of Swift’s shows

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– Dave McGinn

Ilana Solere is holding up a sign in gold and red glitter that reads “Ready for it? We are.” Her friend Flavie Bilhac, 26, stands next to her holding a sign saying, “Just looking for two tix.”

The friends are here from Montreal, and they plan on staying for the entire six shows in the hopes of getting tickets to at least one of them.

“$800,” says Ms. Solere, 28, who works in events planning, when asked how much she’s willing to pay for a ticket.

A few feet away from her, a man in a blue puffy coat is yelling that he has tickets for sale, at $2,000 each.

James Lockhart, an electrician in Toronto, is standing with his two daughters, also hoping to get tickets.

“My wife is at home running interference. I’m getting text updates,” he says.

What’s she doing at home?

“Well, not affording a fourth ticket,” he says, laughing.

If Ms. Flavie can’t get any tickets, she and Ms. Bilhas will go to one of the many Taylor swift parties across Toronto, she says.

“We’ll go dancing with all the other Taylor Swift fans who couldn’t get tickets,” she says.

7:18 p.m. ET

Swiftie concerts are a family affair

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– Samantha Edwards

An hour before the show, 12-year-old Moira Northup was teaching her dad Taylor Swift chants on the subway. Moira only found out she would be able to go to the concert yesterday at 4 p.m. She and her dad, Jon Northup, had been trying to get tickets for two years when the day before, a colleague of Jon said he had extra tickets. “There were some tears” when she found out, Jon said. The last-minute tickets meant Moira didn’t have time to make any friendship bracelets, but she did rush to H&M to buy a sparkly dress.

A few trains over, sisters Adhele Rosenkranz, Alida Ryan, Amy Stockermans and Alora Stockermans were headed to the show too, wearing outfits inspired by Lover, Red and The Tortured Poets Department. “This is our first time hanging out as adults,” Alida said about the sisters, who range in age from 25 to 34.

Outside of Union Station, 28-year-old Melissa Palleschi stood out in her Lover-inspired poufy dress with rainbow butterfly decals. On her hands is a hand-drawn “13″. “Taylor used to draw it all the time on her hands, so now the fans do too.” Palleschi, who’s from Toronto, has never missed a hometown Taylor show. This will be her ninth show, and her second of the Eras Tour. She’s hoping she can nab tickets to one more Toronto show for the next four nights to make it a sweet 10.

7:12 p.m. ET

Gracie Abrams takes the stage

– Angela Pacienza

Gracie Abrams is on stage now.

Dressed in a white dress, Abrams is opening for Swift on all nine dates of the Canadian leg of the tour.

“I was lucky enough to watch what happens when (Swift) writes because we made this song together,” she said before singing “Us.”

The song was nominated for a Grammy this week.

7:01 p.m. ET

The Eras Tour official setlist

– Bianca Bharti

Are you getting major FOMO as Toronto turns into Tayronto, with just an hour left before Swift is supposed to hit the stage at the Rogers Centre? It’s not a ticket to the Eras Tour, but here’s a Spotify list of her official setlist that you can put on blast.

6:52 p.m. ET

Sisters go all out for “White Horse”-inspired concert outfits

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– Dave McGinn

“We kind of wanted to do something that we hadn’t really seen done before,” Marley Bradfield says over the phone before the concert of her and her younger sister’s outfits.

The journalism student at Carleton University, in Ottawa, and sister Gwen, 15, decided to pay homage to Swift’s song, “White Horse” and its lyrics “I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale.”

Gwen came up with the idea when she realized she and her sister both had similar dresses bought at different times.

“Marley’s dress is pink, and she’s ‘not a princess,’ “and then mine is green, and “this ain’t a fairy tale,’” Gwen says.

The sisters started working on the dresses this summer and were putting the finishing touches on them last night.

“We ironed on the lyrics and we cut ribbon and made a sash,” Marley says. “On the skirt of the dress, we have, like, different lyrics from all of Taylor’s songs that, have, you know, like ‘fairy tale’ in it, or ‘princess.’”

Marley and Gwen had failed to get tickets on earlier attempts, and getting a pair of floor tickets to tonight’s show inspired them to go to the next level with their outfits.

“We were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna put everything into it, because it was just so exciting,” Marley says.

6:27 p.m. ET

Eras Tour a mother-and-daughters event like no other

– Dave McGinn

Erin Rogers and her two daughters, Madeleine Lay and Isabel Lay, are in Toronto from Ottawa for tonight’s concert. It’s a mother-and-daughters event like no other.

The first concert Ms. Rogers ever took her daughters to was an Ottawa stop back when Swift was touring for her album 1989.

“It’s so amazing,” Ms. Rogers says. “Music in general is such a big part of our lives, and Taylor is the pinnacle of it. Me being able to come here with my two girls...”

She couldn’t finish her sentence because she was tearing up.

Hugs from her daughters brightened the mood back up. Then they showed off their friendship bracelets – and gave me one.

6:17 p.m. ET

Swifties en route to Rogers Centre

– Brad Wheeler

On the King Street streetcar, the driver, guessing there were out-of-town Swifties aboard, was pointing out landmarks along the route toward Rogers Centre.

Here, two hours before Swift’s headlining set, fans are streaming in. There’s more glitter here than in Cher’s walk-in closet.

5:45 p.m. ET

Lover, Midnights and Reputation most popular Swiftie looks on subway

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– Samantha Edwards

After riding the subway for the past four hours, and speaking with dozens of Swifties, I can confidently say that the most popular albums for outfits is Lover (think pastel pink, sequins, heart glasses), Midnights (more sequins, but in dark blue and other jewel tones) and Reputation (newsprint, fishnets and other goth-lite accessories). Friends Amelia Bidini-Taylor, Beth Langille and Elise Malicki, all 21, are dressed for Reputation. They admit it was partly because it was the easiest to dress up as – they got temporary snake tattoos to complete the look – but it’s also one of their favourite albums. The trio got their tickets during the presale for $290. Now tickets in their sections are going for $4,000.

The award for the most specific Swiftie reference as a costume so far: Mackenzie Hacker dressed up as actress Sadie Sink in the music video for the 10-minute version of All Too Well. She’s with her family Zoë Vidmar, Harper Vidman and Valerie Vidmar, who are from Rochester, New York, while she flew in from Kansas. They got tickets for Toronto specifically for opener Gracie Abrams.

5:16 p.m. ET

Street-singing Swiftie belts out ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’

– Brad Wheeler

We all have to start somewhere. A pint-sized street-singing Swiftie belts out I Knew You Were Trouble, on Front Street, a good five blocks east of the venue.

4:35 p.m. ET

‘Swiftie dad’ Peter Kotylak fulfills promise to daughter with tickets to concert

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– Ann Hui

It wouldn’t be a Swift show without the dads. Online, they’re known affectionately as the “Swiftie dads,” the fathers of Swift super-fans who can be spotted at any Swift concert hauling coats and bags, holding their daughter’s spot in line, or tapping their credit cards for yet another purchase of merch.

On Thursday afternoon ahead of Swift’s Toronto show, Peter Kotylak wore the label proudly. He wore an “in my dad era” tshirt. Layered over it was another shirt that read “It’s me, hi. I’m the dad. It’s me.”

Mr. Kotylak, a cattle and grain farmer from Montmartre, Saskatchewan, first became a fan after his daughter Marley introduced him to Swift’s music. Now, he says he’s as big a fan as she is. “I get up in the mornings, and I put on her songs.”

His favourite song, he said, is “Love Story.” Mr. Kotylak’s wife had to ban the music video for “All Too Well” from being played in the house because she grew so sick of it.

The family flew to Toronto this week for the concert, fulfilling a promise Mr. Kotylak had made to Marley way back in 2009. “He didn’t know it was gonna be such an expensive promise,” she said.

4:20 p.m. ET

Clear purses, puffy coats and cowboy hats bond Swifties on TTC

– Samantha Edwards

On the TTC, there’s a dead giveaway someone is heading to the concert: the clear plastic purse. Rogers Centre doesn’t allow regular bags, so concertgoers carry their tiny clear bags, which are stuffed with lip gloss, mascara and stickers. On one particularly crowded car, a mix of fans and commuters heading home, an older man moves out of the way so two Swifties can get their photo taken on the subway. He says he doesn’t mind. “It’s nice to see so much joy and happiness in these dark times.”

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“Eras Tour in Canada means you gotta wear a puffy coat,” said Lauren Closs, 22. Underneath her Aritzia Super Puff is a cobalt blue fringed sequin dress, an homage to Midnights. It’s like Canadian Halloween, where most trick or treaters are forced to cover their costumes with a parka. Closs’s friend Mackenzie McQuilan, also 22 and also in a black puffer, is wearing a newsprint corset and a black mini skirt.

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Chicagoans Olivia O’Toole and Clara Siebert, both 24, don’t want to say how much they spent on their Swift tickets. “Insanely priced”, says Siebert, who is wearing a velvet dark green cape and a brown dress, a nod to Evermore. O’Toole rented her black dress dotted with three-dimensional butterflies from the site Nuuly. It’s a “giving Bejeweled” look said Siebert about her friend. O’Toole saw Taylor in Chicago, but was sitting behind the stage. Yes, you can buy tickets seats behind the stage. “It was still fun because I could see everyone in the crowd and we could be in the community,” she said.

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Matching Lover cowboy hats is a fast way to make friends as a Swiftie. Ivy Fraser, 14, and Kinsey Brockett, 10, met each other with their moms while waiting for the subway on Bloor-Yonge station platform. They exchanged friendship bracelets when they got on the train — their first trades of the night.

Kinsey, who travelled from Vancouver, said and this will be her first concert ever. Her mom got her the tickets months ago, but she only just found out last week. “It’s crazy,” she said. “I’m excited for everything.”

4:06 p.m. ET

Fan will never forget lyrics to favourite Swift song

– Ann Hui

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Taylor Baggs never has to worry about forgetting the lyrics to her favourite Taylor Swift song.

The lyrics to “The 1”, off of the Folklore album, are tattooed to her wrist. She lifted the sleeve of her dress - she was dressed Thursday afternoon ahead of the concert in a “Miss Americana” inspired outfit, complete with pink sash and tiara - to reveal a black flower surrounded by cursive script. “If you never bleed, you’re never gonna grow,” it read.

Baggs, who is originally from Newfoundland and flew to Toronto with her mother for the show, admitted that her mom wasn’t thrilled by the tattoo. “But when she saw what it read, and what it meant, she was okay with it.”

3:25 p.m. ET

Winner of Taylor Swift costume competition in Toronto gets a sweet surprise

– Ann Hui

Onstage Thursday afternoon at this week’s very first (and likely largest) Taylor Swift costume competition in Toronto, a surprise. The gasp that tore through the audience wasn’t in response to the announcement of the winners. As soon as Tabatha Fournier and daughter Summer stepped onstage in their matching “Lovers” era bodysuits and capes, the cheers from the crowds made clear that they were the frontrunners.

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They were met with strong competition - in particular from Lydia Menshenfriend, who, in addition to her gold beaded “Fearless” dress, also happened to be a dead ringer for Swift. “People keep stopping me on the street to say I look like her,” she said. Still, the mother and daughter from Woodstock, Ont., were quickly named the winners. Ms. Fournier had spent over a year making their costumes by hand, she explained, which included hundreds of individual beads sewn across the back of her cape spelling out the lyrics to the song “All Too Well.” But the real surprise came after the announcement. In an interview onstage, 11-year-old Summer told the crowd that despite their costumes, they wouldn’t be attending the Swift concert because they hadn’t been able to get tickets. “Actually,” her mother said, interrupting. “You are.” She’d found tickets last week, and wanted to wait until the day of the concert to tell her. Audible gasps could be heard from the crowd. The audience broke out into a loud cheer as the pair hugged onstage.

2:50 p.m. ET

Fans, young and old, deck out in Swift-inspired outfits

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– Samantha Edwards

So far, it feels like a pretty regular day on the TTC, save for all the sequins. Between St. George and Union stations on the subway, groups of women and girls decked out in sequined jumpsuits, bedazzled bomber jackets and face glitter are nestled among the humdrum of commuters. At Union Station, pink signs on the platform and station helpfully point to the exit: “To Taylor Swift.”

Pamela Keilig and Alyssa Dandrea, both 35, travelled from New Hampshire for the show, their second of the tour. They saw Swift play back in the spring of 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. But since then there’s been a new album, so they had to get tickets for another. Dandrea is wearing a jacket she got secondhand from a Swiftie who saw the Eras Tour in London, while Keilig is in a jumpsuit that is like “if Lover and Reputation had a Midnights baby,” she says.

Grade eight students Ava Avila, Jayde Ayotte and Victoria Martins all skipped class today for the concert. Ava was dressed in a Reputation-inspired outfit. “That’s Taylor’s grunge era,” she said while riding Line 2. She laced beads through her Doc Martens that said: “The Eras Tour Toronto” and “It’s been a long time coming.” Ava said she wanted to bring binder clips to carry all her friendship bracelets, like the Swifties did at the U.S. shows, but they were forbidden at the Rogers Centre. Instead, she’s got a couple dozen on her wrists.

Best friends Vienna Savaglio, who’s in Grade 6, and Chiara Bozzelli and Valentina Didiano, in grade 7, have waited 472 days for the show. They planned their outfits on Pinterest, got together to make friendship bracelets together and watched the Eras Tour movie in preparation for the big day. For their looks, Vienna and Chiara channelled Swift’s Lover era, while Valentina, wearing a sash and tiara, was dressed up specifically as the song Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince. “Travis Kelce might be at the show” said Chiara. “He was spotted yesterday. He had a game in Buffalo,” she added. “I hope Drake comes” said Valentina.

2:35 p.m. ET

In photos: From The Beatles to Beyoncé, a look at historic Canadian concerts

Taylor Swift coming to town isn’t the first time Toronto has been completely overcome by music fans. Check out this gallery of iconic concerts.

2:30 p.m. ET

What is Taylgate?

– Globe staff

You might be hearing people gush about the tailgate party that’s going on, but it’s got nothing to do with football.

For fans going to any of the six shows in Toronto (or the ones who couldn’t score tickets but still wanted to experience Swift-mania sweep the city), there are plenty of festivities to attend. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is near the concert venue and is hosting Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ‘24, a tailgate party happening between 1 p.m. and 11 p.m. on each day that the singer performs. At $55 a ticket, Swifties can get their makeup done, make those iconic friendship bracelets, listen to live DJ sets while dancing and singing along, buy merchandise and take Instagram-worthy pictures.

Taylgate parties coincide with each day Taylor performs in Toronto: Nov. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23

2:20 p.m. ET

Newfoundland fan honours father’s memory at Swift concert

– Ann Hui

For Thursday’s concert, Julisa Brace wore a replica of one of Swift’s costumes from the Eras tour - the crystal-encrusted blue and white bodysuit designed by Zuhair Murad that she wears for “Midnights.”

Ms. Brace’s version of the outfit was constructed out of an old dress she bought for $5 from Walmart, and covered in more than 6,000 nail gems she glued by hand. She spent over three months making it.

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Ms. Brace, who travelled in from the Avalon region of Newfoundland, called the concert experience “a full-circle moment.”

The 25-year-old was first introduced to Swift’s music by her father when she was still a kid - “when Taylor was still just doing country music.” He introduced her to a wide range of musicians, she said, from Avril Lavigne to Alice Cooper.

Ms. Brace’s father died when she was 11. So this experience, she said, feels like an opportunity to honour her father and his memory.

She’s a teacher now, and regularly plays Swift’s music for her students. “Now my kids and I bond over it.”

2:10 p.m. ET

Hundreds of tickets still available, but prices still out of reach for most people

– Globe staff

For fans hoping to score last-minute resale tickets to tonight’s show, there’s good news and bad. The good news is that the number of tickets available is increasing. At 12:30 p.m. today, a search on StubHub for a pair of tickets revealed 348 listings. At 1:45 p.m., that number was up to 361. And a graphic on TickPick, another reseller, shows prices continuing to decrease while the number of seats keeps going up. On the downside, prices are still out of reach for most people. The cheapest seats on StubHub at 1:45 were going for $1,931 – for which you get to stand in the Rogers Centre’s Park Social zone and likely see very little unless you can weasel your way to the front of the crowd. Hey, it still beats being behind the stage.

1:45 p.m. ET

‘I love having these memories with them’: San Diego woman gifts granddaughters tickets to Taylor Swift concert

– Ann Hui

Noni Senyei, her two daughters, and three granddaughters flew in from San Diego Wednesday night especially for the show. They have tickets for tonight’s concert, and return home less than 48 hours after arriving, on Friday.

“It’s just memories. I love having these memories with them,” said Ms. Senyei. Officially, the trip was a Christmas gift to 10-year-old granddaughter Lillian “from Santa Claus,” Ms. Senyei said. She declined to say how much the tickets and trip might have cost Santa.

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The girls spent part of Thursday afternoon getting Swift-inspired makeovers at Taylgate, a massive Swift-themed party at Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The 10 year-old Lillian, sporting glitter eyeshadow and glossy pink lips, said she’d asked for “a glowy effect.” Her sister Teddy, 7, opted for glittery silver stars.

“Taylor Swift is generational,” said Kelly Senyei, one of Noni’s two daughters. “You can be 6, or 70, and you’ll still enjoy her.”

1:35 p.m. ET

Toronto mayor gets into Taylor Swift spirit with friendship bracelets

– The Canadian Press

Toronto mayor Olivia Chow got into the Taylor Swift spirit Thursday, showing off an arm of friendship bracelets at a city council meeting.

Chow said she was at a Taylor Swift-themed bracelet-making event at a Toronto Public Library branch Wednesday night and she ended up with eight, including one with the words “bike lane.”

The mayor said it was a joyful time, making and exchanging bracelets, and seeing people connecting through sharing and through music.

She welcomed all the Swifties in town and the popstar herself.

1:25 p.m. ET

Opinion: The Eras Tour kept me going during my breast cancer treatment

– Angela Pacienza, executive editor

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It was during rounds of vein-burning chemotherapy I decided I wanted this one, seemingly impossible escapade: to attend one of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February, 2023, just as the Eras Tour was about to kick off. My chemotherapy treatments started in June of that year. I’m an avid reader, but I had chemo-induced cognitive impairment, a.k.a. chemo brain, which made it impossible to focus. I’d listen to an audiobook and snooze a little. Mostly I’d scroll Instagram. I’d stop on posts about the Eras Tour.

I became obsessed. It was pure delight, completely void of negativity and the hopelessness I felt being in the hospital. Swift’s fandom became a refuge.

Cancer speeds up time, and I felt important moments with the kids were slipping away, particularly my Grade 11 daughter, who was already making plans for her dorm room at university. Trying to snag Eras tickets for the summer of 2024, which was safely months after my treatment was scheduled to end, seemed like a way to slow down time and catch up to life.

Read about Angela Pacienza’s eventual success in getting to the Eras Tour.

12:20 p.m. ET

What time does the concert start, when will Taylor be on stage and how long is her set?

– Globe staff

Taylor Swift fans attending one of the six shows of the Eras Tour can begin lining up at 3:30 p.m. at the Rogers Centre. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. and showtime begins at 6:45 p.m. The opening act, Gracie Abrams, is expected to begin her set around 7 p.m., while Swift usually begins around 8 p.m. Her sets usually last over three hours, with some pushing close to three hours and 45 minutes.

11:40 a.m. ET

Fans scramble for last batch of tickets

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– Josh O’Kane

As often happens with high-demand concerts, there’s been a slow drip of fresh Toronto Eras Tour tickets for sale on Ticketmaster in the hours leading up to the show, made available to those who signed up as Verified Fans for initial ticket sales last year. And also as often happens, they’re being quickly snapped up by people who joined the ticket queue at the right millisecond – dashing the hopes of fans who’d seen them but didn’t snatch them quickly enough.

11:30 a.m. ET

Swift drag impersonator, Tay BoBo, builds community with her Eras Tour tribute

– Josh O’Kane

Swift parties were already in full swing on Wednesday night. By 9 p.m. at The Drink on Church Street, a horde of Swifties flanked the stage as Toronto’s premier Swift drag impersonator, Tay BoBo, mimed and danced to All Too Well in a red sequin dress, guitar in hand.

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Thus ended the Red era of BoBo’s three-and-a-half hour, nine-costume-change Eras Tour tribute. She ran behind the bar, returned in a baby-blue dress, sang Enchanted for a brief Speak Now tribute, then dashed to the back again. She emerged with two back-up dancers, all in black-and-red regalia, and marched through the Reputation era of the set. Soon there was folklore, then evermore, and, an hour after Red, BoBo was ripping through 1989′s Style.

The bar was ablaze with fans singing, taking videos, and offering BoBo shots. Taylor Cordingley, who has been performing as BoBo for about six years, told The Globe in September that their work has brought them professional opportunities, joy and, through fellow fans, community. “We’re all like a family and the communal experience of getting to sing and dance to Taylor’s music in our safe, queer spaces is something that is akin to magic,” they said.

9 a.m ET

Playlists for every Swiftie in your life (including the non-Swifties)

– Globe staff

There truly is a Taylor Swift song for every mood, but The Globe’s newsroom Swifties thought it might be helpful to break some down into categories you could apply throughout the Swift takeover:

• Basic: Nothing but the most recognizable of hits
• Hardcore: Underappreciated masterpieces to show you know more than her hits
• Teen mode: For the high school BFFs you listened to Taylor with in the 2010s
• Dad mode: For the listener who only knows Swift as an NFL player’s girlfriend
• Kid mode: Songs to put a toddler to sleep. The entire Folklore album, no notes
• Lyrical ballads: For your skeptic friend who thinks she only writes pop anthems
• Pep talk: For your friend who could use some encouragement and reassurance
• Sneaky: The best covers for your friend who won’t give actual Taylor Swift songs a chance

They’ve all been conveniently curated for you on Spotify (and in this article).

Nov. 13

Getting tickets in Toronto is hard even for VIPs

– Simon Houpt

On Tuesday, Keith Pelley, the CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the big local stadium that did not land Taylor Swift’s Toronto residency, admitted at a sports industry conference that he’d been spending a lot of time letting down VIPs clamoring for tickets. “I was literally on the phone last night with Pat Brisson, who is one of the great hockey agents.” (Brisson handles Sidney Crosby, among others.)

“Nathan McKinnon’s fiancée was looking for Taylor Swift tickets, and I went: ‘Ah! Oh!! I’ve had so many requests!’ And I went, ‘You do realize she’s playing Rogers Centre, not Scotiabank Arena?’ It’s the most disappointing thing,” he added, noting that Swift would have otherwise likely set a new record for the highest grossing concert at his arena. Still, Pelley looked on the bright side: “My God, I’d have to have a separate assistant just to deal with the Taylor Swift requests.”

Nov. 13

Royal Ontario Museum immerses Swift fans in its displays

– Josh O’Kane

Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans have been swarming the Royal Ontario Museum since last weekend for a “Swifties Scavenger Hunt,” with dozens of challenges and clues spread across the museum.

The winners of Wednesday afternoon’s hunt was a team of two sisters decked in Eras Tour T-shirts. The pair delighted in finding paperweights – for Swift’s neverending lyric sheets – in the Samuel European Galleries, and in singing the folklore song august as they tried (and failed) to find a bust of the Roman Emperor Augustus.

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They’d scored tickets to Thursday night’s show and wanted to do “everything Taylor Swift” in the city ahead of time, said winner Diane Brownlee-Smith. Her sister, Sandra Brownlee, added, “We’ve been watching on social media for years now – Swifties gathering – counting down ‘til we could be a part of it.”

A dozen people worked a cumulative hundred hours putting the hunt together. At a moment when Swift is consuming the collective Toronto psyche, it was a reminder that people still want to take in a full breadth of culture and history. “It not only brings new business, it strengthens relationships,” said Cheryl Nichols, the museum’s tourism and marketing manager.

Nov. 13

Swifties start arriving to Rogers Centre from near and far

– Dave McGinn

Swifties in freshly purchased merchandise stood outside the Rogers Centre in Toronto Wednesday taking photos of the friendship-bracelet shaped display, while a constant stream of fans took photos pointing up at a street sign declaring the route from the stadium to Nathan Phillips Square “Taylor Swift Way.” Hundreds of others lined up in endlessly snaking metal corrals to buy T-shirts, hoodies, posters and other merchandise.

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Danelle Eichenberg and her best friend came straight from the airport, having flown in from Michigan. She’d failed to get tickets in Indianapolis and Detroit.

“I actually saw her when she was doing country music,” said Ms. Eichenberg, a 49-year-old who works in the medical field.

Best friends Marie Mitchell and Juliette Sarard, both 20, flew in from Halifax. They each bought a hoodie and T-shirt Wednesday afternoon.

“She always knows how to write songs about how I feel,” Ms. Sarard says of Swift’s appeal.

They have their merch, but they still don’t have tickets. If they can’t snag any—the cheapest single ticket was going for $2,330 on Stubhub on Wednesday—there will be no shortage of Taylor Swift-themed events to check out: dance parties, food tours, a Swiftie Holiday Hunt, and after parties, to name just a few of the events taking over the city.

Nov. 13

An A-Z cheat sheet on Taylor Swift’s world, from friendship bracelets to university courses

– Globe Staff

If you’re brand new to Swift’s oeuvre, this is a good time to brush up on the basics.

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A, for example, is for Athletic. It’s the approach Swift’s trainer Kirk Myers took to preparing the singer for her tour. In the months leading up to Eras, she worked out six days a week, focusing mainly on strength and her core. She also shared that every day she would perform the full three-hour-plus set list while running on a treadmill.

B, meanwhile, is inevitably about those Bracelets. “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.” It’s the line (from Swift’s song You’re On Your Own, Kid) that started a movement. The bracelets – made and traded by fans at her shows and meet-and-greets – have become essential Swift iconography.

– Ann Hui – Angela Pacienza – Judith Pereira

Explore the entire Swiftie glossary here.

Nov. 13

The multiple milestones of the Eras Tour

– Rebecca Tucker

The tour that launched in March, 2023 has cemented Swift as, arguably, the biggest artist in the world – and, if you don’t believe that, the financial records she’s set make her inarguably the most bankable one.

Remember the initial crashing of Ticketmaster’s site? The showcasing of Sabrina Carpenter? The soft launch of Travis Kelce? Take a look back at the two years since the tour was first announced, and all that’s happened since.

Nov. 10

What’s happening with Toronto transit for the concerts

– Jameson Berkow

For both Taylor Swift concert attendees and locals, dozens of extra trains, subways, streetcars and buses are being added to regular service for each concert night, according to the Toronto Transit Commission and Metrolinx. Hundreds of transit workers, police and volunteers are being deployed to help with crowd control.

For GO, there will be special event service and late-night event trips added - the organization recommends checking schedules and buying e-tickets in advance.

The TTC will also have extra service before and after the concerts (and Taylgate) for both subways and streetcars.

Oct. 21

The Taylor Swift economy by the numbers

– Dawn Calleja

$1 billion (U.S.): The value of ticket sales for the first 60 Eras Tour shows Swift performed in 2023. And let’s not forget the merch—sweatshirts, T-shirts and other items emblazoned with images of Her Normcoreness—which brought in another US$200 million.

300,000: Estimated number of lucky Swifties who scored tickets to her six Toronto shows at the Rogers Centre, where capacity is just shy of 50,000.

$55: Price of a general admission ticket to Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ‘24 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where fans can hang out before and during Swift’s shows.

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US $331.5 million: That’s how much “equivalent brand value” Swift generated for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL between September 2023—when she attended her first Chiefs game to cheer on her bae, tight end Travis Kelce—and January 2024, according to Apex Marketing Group. After that first appearance, sales of Kelce’s No. 87 jersey increased by 400%.

More mind-boggling numbers can be found here.

From 2023

A skeptical mom becomes a Swiftie

– Anna Tosto

For mom Anna Tosto, accompanying her daughter as a chaperone to a Taylor Swift concert in Boston felt like more of a pain than a privilege.

“I tried to understand the madness that had taken over a large percentage of the global population who were all desperate to be part of the tour experience. But I still viewed it all as utter nonsense. Crass commercialization and opportunism at its worst. Indulgence and fluff at best,” she wrote in a First Person essay in 2023.

But the joy of the fans, and a reminder of what music is meant to be for, changed her mind.

“She is young and beautiful, superbly talented and smart. An entrepreneur and performer whose persistence, guile and savvy make Elon Musk look like a rank amateur. Her fans love her dearly and they are happy when listening to her music. Isn’t this exactly what I want my daughters to see? In this crazy world where women’s rights are reversing instead of advancing, I want my children to see that a woman can indeed rule the world. She can kick butt, have fun, make money, be kind and sit proudly on top of the heap.”

Read the full column here.