If there’s one universal concert ticket that everyone on Earth is trying to get their hands on this year, it’s undoubtedly Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.

The fascinating thing is that it’s not a greatest hits tour solely reliant on nostalgia. No, this tour signifies a pop superstar who’s still not even at the height of her power, with it triumphantly growing stronger through each old and new hit that’s performed.

From the tour’s on-sale disaster of November 2022 when Ticketmaster was overloaded with literally millions of anxious Swifties coming up empty-handed, the demand for these three-nights-in-one-city string of shows sent fans testing their limits on just how far they’d go to see the 10-time Grammy winner sing live.

What makes the Pennsylvania native the jauggernaut of pop culture that she is? Doubters of her self-made fame may reply that it’s the hordes of girls-turned-women who grew up with her, needing a collective vessel to cry into their pillows to, lamenting about the guy who broke their heart, that now see her as a pillar of female bonding? How about the earworms that just can’t escape your brain; ‘Shake it Off’ anyone? Maybe it’s the glittery costumes, that signature red lip, or music videos that each tell a dramatic yet compelling narrative. Or, starting with this tour, people were simply reminded that making friendship bracelets and passing them around is just really fun.

The answer is inherently simple: it’s all of those things – but they would be nothing without her biggest (perhaps at this point, not-so-secret) ingredient: songwriting.

The Eras Tour exemplified that songs written over a decade ago still hold just as much weight, (should you rely on the fans’ eager anticipation of each show’s throwback surprise songs alone) than her newer work. It’s her ability to seamlessly teeter on that balance beam between doing something unexpected, yet simultaneously be the same Taylor of her earliest days in the industry. It’s an extremely fine line that most artists aren’t able to achieve. If Taylor has shown one thing over her monstrous career, it’s that her willingness to flex her songwriting muscles have no bounds.

The Eras Tour is a return from a five-year hiatus for Swift, after 2018’s Reputation Stadium Tour was still a sell-out homerun, but fittingly, when her reputation with non-Swifties was at an all time low.

Call it what you want (pun fully intended), but a revived appetite for Taylor Swift after so many years being front and center caused her break from the public eye to catapult her fame to new levels of fame – even for her.

There’s a reason upcoming artists want to embody a part of her; she pretty much does everything right.

2020’s unexpected album drop, Folklore, a somber collection just in time for pandemic blues, and 2021’s sister album, Evermore, were a sharp left turn from her typical string of upbeat love ballads. Where there may have been doubt before, there would surely not be following – her songwriting is what makes her a star.

If you wanted to become engulfed in all the trappings of superstardom, you’ll only have to watch and listen to the opening of The Eras Tour setlist. It’s impossible to not be swept up in the anticipation of her grand arrival to center stage when notes from each era’s biggest hits echo in the air, ready to introduce her to the packed stadium already screaming.

And there she is. A shining specimen of a woman, ready to be adored but also eager to be your best friend. The word “electric” is really the only word for her first few songs of her nearly three and a half hour performance. The first two songs pass in a blur, possible caused by rushes of excitement as everyone belts out the beloved bridge of ‘Cruel Summer’.

Next up is ‘The Man’, a perfect example of how women truly do run the world, even if society hasn’t caught up to that fact yet. As thousands of mostly women coming together for an Eras Tour show can attest to, it’s that underestimating their power is a grave mistake.

Once the romantic and uber-fun Lover set concludes, Swift smashes into a trio of loved hits for the Fearless era: ‘Fearless’, ‘You Belong With Me’ and ‘Love Story’.

When it’s time for the Evermore set, a collective breath is finally taken after about 30 minutes of jumping and singing. The initial shock of being in that room has waned a bit, and a slower pace sets in, with moodier dance numbers and Swift sitting down at the piano to perform (my personal favorite), ‘Champagne Problems’.

An energetic shift then emerges for Reputation, her boldest and sassiest work to date marked by more sultry outfits and lyrics. It’s a stark contrast to the following era, Speak Now, when Swift emerges in a gorgeous sparkling purple ballgown reminiscent of a Barbie doll.

Aside from her debut album mysteriously being omitted from The Eras Tour, the Speak Now section of the show is notably the shortest, with just one or two songs to represent it. It’s a minor unfortunate problem to have, when there’s just too many fantastic songs to sing.

Red, her 2012 arrangement that leaned more heavily into pop than her previous country roots at the time, is next up to bat. Not only are the most well-known songs from that album rooted in a fun, dramatic coming-of-age spirit, but it was the first album she did an all-stadium tour for. Now, just over a decade later, multiple nights at these stadiums barely satisfy demand. A young fan is randomly selected to receive Swift’s signed hat during ‘22’, which will no doubt be forever cherished by the lucky recipient. Unsurprisingly yet to Swifties’ delight, she had to round off Red with ‘All Too Well’, the long-awaited and fan-adored 10 minute version. (It should be noted how amazing it is that this 10 minute song doesn’t even feel that long because the lyrics are so compelling. It could probably continue for double the time and still not lose its luster.)

The second half of the show kicks off with Folklore, the 2020 pandemic baby that converted many non-Swifties into believers due to their more somber, indie nature. This would be the last time a concert-goer may possibly be permitted to sit down for a little bit to catch their breath and rest their feet.

1989 commands the attention by inviting everyone to emulate their best supermodel strut to ‘Style’. Followed by another four hits that defined that era, and certainly her career, it was then somehow already time for her last, but newest era: Midnights.

With sparkles galore, self-actualizing lyrics, and even the reputation-laced ‘Vigilante Shit’ offering her maturity to shine a bit, somehow the sadness of that final curtain call was already looming. The emotional and physical roller coaster of The Eras Tour concludes with ‘Karma’, a perfect choice to serve as a reminder that whatever is dished out to her, she’ll return ten times worth its weight in gold.

If there was to be a playbook about the triumphant mastery of singer superstardom, The Eras Tour would be a significant chapter in what’s sure to be a very long read.