For the third and final night of Taylor Swift’s Chicago outing — which took over Soldier Field and the surrounding South Loop area — the superstar pulled out all the stops.
On her first night in the Windy City, Swift celebrated the start of Pride month by sharing a special, and urgent, message to the sold-out stadium. “I’m looking out tonight, I’m seeing so many incredible individuals who are living authentically and beautifully and this is a safe space for you,” Swift said “This is a celebratory space for you.”
“One of the things that makes me feel so prideful is getting to be with you, and watching you interact with each other, and being so loving, and so thoughtful, and so caring,” she continued, later adding, “I wish that every place was safe and beautiful for people in the LGBTQ community.”
For her second night, she welcomed country star Maren Morris to the stage for one of her surprise songs, the live debut of “You All Over Me,” a From The Vault track included on Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Following the long-awaited moment, Morris posted a black and white photo of the pair on Instagram, writing: “We finally got to play ‘You All Over Me’ and I won’t ever be shutting up about it. Love you Taylor Swift and love you always, Chicago.”
As for the third night (Sunday June 5), two opening acts the city had yet to see took to the stage: Gracie Abrams and MUNA (lead vocalist Katie Gavin, who is from the Chicago suburbs, noted the specialness of a hometown show). And while Swift’s set featured minor hiccups — from a mic malfunction to a surprise mid-set snack (the accidental swallowing of a bug) — Swift handled such moments with humor and grace, only making them that much more memorable. And proving that even a superstar like Swift, who can perform to tens of thousands of fans night after night, is also, somehow, still relatable.
Below are the seven best moments from her Chicago finale, of which Swift said: “When we have three in a row, there’s always a special reserve of energy we are saving for the third night… this is it.”
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The Humorous Mishaps
While attempting to introduce The Eras Tour and herself — following songs including “Cruel Summer,” “You Need to Calm Down” and “The Man” — Swift soon realized her bedazzled mic was no longer working. “Helloo??” she mime screams into it. She then sticks her tongue out in agony while leaning back in playful despair, only to then bang her palm against it a few times for good measure. As soon as it’s replaced with a less glamorous, though functional, mic, she tells the crowd with a smile: “None of that happened.” But it wasn’t the only oops of the night, as later on Swift accidentally swallowed a bug, after which she joked, “Ooh, delicious … Is there any chance none of you saw that?”
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A Tearful “Champagne Problems”
While in her evermore era, Swift speaks of her pandemic-induced creative flurry, during which she wrote, recorded and released both evermore and its predecessor folklore. When speaking of this pair of albums, she admits that she wasn’t sure how they would translate to the stage — because at the time live music seemed a distant memory. But, she says, “one song in particular I was so excited to perform live…” She then delivers the stunning and reflective “Champagne Problems” while seated at the piano. By the end she’s holding back tears as the applause only grows louder and louder, soon morphing into a “Taylor, Taylor!” chant. Swift allows it to continue, quenched by the comfort, before saying, “I love you guys so much… you’re so generous.”
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An Enchanting Speak Now Moment
Though Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is just about a month away from release, the album is only allotted one single song in the Eras setlist: the magical “Enchanted.” As the stage lights up magenta, Swift speak-singing, “Please don’t be in love with someone else,” can be heard offstage. Soon enough, she emerges in a puff of pink smoke wearing a bedazzled ball gown. As she delivers the pop ballad with commanding power and conviction, the stadium — and fans’ color-changing wristbands — light up in cotton candy colored hues, casting an as-of-yet unfamiliar calm across the open space.
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The Passion For Her “Passion Project”
While giving the lowdown on her rerecording project — for which Swift is rerecording her first six albums in order to gain full ownership ––she explains in simple terms the thought behind the ambitious task: “The thing about this project is that I haven’t seen it done too many times before, so there weren’t a lot of examples for me to look at and see, you know, ‘Is this a good idea commercially?’ It wasn’t about that, it was a passion project. And a passion project is something that an artist will do regardless of whether it’s successful or not, because it just matters to them personally.” And as Swift then thanked her fans for embracing each Taylor’s Version release wholeheartedly — and even only acknowledging such versions going forward — the applause of support hit a new peak in volume. Until, that is, Swift introduced the next song: the devastatingly gorgeous (and impressively long) “All Too Well (10 Minute Version, Taylor’s Version, From The Vault).”
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That Special Delivery of a Lyric From “The 1”
Most of the more shocking, humorous or enjoyable moments from The Eras Tour have by now been long circulating online — including one from folklore track “The 1.” During the song, for which Swift lies down on top of the moss-covered A-frame cabin, the line, “You meet some woman on the internet and take her home” has garnered special attention for her delivery of its latter half. Rather than singing it as heard on the album, Swift chops it up and draws it out — “and take. her. home,” she sings, prompting “ow ows” and “woops” from the crowd.
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Her Solo Unplugged One-Two Punch
For the evening’s anticipated surprise songs, Swift started with the live debut of “Hits Different” off the recently released Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition) extended album (which was previously only available on the Target exclusive version of Midnights). “I don’t know if you’ll know this one, it’s kind of new… But we’ll seee….” teased Swift with a smile. She then performed the song on acoustic guitar standing solo at the edge of the stage. To no one’s surprise, fans knew every word. After, she sauntered over to a wooden piano painted with flowers and butterflies for her second surprise song: “The Moment I Knew” from Red.
Cross ‘em both off the list.
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Her Unwavering Appreciation For Fans
Prior to the intimate, stripped down surprise songs, Swift praised those in the front rows who were performing for their lives, saying, “I’m making a lot of new friends tonight.” She then shared another message of gratitude for her devoted fans: “People ask me, ‘Are you tired at the end of the show?’ I’m like, ‘No, are they tired? You guys are head banging and thrashing and screeching. It’s so valiant and beautiful. It’s a noble thing to do… I salute you.”
