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When Taylor Swift greeted her audience during Friday night’s show at Lucas Oil Stadium—an event announced back in August 2023—the singer said Indianapolis was intentionally selected as the final U.S. stop of the record-breaking “Eras Tour.”
Swift rattled off a string of adjectives, including “most dedicated” and “passionate,” for fans she expected to see in the city.
“I can already tell we made the best decision possible,” she said.
Photo gallery: Taylor Swift opening night in Indianapolis
The crowd cheered in appreciation of the compliment, but it should be noted that 81% of ticket holders for Swift’s three dates at the NFL stadium are non-Indiana residents.
At the same time, Swift knows her Hoosier faithful. She made her local debut as a supporting act for George Strait at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2007, and the “Blank Space” singer launched her first solo headlining tour in Evansville in 2009.
Overall, Swift headlined four shows at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and one at Lucas Oil Stadium before Friday.
Her 2018 “Reputation” tour stop set a record for the largest single-night concert crowd at the stadium: 55,729. Morgan Wallen broke that record earlier this year, but Swift announced on Friday that she reclaimed the title with a whopping 69,000 people in the house. That figure is expected to be replicated on Saturday and Sunday.
Another number from Friday’s show: 114 decibels of sound registered by attendees during minutes of adoration in response to Swift’s performance of 2020 song “Champagne Problems.”
The assembled Swifties were ready to let out the cheers after a day of anticipation in downtown Indianapolis.
Cincinnati resident Britney Llewellyn (photo below) became an instant celebrity outside the Indiana Convention Center by wearing a one-of-a-kind denim jacket adorned with hundreds of Swift-themed friendship bracelets.
Llewellyn, 30, said her craft project began in 2023, shortly after she successfully purchased tickets for Friday’s show.
“I decided to make one friendship bracelet for every song in her discography, and then I just kept going and made ones with lyrics and funny inside jokes with Swifties,” she said.
Llewellyn, who attended a 2023 “Eras Tour” date at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, said camaraderie is a defining trait among Swift fans.
“Every Taylor Swift event I go to, everyone is so kind and friendly,” she said. “There’s an immediate connection of, ‘Hey, we’re birds of the same feather.’ It’s pure happiness.”
During Friday’s show, Swift polled the audience to check for fans who previously caught her in concert and who were newcomers.
Using time-is-a-flat-circle reasoning, Swift said “The Eras Tour” format of devoting segments to respective albums gives first-time attendees the sensation of being there for the “Speak Now” tour of 2011 or the “1989” tour of 2015.
An uncluttered stage extending via catwalks to a diamond shape on the stadium’s floor provided an adaptable setting for cycling through Swift’s eras. A massive LED video wall at the back of the stage and hydraulic platforms inside the stage helped the 14-time Grammy Award winner execute her vision.
Excitement at Lucas Oil Stadium peaked during a run of songs bridging Swift’s “Fearless” and “Red” albums. “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story” represented the former, while “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and the storied 10-minute rendition of “All Too Well” represented the latter.
For her “surprise songs” unplugged segment in Indianapolis, Swift offered a combination of “The Albatross” (a selection from 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department”) and “Holy Ground” (from “Red (Taylor’s Version)”) on guitar. A combination of “Cold as You” (from Swift’s self-titled debut album of 2006) and “Exile” (from 2020’s “Folklore”) followed on piano.
Amid a sea of glittery dresses and fierce boots worn by “Eras Tour” attendees, Jen Wolf and Brooke Duncan (photo below) wore orange jumpsuits and costume handcuffs for the 3-½ hour show by Swift, which followed a nine-song set by opener Gracie Abrams.
With homemade shirts sporting the phrase “Fresh Out the Slammer”—a song title from “The Tortured Poets Department”—the duo from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said they chose comfort above fashion.
Wolf, 29, said she tried the fashionable route when attending a 2023 “Eras Tour” date in Kansas City.
“It was cute, but I felt like my feet were going to fall off,” Wolf said.
After “The Eras Tour” wraps up its three-night Indianapolis stand on Sunday, the tour predicted to eclipse $2 billion in ticket sales is headed to Canada for its ultimate finale.
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