THROUGH THE ERAS

I get it, I’m a fake! Although I was unable to make it to the “real” Taylor Swift concert, my friends and I went to the second best thing. On September 2, 2023 there was a tribute concert to Taylor Swift at Robins Theatre in Warren, Ohio. The group of singers who performed were local girls from various school districts.There names are Lauren Jones, Angela Cole, and Cara DeChurch. They played over 20 songs with a lot of songs from all 10 eras. This was an amazing alternate concert in case you weren’t able to get Taylor Swift tickets to her concert. This was most definitely the closest thing to the ERAs tour as well. It included dressing up as an ERA, friendship bracelets, and all fan favorite songs to enjoy!

TRADITIONS IN THE ERAS

If you are a big fan of Taylor Swift, you would know that the “Swifties” came up with fun “Eras Tour Etiquette” which are traditions that everyone came up with to make the concert experience more exciting! Even if you can’t do these things, it will still be the best experience ever. It’s the little things that make a fake concert more realistic. One of the traditions was to dress up as your favorite era or song. This is where kids or adults dress up as one of Taylor’s 10 albums or “eras” or a catchy line from their favorite song. If you wanted to dress up as an era, for example Folklore. This album consists of a lot of gray and white. Swifties would then wear something like a sparkly silver dress with white or silver cowboy boots. For a fun touch too in the album “Folklore”, she has a song called “Mirrorball”, you could wear disco ball earrings or bracelets. Then, if you wanted to wear an outfit related to a song you could dress up as one of her songs called “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince ” from her “Lover” album. This is really cute as a couple or best friend costume. This would work by someone dressing up as a princess and wearing a sash with the name “Miss Americana” then the other person you are doing this with would wear black and red with an iron on heartbreak in the corner. Another really cool tradition that has carried on is the “Friendship Bracelets.” This tradition came from a song in her new album “Midnights” called “You’re on Your Own, Kid”. This song is my top three favorite songs from her; the song is about her past and self reflection. There’s a lyric in the song, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.” Everyone who heard the lyric, loved it, so before the show, during the show, or even after you give random strangers friendship bracelets and trade around. Swifties can make friendship bracelets or order them. You can make one for every album or maybe even your favorite lyric. This “Taylor Swift Etiquette” was one of my favorite things to see at the “reject concert” to make it feel more real.

MCKENNA SPRAGUE’S EXPERIENCE

If you’ve never been to a Robins Theatre production, you definitely need to! I found out about the production “Through The Eras Tribute” from my mom, because she knew I wanted to go to The ERAS Tour, but we couldn’t find tickets. My mom knew it would be great because she taught two of the singers of the three Miss Americanas. Saturday, September 2nd was the day when the show was being held. My friends and I were excited to choose outfits and get all dressed up for the show. The Three Miss Americanas blew everyone away with how amazing their singing, outfits, and how enthusiastic they were. Everyone in the auditorium was singing their heart out and knew every lyric, and I didn’t see one basic outfit! Everyone’s outfits were incredible— I mean if I knew how big of a deal the outfits would be then I would have gone bigger! Robins Theatre gave out two gift cards ( a $50 Sunrise Inn Pizza and a $50 Robins Theatre gift card) for the best Taylor Swift themed outfits. There were also many kids handing out friendship bracelets. Overall, my experience was definitely worth it!

MY EXPERIENCE

I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift; I have listened to her ever since I was little. I went to the reject concert with my mom and two of my other friends. They started out with “..Ready For It?” and I was kind of expecting them to sound more like Taylor Swift but then remembered that I wasn’t at her HER concert but at one where I have to remember they are “trying” to put on a good show. Once it got to “Cruel Summer” everyone was out of their seats screaming all the songs. My favorite albums from Taylor Swift are “1989” and “Folklore” therefore when the girls sang “August” from Folklore and “Wildest Dreams” from 1989, I was so excited and very happy. Another memorable moment was when the girls sang “Teardrops On My Guitar” from her first album “Taylor Swift” and “You Belong With Me” from her second album “Fearless.” Everyonetribu in the crowd was singing so loud and just having an amazing time. 

Overall, my experience at the “THROUGH THE ERAS” Taylor Swift Concert in Warren, Ohio was definitely one to remember. The three “Miss Americana’s” were amazing and their band performed so well. Even though my plans are to eventually attend the real Taylor Swift concert, this one was close to home, super fun, and I was completely fine with going to a tribute concert. Never let it be said that I attended a “reject concert”–these girls made me feel like I was actually there watching my girl–TAYLOR SWIFT!