Let’s face it, getting Eras Tour tickets was a shot in the dark. There were more fans than tickets and even when you could get one, the prices were astronomical. So many of us missed out; that is, until she brought it to theaters. When it came out on October 13th, my sister and I were both in one of the first available viewings. After watching all of the livestreams and seeing clips from over the entire show, one would think we couldn’t possibly be as excited to see the film. Wrong. My sister went back two days later and saw it again and I planned to see it for the second time a week later. It was just as amazing seeing it in theaters as seeing all those clips and livestreams, knowing the sets did not diminish the experience whatsoever.
Now, my sister and I have tickets for February ’24 in Australia, so we will be seeing the live show, but when we got those tickets, February seemed so far off. My dad, in a moment of spectacular and unusual wisdom, saw how sad I was to wait over eight months for the show and unbeknownst to me, got tickets for a beautiful candle lit quartet concert of Taylor Swift songs. He gave them to me for my birthday and we went to the concert on October 3rd at 7pm. The concert was an intimate gathering at a local wedding venue in Raleigh called “The Merrimon-Wynne House.”
When I say it was magical, I am not exaggerating. From the first notes of “Lavender Haze” to the finishing touches of “Shake It Off”, I was in heaven. “Shake It Off?” you say. “That couldn’t possibly sound good in a string quartet.” Think again. Every note was beautiful. Every. Single. Song. The feeling of sitting in a low light candlelit room, decadent chandeliers on the ceiling, surrounded by Swifties, was unparalleled. For the first 12 of the 13 songs in the set, the audience stared in awe as the talented musicians brought Taylor’s music to life in ways they had not dreamed of. I had spoken with the woman next to me before the concert and we giggled over news about Travis Kelce, the upcoming Eras Tour film, and her own experience at the tour a few months prior. I’ve seen it said that the Eras Tour felt like one of the safest places because concertgoers were surrounded by others who shared that love of Taylor’s discography and the excitement of wondering what the experience would be like. This intimate candlelit gathering held that same feeling.
For the final song, the musicians announced that we were allowed to not only sing along but use our phones to film them and each other. And so we did. The voices that rose from that room lacked the volume of Taylor’s own concert, but not the spirit. Goosebumps formed on more than my own arms and smiles I saw were radiant. Even my father, not a Swiftie at all, enjoyed himself and from all my years blasting her music, he knew the majority of the songs played. Afterwards, we got some delicious authentic Gelato from Amorino Raleigh to end the night.
The concert lasted approximately 65 minutes and it flew by. Each concert changes their Taylor Swift setlist to make the experience unique, but the one I went to played these 13 songs: Lavender Haze, Love Story, Cardigan, Blank Space, Enchanted, Anti-Hero, Snow on The Beach, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Wildest Dreams, Lover, I Knew You Were Trouble, You Belong With Me, Shake It Off. At the end they had a bit of a surprise for us, but I won’t spoil it. Suffice it to say the surprise was iconic (no, it wasn’t Taylor Swift herself, but it was still something fantastic).
The next Raleigh date for the Taylor Swift tribute concert is November 21st with showings at 6:30 and 9:00. I wholeheartedly suggest booking tickets for you and your fellow Swiftie friends before they sell out. There are also other Candlelight concerts to look at like Coldplay, Vivaldi and Pink Floyd. If Raleigh doesn’t work for you, there are dates in Asheville, Hickory and Charlotte for November as well.
For more information, check out the below link:
https://www.concertlands.com/states/north-carolina/genres/candlelight/pages/0