November was a difficult time to be a massive Taylor Swift fan living in Toronto without tickets to any of the six Eras Tour shows.
I couldn’t ride on the TTC or walk downtown without seeing the huge red posters advertising the upcoming Toronto dates. It felt like a slap in the face to promote a tour that was nearly impossible to get tickets to, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in that feeling.
I was one of the many fans who got the dreaded protected queue message each time tickets were released, despite the fact that I had signed up to become a Ticketmaster Verified Fan back in August 2023, along with several friends and family members.
This was particularly disappointing as I had spent the past month keeping tabs on the second leg of the U.S. shows, making note of the dates and times tickets were added, as well as tips from people who secured some. I felt so ready for the Toronto drops and had such high hopes, but I never even had the chance to enter the queue to try to purchase tickets.
So, I turned to my next option: resale websites. This was not how I’d hoped to get tickets, but I was determined to be at the show.
It’s no secret that these tickets were difficult to obtain, and resellers knew that, resulting in prices marked up way above their value. The cheapest tickets for an obstructed view in a standing-room-only section were over $2,000 each.
Based on my research from the previous shows, I figured my best option for buying resale tickets would be on the day of the first Toronto show. It was a Thursday, so people would be less likely to travel from out of town if they had school or work in the morning. Since it was the first Toronto show, it was possible others would be holding out hope for more tickets to be released or were waiting until after the first show to get a sense of whether resale prices would go down.
My friends and I spent the day of the show keeping an eye on multiple resale sites, comparing prices and seating sections, and tracking if prices went up or down throughout the day. When we found prices were dropping to the lowest they had been all week, we bit the bullet and purchased floor tickets less than four hours before Taylor took the stage.
Don’t get me wrong — they were still pricey and more than I had hoped to pay for tickets. But, I decided that seeing my favourite artist in my own city was a rare opportunity and something that would make me incredibly happy.
I won’t lie, spending money on inflated resale prices did feel like I was going against my morals by contributing to the system that allows resellers to continue their practice. But I was comforted by the fact that I spent less than what I had seen obstructed view tickets priced at for a much better seat value.
Many people asked me how I was able to get tickets and were disappointed to hear I purchased resale and didn’t have a magical hack to get face-value tickets. I’m very fortunate that I was in a place where I could spend money on a ticket. For months I’d been putting money aside to save up for buying a ticket, as I was determined to be at the show.
I’m also a huge fan of Gracie Abrams, who was opening for the shows. However, Gracie currently doesn’t have any Canadian dates on her tour, which was also a factor in my decision to buy a ticket. Her latest album, The Secret of Us, is my favourite album released in 2024, even surpassing Swift’s own The Tortured Poet’s Department.
If I wanted to see Abrams in concert, I would’ve had to buy a resale ticket to a U.S. show and also pay to travel there. So when I purchased my Eras Tour ticket, I was not only paying for a Swift concert but an Abrams set as well.
It was all worth it in the end. Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, was the best night of my entire life. I got to see two of my favourite artists in my own city, with two of my best friends.
I’m still riding that high of the magic of the show, incredibly grateful I got to experience it. Money comes and goes, but I’ll have the memories of the Eras Tour for my lifetime.