You and I, we’re about to go on a little adventure together, and that adventure is gonna span seventeen years of music, and it’s gonna be one era at a time. How does that sound to you?
We would go on to play this show in the pouring rain, in the blazing heat, in the thickest humidity, in the wildest winds, and in the bitter cold. We would do it if we were sick or exhausted or injured. We would do it with a broken heart. We do this because we love having the rare opportunity to create happiness and wonder up on that stage. We do it because we know it takes time and effort and money and energy to plan out coming to a concert. We do it because every friendship bracelet traded has the potential to become a new friend, and you never know what dreams can be sparked if we succeed in painting a dreamscape in every city we visit. We do it because people need an escape from how brutal life can be, and it is the honor of a lifetime to be that for them, if only for a night. And although we are all on our own in this big scary life, somehow it doesn’t feel that way when we’re singing the same words as 80,000 other people wearing glittery face paint. We do it because life comes in waves, in phases, in brilliant flurries of magical moments, and all of these things come together to create… Eras.
Thank you to the fans who came to this show. You were what made The Eras Tour what it became. At the start of this, I never could’ve imagined that you would cheer so loudly it registered as an earthquake on seismic charts (this happened multiple times) or that you would lift economies of whatever city we went to. More importantly, you lifted the spirits of those around you with your intricate and clever costumes and outfits. You made people feel included by making friendship bracelets and friends, teaching each other our little tour traditions, and looking out for each other. I heard so many people say that The Eras Tour felt like a safe space. A place for radical girlhood, boyhood or personhood and unapologetic joy. Your excitement was truly contagious. The Eras Tour had no typical age demographic or stereotypical attendee. It was for everyone, because you made everyone feel included. For that, I will never be able to thank you enough.
