“I always thought one day we’d tell the story of us / How we met and sparks immediately flew / And people would say, “You’re the lucky ones.”‘.”

This weekend will be a bittersweet farewell for Taylor Swift and her fans.

When she plays the final notes of “Karma” in Vancouver on Sunday night, the Eras Tour will be over forever.

First announced in November 2022, it was even bigger than Swift could have dreamed of – with 149 shows in 53 cities seen by 10.1 million fans.

Along the way, it collected $2 billion in ticket sales. stimulated the local economy And triggered seismic events.

Swift called it “the most exhausting, all-encompassing, but joyful, rewarding, wonderful thing that has ever happened in her life.”

Swift wrote in her recently released tour book that the 45-song, career-spanning setlist was inspired by the decision to re-record her first six albums, which led her to “fall back in love with her previous work.”

She continued to play concerts in “the pouring rain, in the scorching heat, in the greatest humidity, in the wildest winds, and in the bitterest cold,” she wrote, even when she was “sick, exhausted, or injured.” or working with a “broken heart.”

But the concerts were about more than just the music. Fans exchanged friendship bracelets and formed lifelong friendships with strangers. Outside the stadiums, ticketless Swifties gathered in the parking lots to sing along.

At a show in Munich, 40,000 people gathered on a nearby hill to catch a glimpse of the show. They were almost more numerous than the fans in the city’s former Olympic stadium.

For many, the chance to hear these songs live for the first time was overwhelming.

“I cried a lot more than I expected,” says Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, who saw the tour for the first time in Santa Clara last year.

“I cried at the beginning just because it was exciting. Apparently I cried during (the epic breakup ballad) “All Too Well.” Then I cried in “The Archer.” I don’t know why.”

Online, believers watched live streams every evening and downloaded a free, fan-run app – SwiftAlert – This allowed them to speculate on the outfits Swift would wear and the surprise songs she would play in her evening acoustic set. Those who top the leaderboard would win prizes.

There is an unprecedented sense of community at the performances. When I took my daughter to one of the performances at Wembley Stadium in June, taller people moved back to give her a better view – something I’ve rarely seen in my years of attending concerts.

For other families, the Eras Tour has even brought them closer together.

Michelle, from Seattle, Washington, is attending one of the final concerts in Vancouver this weekend with her daughter and says the anticipation has helped them stay in touch.

“I got the tickets almost 13 months ago and even though she doesn’t live at home full time, I doubt a week has gone by where we haven’t had a fun conversation about Taylor and how we relate to it “Look forward to the show and what our plans for the weekend might entail,” she says.

The conclusion of the tour leaves Swift at a crossroads. This Eras tour will be the benchmark by which the rest of their career will be measured – and their next move will be closely watched by fans and critics alike.

So what options does she have?

“Taylor is a very forward-thinker, so I imagine she has the next few years completely planned out,” says Bryan West, a dedicated Taylor Swift reporter for USA Today and The Tennessean, who has seen the Eras tour 89 times has.

He notices Swift’s tendency to coordinate her projects and believes there will be some kind of headline-grabbing announcement at her final show.

Most likely this will be the unveiling of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) – the latest installment in her re-recorded album series, complete with bonus tracks from the vault.

However, fans have been waiting for this announcement all year and the album still hasn’t been released numerous, tempting Notes it’s on the way.

West also has some other theories.

“We saw film crews at a lot of performances, so I wouldn’t be shocked if she was filming a documentary the whole time.”

“And in her new book she said, ‘Until the next era,’ so there were reports that she’s working on new music.”

A longer-term prospect is that Swift will turn to film. In December 2022, she signed a deal to direct a film for Searchlight Pictures based on her own original screenplay.

When it was announced, Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield called her “a one-of-a-kind artist and storyteller,” but the trail has since disappeared. Maybe she’ll return to the director’s chair in 2025?

West has also pursued several trademarks filed by the star this year, including Taylor-Con and Female Rage: The Musical, “which could be anything from a television show to a documentary series to a Broadway production.”

But maybe we are expecting too much?

“The first thing she needs to do is take some time off,” says Jack Saunders, host of Radio 1’s New Music Show, “because it’s completely unrealistic to expect anyone to perform at the same level of performance as she did last time .” for a few years and dive right back in.

“We’ve heard a lot from Taylor – so it’s healthy for us and for her to take a step back and take some time so she can strengthen herself for whatever comes next.”

In fact, Swift has hinted that she’s tired of the music industry’s hustle and bustle.

Clara Bow, a track from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, is an astute commentary on the industry’s hunger for new blood.

In other songs, she dreams of wedding rings and “pushing strollers” – so there’s a chance Swift is taking a year off to focus on her romance with American football star Travis Kelce.

“She’ll probably take a break,” West says, “but she’s not necessarily one to sit still. She is always creative. She’s always coming up with new projects.”

If Swift does indeed return to the studio, singer-songwriter Self Esteem hopes she’ll spend the cultural (and financial) capital she’s built up over the past two years to do something unexpected.

“If I were her, I would indulge in making music in all the different genres and styles that I haven’t been able to explore due to branding and expectations,” she says.

“And it sounds really worthy, but I can’t wait until I have enough money to support working class people who don’t have access to music – so I would do that if I were them.”

(It’s worth noting that Swift has a long history of charitable giving, including Donate to local food banks To every stop the Eras tour).

Whatever happens, swerving left makes sense; In her Eras Tour book, the star says she “hates doing the same thing twice.”

But this weekend, Michelle just wants to enjoy the final moments of a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

“We love concerts in my family. I love the excitement of being in a whole crowd of people excited about the same thing,” she says, “but this feels different.”

“I love how the tour has brought people together around the world.

“It will certainly be interesting to see what their next move is,” she adds, “but I can’t bring myself to speculate.”

“I’ll just wait and see – because whatever she does next, Taylor and her team should be very proud of the joy brought to so many during the Eras Tour run.”