Concerts Reviews
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour: A Night to Remember in Vancouver
Let me just start by saying this: it’s almost impossible to write a review of The Eras Tour without repeating what’s already been said. Whether you’ve seen the movie that premiered in October 2023 or seen endless TikToks and tweets raving about it, this tour has transcended just being a concert. It’s now a cultural phenomenon. But as I sat down to write about the first of Taylor Swift’s three sold-out shows at BC Place and the last Friday show of The Eras Tour ever, I realized the best way to capture what makes this experience special is not just by recapping the music (though I’ll do that too!) but by focusing on the atmosphere and the magic of the night.
The evening began with a land acknowledgment, recognizing that Vancouver is situated on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. It was a meaningful moment that set the tone for an inclusive and respectful experience.
Gracie Abrams opened the show, and wow, did she command the stage. Having last seen her perform at the Vogue Theatre in April 2023, it was incredible to witness her growth as an artist. Going from an intimate venue like the Vogue to opening at BC Place, packed with tens of thousands of people, is no small feat, but Gracie handled it with grace (pun intended!) and confidence. Her set was short but impactful, and she left the crowd buzzing for Taylor.
Vancouver Becomes Swift City
Taylor Swift’s three shows at BC Place are the grand finale of The Eras Tour, which kicked off in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, and will end on December 8, 2024. By the time the final confetti falls, Taylor will have played an incredible 149 shows worldwide. Vancouver truly pulled out all the stops to welcome her. An inflatable friendship bracelet (shipped all the way from Toronto) was wrapped around the stadium. The Vancouver Police Department even got into the spirit, decking out their horses with friendship bracelets around their necks. Destination Vancouver joined the fun by installing 13 light signs scattered across downtown, each featuring Taylor’s lyrics. Fans who visited these signs had the chance to win tickets to the show, which only added to the frenzy leading up to the weekend.
Walking around the city before the show, you could feel the excitement in the air. Groups of friends in coordinated outfits inspired by Taylor’s eras, families with moms and daughters hand-in-hand, and fans trading bracelets everywhere. It was like the city had been taken over by a joyful, glittery army of Swifties.
The Magic of Friendship and Community
If I had to pick one thing that truly makes The Eras Tour special, it’s the sense of community. The friendship bracelet exchange, a nod to the lyrics in You’re On Your Own, Kid, was in full swing. Even for someone who can be a little shy (guilty as charged!), the bracelets are the perfect icebreaker. I traded with fans from all over the world, each bracelet carrying its own story. And it wasn’t just friends exchanging bracelets; I saw mothers and daughters bonding, entire families dressed in theme, and even groups of coworkers out for a night of fun.
That sense of connection seems to amplify the energy of the show itself. In fact, Swifties are known for dancing so hard at Taylor’s concerts that they’ve literally shaken the earth. This happened in Seattle in July 2023, where their moves registered as seismic activity, and again in Edinburgh in June 2024, when monitors were triggered by fans’ collective enthusiasm. The energy in Vancouver definitely felt like it could spark a tremor of its own.
The Setlist and Show Recap
The show itself is a masterpiece. It kicked off with the Lover era and the pastel dreaminess of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince,” setting the tone for a night that would be equal parts nostalgic and celebratory. From there, Taylor took us on a journey through her entire discography:
- Lover Era: Romantic and glowing, complete with “Cruel Summer” (cue the screams during “he looks up, grinnin’ like a devil!”).
- Fearless Era: A sweet, golden interlude with hits like “Love Story.”
- Red Era: Pure heartbreak and exhilaration during “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).”
- Speak Now Era: A short but emotional segment highlighted by “Enchanted.” The pastel tones were on point.
- Reputation Era: Dark, electric, and powerful with “…Ready For It?” and “Look What You Made Me Do.”
- Folklore/Evermore Era: Moody, enchanting, and absolutely stunning during “Willow,” where fans joined in with lit up orange balloons. “Marjorie” being my favourite Taylor Swift song, I was overjoyed that it was included on the setlist.
- 1989 Era: Glittering pop perfection, with “Shake It Off” and “Style” turning the stadium into a dance party. “Bad Blood’s” pyrotechnics kept everyone warm!
- The Torture Poets Department Era: An intense and deeply introspective part of the night, aptly dubbed Female Rage: The Musical, with “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
- Surprise songs: Taylor’s acoustic set has become one of the most anticipated parts of the tour. On guitar, she treated us to “Haunted” followed by “Wonderland,” joking that the latter was “perfect for Canada, eh?” thanks to its catchy “(Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh) in Wonderland” lyrics. Then, at the piano, she gave an emotional performance of “Never Grow Up” and “The Best Day,” leaving many of us misty-eyed.
- Midnights Era: Closing out the night with the dreamy, synthy vibes of “Anti-Hero” and “Karma.”
Each era was distinct, with Taylor’s costumes, staging, and choreography perfectly tailored to match the vibe. The transitions between eras were especially stunning, beautiful tableaux that often showcased the incredible talent of her dancers, who added depth and magic to each shift in tone, making the experience feel seamless and theatrical. The setlist was a marathon with over three hours and 40+ songs, but every moment felt deliberate and unforgettable.
Production Value Like No Other
I’ve been to a lot of concerts (already over 100 this year), but the production value of The Eras Tour is in a league of its own. The stage stretched across the stadium with a massive screen ensuring everyone had a great view. The visuals were breathtaking, from the enchanted forest of Folkmore to the lofty clouds of “Lavender Haze.” The way the lighting, pyrotechnics, and stage transformations worked in harmony was incredible. And don’t even get me started on the bracelets that lit up in sync with the music. Standing in the crowd felt like being part of a living work of art.
The sheer scale of this tour is staggering. By the end of 2024, it’s estimated that Taylor will have brought over $2 billion from ticket sales and merchandise, making it one of the most profitable tours in history.
Why It’s A Show For Everyone
Confession time: I’m not the kind of fan who knows every Taylor lyric (I’m showing my age here, but Spice Girls will always hold that title for me), but even so, this was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended. Taylor’s charisma and storytelling make her songs accessible even if you’re not a die-hard fan. The energy of the crowd, the flawless production, and the sheer joy of the night make it impossible not to have fun.
As I left the stadium with my voice hoarse and my arms full of new bracelets, I couldn’t stop smiling. And guess what? I’ll be back for Night 2 today. Bring it on, Taylor!
We would like to thank Taylor and her team for having us at their show.
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Young the Giant Finds New Life in Old Songs on the Victory Garden Tour
On July 24, Young the Giant brought the Victory Garden Tour to Vancouver’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, with Beach Weather and Cold War Kids opening the night. The show had the familiar shape of a summer tour stop, but Young the Giant made a convincing argument for why a band with six albums behind it can still make a new chapter feel worth hearing.
Beach Weather opened the night with a short, easygoing set that got the crowd moving without trying too hard to steal the show. The band joined the tour as a late addition after KennyHoopla was forced to drop off the run, and they made the most of the opportunity. Their set was loose, melodic and built for a summer crowd.
Cold War Kids were a different proposition. They have been around long enough now that calling them an indie rock band feels almost too broad. Their music has lived through several different eras of alternative radio, and their live show carries that history without becoming a museum piece.
Nathan Willett remains an excellent singer, with a voice that sounds remarkably close to the records live. He was joined by a band that looked completely comfortable onstage, particularly bassist Matt Maust, who has a wonderfully loose way of moving around with his instrument, and drummer Joe Plummer, who supplied much of the night’s physical momentum.
The set included staples such as “Hang Me Up to Dry” and “First,” along with newer material and songs that reached further back into the band’s catalogue.
Cold War Kids sounded good. More than that, they looked like a band that knows exactly what it is doing. Their performance had the kind of relaxed confidence that only comes from years of playing together. They were a strong fit for the bill, and the crowd that stayed for them was rewarded.
There is still something slightly strange about watching Young the Giant occupy the role of veteran alternative rock band. The members are not old, neither are the songs. And yet the people who grew up with “Cough Syrup” and “My Body” are now standing in a venue wondering where the hell the time went.
The band opened with “Evergreen,” the first track from Victory Garden, and it immediately established the show’s visual language. Five large, flower-like fixtures surrounded the stage, shifting through different colours as the set progressed. It was an obvious extension of the album’s artwork and title, but it never felt like an overproduced gimmick. The flowers gave the stage a distinct identity and helped the new material feel like part of a larger story.
Sameer Gadhia remains the band’s biggest weapon. His voice is every bit as impressive live as it is on record, but his presence is what separates him from a lot of other alternative rock frontmen. He does not simply stand at the microphone and sing. He moves, dances, gestures and works the room without making any of it feel calculated. He has the rare ability to make a large venue feel personal without pretending it is a small club.
The setlist leaned heavily into Victory Garden as nine of the 22 songs came from the new record, giving the album enough space to exist on its own rather than functioning as filler between older hits. That choice will inevitably frustrate some fans who came for the greatest hits, but I would rather see a band commit to its current record than spend two hours recreating the past.
The new material held up. “Already There,” “Bitter Fruit,” “Mona Lisa,” “God as Witness,” “Ships Passing” and “Different Kind of Love” all found their place in the set. “Ships Passing” was particularly strong, with the band folding a brief passage from “Titus Was Born” into the song before letting it build. “Different Kind of Love,” meanwhile, carried the confidence of a band that has found a fresh creative spark. The song became Young the Giant‘s first No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart,.
The older songs, naturally, still were the most popular. “Apartment” remains one of the band’s best songs, and hearing the opening guitar fill the venue was one of the night’s early highlights. “Garands” was a welcome deep cut, followed by “I Got” and the Home of the Strange pairing of “Repeat” and “Mr. Know-It-All.” This year marks a decade since Home of the Strange, and the set gave the album enough attention to acknowledge that milestone without turning the show into an anniversary tour.
“My Body” has been played to death over the years, but it remains impossible to resist live. The opening brought an immediate reaction from the crowd, and by the chorus, the entire venue was moving. “Cough Syrup” had a similar effect. The opening guitar was enough to trigger a roar, followed by thousands of phones appearing in the air. The song has become the band’s calling card for a reason. It still works.
The band eventually closed with “Mind Over Matter,” one of its biggest songs and a fitting end to a set that spent the night balancing the past with the present. There was no drawn-out encore routine. No disappearing backstage only to return minutes later because everyone knows the script. Young the Giant played the songs they wanted to play, gave the new album room to breathe, and left.
The Victory Garden Tour is built around the idea of reconnecting with joy and approaching life with a little more curiosity and empathy. Those ideas can sound overly earnest in the wrong hands. Young the Giant mostly avoids that trap by putting the message where it belongs: inside the songs.
Six albums into a career that began when the band members were barely out of their teens, Young the Giant no longer needs to prove that it belongs here. The more interesting question is what it wants to do next. In Vancouver, the answer seemed clear: keep the old songs alive, give the new ones a fair shot, and keep moving. For a band that has spent more than 15 years growing up in public, that is a pretty good victory.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
YOUNG THE GIANT
COLD WAR KIDS
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Jimmy Eat World Brings Bleed American Back to Life in Vancouver
There are some concerts you go to with no idea what you’re going to get. A 25th anniversary tour built around one of the best albums out there is not one of them. You know the songs, the order, exactly when the big moments are coming ; the only real question is whether the band can make those songs feel as alive as they did the first time you heard them. Jimmy Eat World had no trouble answering that question.
On July 19, the Arizona rock band finally returned to the Vancouver area for the first time since 2017, bringing the Bleed American 25th Anniversary Tour to the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. It had been a long wait, and the packed room made it clear that fans had not forgotten what they had been waiting for.
Motion City Soundtrack opened the night, giving the crowd a strong dose of early-2000s nostalgia before Jimmy Eat World took the stage. It was a fitting pairing. Both bands came of age during a period when alternative rock, pop-punk and emo could still find a home on mainstream radio, and both have built careers that outlasted the era that first made them famous.
For me, though, the night carried a more personal weight for a different reason: this was my first time seeing Jimmy Eat World live. After more than three decades as a band, and nearly a decade since their last Vancouver appearance, the fact that it took until 2026 for me to finally see them live made the wait feel even more significant.
Jimmy Eat World began the evening with songs from Clarity, their 1999 breakthrough album, including “Clarity,” “Your New Aesthetic,” “Blister,” and “Lucky Denver Mint.” It was a smart choice. The band could have gone straight into Bleed American and given everyone exactly what they came for, but those opening songs made a point: Jimmy Eat World did not suddenly become a great band in 2001. They had already been doing this for years.
Then they switched to “Bleed American,” and the stage itself transformed. A large wall that had kept the full production hidden from view moved aside, revealing the expanded Bleed American stage setup behind it. The lighting rig opened up across the width of the stage, giving the band a much bigger canvas for the album that had changed their career. It was a smart bit of theatre without feeling overproduced.
The album was performed from beginning to end, and hearing it in sequence made one thing very clear: Bleed American is an unusually complete record. The obvious hits are there, but so are the songs that tend to get pushed aside when a band is working with a limited setlist.
“A Praise Chorus” remains an absolute rush. “The Middle,” one of JEW‘s biggest and most recognizable hits, turned the venue into a massive singalong. “Sweetness” took that energy even further, with thousands of people shouting every “whoa-oh” back at the stage. “Get It Faster” brought the aggression. “Your House” offered one of the night’s more affecting moments. And “Hear You Me” remains one of those songs that can stop you in your tracks, even after you’ve heard it hundreds of times.
The beauty of hearing Bleed American played from start to finish is getting the full picture. The album has explosive highs, quieter emotional moments and everything in between. Songs that don’t always get the spotlight in a regular setlist suddenly have room to breathe.
Jim Adkins remains a compelling frontman, delivering these songs with the same sincerity that made them work in the first place. Tom Linton’s guitar playing was sharp and energetic, while Rick Burch and Zach Lind continued to provide the steady foundation that has held this band together for more than three decades.
There was no sense that the band was simply going through the motions of an anniversary tour. They looked like they were having fun and so did the fans.
That crowd was one of the best parts of the night. Fans who discovered Bleed American when it was released stood beside younger listeners who weren’t even alive when the album came out. Everybody seemed to know the words.
The main set ended with “My Sundown,” bringing the album to its quiet conclusion before the band briefly left the stage.
Jimmy Eat World returned for a five-song encore that moved beyond Bleed American, opening with “Disintegration” and continuing through “Pain,” “For Me This Is Heaven” and “(Splash) Turn Twist” before closing with “23.” It was a fitting reminder that Bleed American may have been the record that changed the band’s career, but it is only one piece of a catalog that has kept giving fans reasons to stick around.
Twenty-five years after Bleed American changed everything for the band, these songs haven’t become museum pieces. They’re very much still capable of making a room full of people lose their voices.
And after waiting nine years to see Jimmy Eat World back in Vancouver, I can say this with complete confidence: it was worth the wait.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
July 22 –– Sandy, UT –– Sandy Amphitheater
July 24 –– Concord, CA –– Toyota Pavilion at Concord
July 25-26 –– Long Beach, CA –– Vans Warped Tour
August 14 –– Halifax, UK –– The Piece Hall
August 15 –– Cardiff, UK –– Cardiff Castle
August 16 –– London, UK –– Gunnersbury Park
August 22 –– Montreal, QC –– Vans Warped Tour
August 23 –– Toronto, ON –– RBC Amphitheatre
September 6 –– Phoenix, AZ –– Chase Field, supporting My Chemical Romance
September 9 –– Austin, TX –– Moody Amphitheater
September 10 –– Dallas, TX –– The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
September 12-13 –– Mexico City, MX –– Vans Warped Tour
November 12 –– Nashville, TN –– TBA
November 14 –– Tampa, FL –– MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
November 14-15 –– Orlando, FL –– Vans Warped Tour
More information here.
JIMMY EAT WORLD
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer