I watched Taylor Swift's 'Eras' concert five times—here's how it went

From Speak Now in Manila to Eras in different parts of the world

My first Taylor Swift concert experience was in 2011 during her Speak Now concert in Manila, which also marked her first time in the country. The ticket cost only P1,500 and I remember having the time of my life. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the Red Tour here in 2014 because it was sold out and high school me couldn't afford a scalper-priced ticket. I just told myself that I will do whatever it takes to watch her next show here.

Sixteen years later, I am now a businesswoman who handles different ventures, though my focus has been on my newly opened cafe in Cavite. I was still moving on from a breakup when it was launched, and it was also around this time when I heard that Taylor would be touring again to celebrate her different eras through the years. I got so excited and I was so determined to see her in the flesh. Understanding how costly it would be, I considered it as a gift to myself—for getting past a long-term relationship, facing challenges head-on during the pandemic, and starting anew with my cafe business. I was in my Reputation and self-love era.

Scoring tickets for the Eras Tour in the United States was not a walk in the park. I registered for the pre-sale there but I wasn't able to get an access code. I spent months looking for resellers online and even got scammed. It was discouraging, but I trudged on. Fortunately, I found tickets at almost their face value for the closing night in Los Angeles. 

My first Eras concert was in LA, and it was extra special for me as it pushed me to go out of my comfort zone, which included traveling solo for the first time ever. Finally watching her live after 13 years is one thing I’ll never forget. The experience also made me feel comfortable enough to do it again four times—once in Tokyo, once in Melbourne, and twice in Singapore. 

Four out of my five concert tickets were purchased at face value price. It was like the "hunger games" every time, but it was a challenge I was thrilled to face. 

I was in the middle of a facial session when pre-selling started for her Melbourne concert. I had to stop midway when I miraculously got in online because it was a random queue—no number was provided to potential buyers, so we all had to wait for our chance to score passes.

Given the high volume of buyers in Singapore as her only stop in Southeast Asia, I embraced the fact that it was going to be difficult. I set up all the laptops, phones, and tablets we had at home with multiple open tabs to queue in the website. I even asked for the help of my mom, my brother, my best friend, and one of our staff to help me manage all the gadgets. After a five-hour battle to get tickets, including multiple errors on the website, I was finally able to purchase some. 

The Tokyo one was quite serendipitous. I had a last-minute business trip there, and I booked my flight and hotel a day before I left Manila. I was, of course, wishing to watch the Eras concert in Japan, but I told myself I will only do so if I can get face value tickets or lower priced ones. Boy, I got lucky—I came across a Facebook post from a concert promoter announcing that they were going to release additional tickets for her Tokyo concert on the same day of my arrival there. It was sold out when I first accessed it, but I didn't lose hope. I just kept refreshing the page until I was able to get tickets.

I prepared for the tour by hyping myself up with her hits. At my cafe, we would always play Taylor Swift songs—I even made sure to run the tour playlist days before I left for the concerts. It was always a Swiftie party there.

Dressing up was one of my favorite parts of my Eras experience. I was so excited to plan them for every leg I attended. To match its concept, I decided to try and channel her different eras, too. I was able to do Speak Now to pay homage to my early days as a Swiftie and Reputation, which was the era I was in at the time. I wanted to support local fashion, so my Folklore and Midnights ensembles were custom-made and designed to suit the weather conditions in Singapore and Melbourne.

As for the plane tickets, my mom previously worked for an airline so I was able to get them at a discount. It was definitely a big factor as to why I was able to go to a lot of countries for the Eras Tour.

How each Eras leg was special for me

For me, every leg of the tour was different and special in its own ways. The Tokyo leg was one for the books because of the serendipitous moment of me getting last minute tickets. The Melbourne tour was memorable because it was my first time in Australia and the crowd was so good, the energy was so high. I also got the chance to bond with my college best friend in the middle of my visit.

But if I were to pick favorites, it would definitely be Taylor's concerts in Singapore. It was significant because it was the first Eras tour I watched with my childhood friends—the girls I grew up listening to her songs with. Thanks to Taylor and the Eras Tour, we finally went out of the country after being friends for 14 years and had the best week there. Watching her sing Long Live in person was a full-circle moment because it's our barkada theme song.

Singapore was also wonderful because Taylor played the dreamiest, surprise song mashup of Death by a Thousand Cuts x Babe x Fifteen x You’re On Your Own Kid—I got three of my dream surprise songs in a mashup I didn't know I needed. It was the best capoff to my Eras experience as it helped me acknowledge the scars of my past and keep in mind the importance of living in the present, celebrating the person I am now. 

Singing my favorite Taylor Swift songs out loud with thousands of people was like therapy. It was so freeing and it made my heart so happy.

During some of my trips, I had so much time for myself, just exploring various places on my own and enjoying it. From being alone in some of her concerts, I got better at meeting new people and interacting with them for hours. It significantly healed and helped me with my self-love journey.

Going to the Eras Tour five times was a treat for myself—an ode to my past, my present, and my future. It's a perfect celebration of the music that has been with me through the personal eras of my life and I’m happy that I was able to share this unforgettable experience with my fellow Swifties, too.