Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour at the cinema: a furious experience for fans

With more than $96 million in revenue for its first weekend in the United States and Canada, the concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which retraces the pop star's American tour, is an event. Is the enthusiasm also present among the French public?

Thursday evening, at the entrance to the Gaumont Champs-Élysées cinema (Paris VIII), groups of young girls - all very enthusiastic - are waiting to be able to scan their tickets. It was a largely female audience who came together to attend the pop star’s filmed concert. At 19.89 euros per ticket - in reference to Taylor Swift's 1989 album - it's a catch-up session for those who were unable to buy tickets for the six Paris and Lyon dates in 2024. But some swifties - the name given to fans - who obtained their grail, still came to the cinema. “I’m going to see Taylor Swift in concert in Paris next year, but I also want to experience it in the cinema,” reports Emma, ​​accompanied by her little sister. The 25-year-old young woman is not afraid of spoiling the surprise effect. “I already know everything about Taylor and I watch all her concerts on YouTube,” she explains.

Other heads, a little older, still contrast with the rest of the population which is around 18 years old. Mothers came to accompany their daughters. Marion and Bertille, two friends of thirty years, are there more by chance than by desire. They let themselves be tempted by the craze surrounding Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. “We don’t necessarily listen to his music but we’ve heard that his shows are incredible,” they explain. We are curious to see what it really is.”

Despite the enthusiasm of the fans, the cinema is only two-thirds full. On the roads and the airwaves for years, Taylor Swift is still struggling to seduce in France. Only 29,228 admissions were recorded this first week in France for the singer's film. An image of a “good friend”, a pop and country universe as well as hits like Shake It Off, Style and 22 have forged the image of the 33-year-old American. “The French public prefers sexier pop stars like Beyoncé or Gaga, who do not reflect the clichés of puritan America like Taylor Swift does,” analyzes Morgane Giuliani, journalist and author of Feminisms and Music – The Pop of Madonna at These days.

Taylor Swift appears on screen to the screams of spectators. From the first notes, the fans are furious. The artist sings and dances with precision, performing choreographies each more mastered than the last. She changes almost ten times, between sequinned leotards and country dresses. The star successively takes on several roles, as many times as she moves from one album to another, alternating the style of a high school student in love, a self-made woman or even a country midinette. All of his transitions represent “eras” in his life.

As if they were at a concert, the fans stand up, sing in chorus, group together to dance in front of the screen, applaud after each song. The titles Look What You Made Me Do, Are You Ready For It, Betty are covered at the top of their lungs. In the film, Taylor Swift cultivates proximity with the audience at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles. “You make me feel so powerful,” she tells the crowd. In the cinema, some young girls respond to him as if their idol was really in front of them. The atmosphere in the cinema is more than immersive. It was like this for 2 hours 48 minutes of the show, without any drop in speed. At the end of the feature film, the fans come together one last time to celebrate their idol and sing together All Too Well, a ten-minute song whose subtitles are projected on the screen.

End clap. Everyone is exhausted, but conquered. The most skeptical are also. “It was an incredible moment. On stage, Swift is really natural and her concert has nothing to do with that of Beyoncé for example. There, she really immerses us in her world,” says Marion. Despite some criticism regarding the length of the show and the lyrics of the music which sounds too “teenager”, his friend Bertille would be ready to pay “the price to go see his concert next year”. For real this time.

Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour, is a music documentary by Sam Wrench. The film has been broadcast in the Pathé network and other theaters (144 in total) since October 13 for fifteen screenings over four weekends.