TORONTO (AFP) – Taylor Swift took the stage in Vancouver for the final show of her record-shattering Eras tour, a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history.
The globe-spanning event kicked off in the United States (US) state of Arizona on March 17, 2023.
Sunday’s show in Canada was the 149th Eras performance, following stops in cities ranging from Buenos Aires to Paris and Tokyo.
Swift appeared on stage at a sold-out BC Place stadium shortly before 8.00pm and told the crowd “it’s feeling like a pretty cool night to be in Vancouver”, according to the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
Swift’s camp has not publicly released ticket revenue numbers for the tour but the widely cited trade magazine Pollstar has estimated the figure at over USD2 billion.
That smashes the record previously held by Elton John’s pandemic-interrupted Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which sold an estimated USD939 million in tickets over 328 shows spread across five years.
Beyond the concerts, Swift’s presence in venue cities has supercharged local economies.
Her second-last tour stop was Toronto, where she performed six shows over two weekends.
She generated an additional CAD282 million (USD199 million) in economic activity in Canada’s largest city, tourism promotion organisation Destination Toronto estimated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended one of the Toronto shows with his family.
Last year, before the announcement that Eras would include Canadian stops, Trudeau issued a public appeal urging Swift to come.
“I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another . We hope to see you soon,” Trudeau posted on X in July 2023, referring to a hit song from Swift’s 2019 album, Lover.
