It is difficult to capture the essence of the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s sixth and arguably most powerful headlining tour yet. Emerging on stage in a plethora of pinks, blues, and purples, Swift instantly captivates her audience and sets the scene for the three hours about to unfold — three hours charting her journey from country music to pop stardom to world domination. But the tens of thousands of fans have no idea what they’re truly in for.

To see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is to take a trip down memory lane. It is stepping back into your own stories and hers, reliving your first crush and deepest heartbreak as she sings about the complexities of the teenage years, the twenty-something experience, and the never-ending journey of finding your place in the world. As she sings in stadiums almost fifteen years after her first headlining tour, she celebrates her twisting, turning, record-breaking career and every struggle and success that got her to today. In a society where so many people try to distance themselves from their past, Swift honours every step of the way — and those who stuck by her side through it all.

At its core, the Eras Tour is a reclamation of Taylor’s past. As she moves through her ten albums, from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) all the way to Midnights, performing newly re-recorded songs and establishing ownership over her work, she takes back the power of her own narrative. After over a decade of fabricated media stories and strangers claiming to know her truth, she lets the world in on her own terms. Call it karma, perseverance, or trust, but through remaining true to herself and her craft, Swift has managed to prove every doubt wrong, squash every lie, and contradict every ounce of criticism that has come her way.

Standing on her own stage, hearing thousands and thousands of fans inside each stadium (and outside in the parking lots) sing her own words back to her, she shines as bright as ever. Showing off her arm muscles in Lover’s “The Man”, shaking her head and mouthing “not a chance” after singing “do the girls back home touch you like I do?” in reputation’s “Delicate”, driving the crowd wild with a note change in folklore’s “the 1”, and handing a young fan her hat during Red (Taylor’s Version)’s “22”, she is personable and honest and undoubtedly herself. Exemplifying confidence and grace, she shows the world the kind of artist and woman she has been all along: Intelligent, compassionate, hilarious, gracious, vulnerable, confident, hardworking, and talented to no end.

While the tour has been praised for revitalising the U.S. economy, turning sceptics into supporters, and breaking records of consecutive shows at stadiums, Taylor’s number one priority — for this tour and every tour she’s embarked on before — has never wavered: to celebrate the relationship she has with her fans, to foster a community surrounding her music, to tell her stories, and to provide a safe, cathartic escape from the rest of the world. With fandom inside jokes, deep cut surprise songs, and Easter eggs, the Eras Tour is truly for the fans: for the Millennials who have grown up with her since her debut album, for the young children who won’t remember a day when she didn’t own all her own music, and to everyone in between.

Whatever is going on in your life, when Taylor Swift emerges from beneath the stage, singing “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”, it all fades away. For three hours, all that matters is the community around you, the songs that raised you, and the artist who has taught you to fight for what is yours, to never stop dreaming, and to always remain true to yourself.

Scroll for more sparkling images from the talented Kevin Sikorski, taken during the opening songs at the Seattle show on 22nd July …