Emer McLysaght: My three nights at Taylor Swift cost me €47 an hour. Cheaper than therapy

I’ve done the maths. Last weekend I paid just under €47 an hour to see Taylor Swift perform across three nights at the Aviva Stadium. My most recent therapist cost €120 an hour, and while she’s a highly trained and hugely beneficial figure in my life, she didn’t have Stevie Nicks and Julia Roberts in the room with us. Taylor delivered Stevie and Julia, and so much more, for just €47 per hour. A bargain.

The whole Eras Tour experience was genuinely priceless. Concerts like this are anticipated in a way that was unimaginable before social media. Swift’s show has been rabidly streamed and memed online since she did her first show in Arizona back in March 2023. She, and artists like Harry Styles and Beyoncé have capitalised on the free publicity machines of TikTok and Instagram. The Eras Tour was legendary before it even hit Ireland. What colours would she wear? Would any celebrities show up in the now-famous white tents to the left and right of the front pits? What surprise songs would she perform?

[ Taylor Swift in the Aviva review: ‘You know this but nobody does it like you Dublin’ ]

The surprise songs is where my value for money really kicked in. About three quarters of the way through the set Taylor plays three or four songs acoustically, songs that aren’t in her main set list and are chosen from any point in her career. Most fans have their own favourites that they hope to hear. My number one pick was You’re on Your Own, Kid, a beautiful song which contains the now-iconic line “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it”, which has inspired the worldwide phenomenon of bracelet making and swapping at Eras Tour shows – and in turn an uptick in the sales of beads and jewellery-making kits. The song resonates with me for many reasons, but my expectations were low given she’s already played parts of YOYOK (as it’s fondly known) throughout her tour.

I don’t even remember when I started crying when Taylor effortlessly segued into the final portion of YOYOK during her acoustic guitar set on night one in Dublin. My dear friend Louise captured a video of me gasping “she played my song”, as if Taylor herself knew I needed to hear it. That woman was up on that stage earning her 47 quid an hour! Rumours swirled that Swift played the song because Fleetwood Mac legend Stevie Nicks was somewhere in the stadium. Nicks has previously thanked Swift for writing YOYOK, saying it helped her get through the grief of losing friend and fellow Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie. I was happy for Stevie, but I was thrilled for myself. Who knew one song could have such healing powers. I felt like the luckiest Swiftie in the world.

Fast forward to night three. Yes, I went to all three nights (total ticket cost was €492, for anyone wondering). Yes, I felt guilty about it but not guilty enough to give up any of my precious tickets. I looked at it kind of like a season ticket. They have them in sports. Why not for concerts? After two nights of seated tickets, I was excited to stand and have a new perspective, although I firmly believe there’s no such thing as a bad seat at the Eras Tour. My expectations for surprise songs and celebrity sightings were very controlled. I’d already had YOYOK on night one, and my body was ready to accept another 3½ hours of healing music, joy and singing along. Imagine then, the serotonin boost when Swift’s giant American footballer boyfriend, Travis Kelce, breezed past me halfway through the show, headed for the white tent. The pair are playing out a romance fit for a 90s-era Hugh Grant romcom, so to see him surprise Taylor and an entire stadium of people was a contact high like I’ve never felt. (Speaking of Hugh Grant romcoms, Julia Roberts was in the white tent swapping bracelets and shaking it off like her life depended on it.)

[ People chat at concerts these days. My advice is to move to a more respectful area of the crowd ]

All expectations exceeded, I settled in for the rest of the show. Cue the surprise song acoustic segment. Cue my jaw dropping as Taylor Swift reveals that not only is Stevie Nicks definitely in the audience, but Swift is going to serenade her by playing the song Clara Bow for the first time ever. Excuse me? We’re now renaming Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as Clara Bow Therapy because Taylor Swift was out there saving lives last Sunday night. And then what did she go and do? She sat at her piano and played You’re on Your Own, Kid in its entirety, for Stevie Nicks, and for me. Four hundred and ninety-two euro for 10½ hours of pure joy. Money well spent.