10 things I learned at Taylor Swift's concert at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024:

1. THE HYPE WAS MIND-BLOWING

Off the top, I'll admit that I'm not exactly a Taylor Swift fan 鈥� not the right demographic, really, as a man whose very first concert was Van Halen, 1982. That said, I went into Friday's concert with an open mind and sense of wonder. How and why was she able to make music history by quickly selling-out Vancouver's biggest stadium three straight nights, when no other band or artist ever could?* It's astounding what Swift has accomplished in the pop-music world. Millions of moms and daughters can't be wrong, right?

*Edit: My BAD, as it were: Swift is actually not the first to fill BC Place 3 nights straight. Michael and the other Jacksons did it in 1984, and I have zero memory of that happening. (h/t: F Janmohamed via email)

2. TRAFFIC WAS A BREEZE

For days I had anxiety about driving in from the 'burbs and finding parking for less than $150, with warnings of blocked roads and general mayhem promised for Swift's big concert, a Canucks game and Cirque du Soleil show. We left North Delta at 3:30 p.m., motored over the Dunsmuir Viaduct at 4:20 and quickly found $7 street parking for the night. Woo! Thank you, parking gods.  

3. EARPLUGS WERE MANDATORY

I wasn't alive to see The Beatles in 1964, but I know the Fab Four later stopped touring because of screaming girls at their concerts. I wonder if Swift ever gets tired of the hysteria she creates, I really do. The first screams we heard were at 6:49 p.m. Friday outside the stadium when, apparently, the lights dimmed and concert-opener Gracie Abrams walked on stage. Much more screaming ensued through the night.

4. SCALPERS WERE SCARCE

At Terry Fox Plaza, blocked by metal fencing, it was all quiet on the northern front of the stadium. Excited and eager Swifties gathered, cellphones in hand. Familiar pre-concert calls of, "Tickets! Buying and selling tickets here!" were not heard. It was strange, almost eerie. Were all those tickets truly sold to fans already in the stadium or left outside, wanting? Could be.

5. IT WAS AN ECLECTIC, IMPRESSIVE SET OF SONGS 

Reading, Pennsylvania's most popular daughter has 10 studio albums, and it's been an electic, multi-genre ride over those 17 years. In concert she moves, um, swiftly from country to pop to folk-y numbers to full-on alternative rock, offering something for every one of those ticket-buying fans, in several acts marking different eras of Swift's impressive career (Lover, 1989, Red, Fearless, Speak Now, etc.). On Friday  were either played in full, or spoken, clipped or otherwise shortened, starting at 7:50 p.m. and ending at 11:15.

6. SONG LYRICS INSPIRED ALL THOSE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS

At Swift's concerts, the fan-led practice of trading bracelets is a response to a lyric in her 2022 song  (not performed Friday), which includes the line, 鈥淪o make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.鈥� I'm pretty sure nobody was tasting any of the tens of thousands of bracelets at Friday's show, but stranger things have happened. What I do know is that stadium security checked people for prohibited carabiners (metal or plastic) that can easily link and hold hundreds of bracelets. Instead, some fans jammed the trinkets into pockets of cargo pants or lined their forearms with them.

7. I REALLY DO LIKE SOME OF SWIFT'S SONGS

Seriously, who can resist the dance party of "Shake It Off," moody pop-rock banger "Style" or the romantic pingpong of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble"? That's the Swift era of hits I know and like best, circa 2012 to 2014, when my daughter was a teen and those songs were played on car rides. The latter two numbers were performed during Red, an act capped by a 10-minute version of "All Too Well" and falling "snow" on a rainy Vancouver night. It was a concert highlight, for sure.

8. NO COVER SONGS WERE PERFORMED

Having studied previous Swift concerts on , I thought "Cruel Summer" might be a run-through of the '80s Bananarama hit, two songs in. Nope. The Eras tour is an all-Swift affair, though there is some debate that her best songs borrow from ones previously written. People have even added to  of this alleged plagiarism, but I digress.  

9. THE ERAS TOUR WAS A LONG, VERY PROFITABLE ONE

Making music history as the highest-grossing concert tour of all time (close to $2 billion in revenue), Swift's Eras trip began way back in March 2023 and, as everyone knows by now, ends in Vancouver 150 shows later, give or take a show. Friday's concert felt celebratory, like a long goodbye for (and from) fans, many of whom live elsewhere, travelled here and probably bought tickets for Saturday and Sunday shows, too. 

10. IT WAS AN INSPIRING NIGHT

The world's most famous Kansas City Chiefs fan sure didn't fumble her way through the night. She was gracious, spoke kindly and said all the right things. The massive production was pretty flawless. It was a special night, especially for young fans in the crowd. Certainly, the concert was a first for many, and probably inspired a young girl or two to pick up a guitar, start to write songs and, like Taylor Swift, aim to rule the world. For the reigning Queen of Pop, that legacy would be best.

Swifties can watch the first of her three concerts in Vancouver on Youtube (fairly good quality) by searching "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 2024 (4KHD) N1 Live BC Place Vancouver, Canada."