Almost As If Taylor Swift Were In Seoul: Swifties Flock To Theaters For “Eras”

Taylor Swift arrives at the world premiere of the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” at AMC The Grove on October 11 in Los Angeles, California. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korean Swifties may still be disappointed that Taylor Swift isn’t coming to Seoul to perform as part of the global superstar’s highly acclaimed “Eras” world tour, but they were at least able to enjoy the concert film instead.

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which documents Swift’s shows at SoFi Stadium in California, premiered at select CGV theaters in Korea on Friday.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Swift sings — and the lyrics couldn’t ring truer for Swift’s Korean fans, since the country is only now showing the film, nearly a month after its world premiere on October 11.

It is now the highest-grossing concert film of all time, grossing over $203 million at the worldwide box office as of October 30.

At CGV Yongsan in central Seoul on the same day, several fans gathered outside the theater doors, chatting and exchanging friendship bracelets. A trend developed among Swift concert-goers in which they swap their colorful beaded bracelet collections, some reaching from their wrists to their elbows.

It comes from a lyric from Swift’s song “You’re On Your Own, Kid” from her 2022 album Midnights, which reads: “So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.”

The creative activity allows the Swifties to “quickly” express their love for the singer – even if they only met before the film.

“We were so devastated that Taylor wasn’t coming to Seoul,” three Swifties, strangers to each other who had just enthusiastically exchanged their homemade jewelry, told Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday.

The trio said they each opted to get tickets to Swift’s shows elsewhere, with two of them going to Japan and another going to the Australian performances.

Taylor Swift fans take photos before the poster screening ahead of the premiere of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” at CGV Yongsan on Friday. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Korea’s quick exclusion was inevitable as there is no stadium large enough to accommodate the global superstar. “The Eras Tour” is Swift’s most extensive tour to date, as it passes exclusively through the stadium. The only Asian cities Swift visits, Tokyo and Singapore, have stadiums that seat at least 50,000. Seoul’s largest stadium, the Jamsil Olympic Stadium, normally seats around 60,000 but is undergoing renovations by the end of 2026, and other indoor stadiums in Korea can accommodate up to 20,000 spectators at most, excluding outdoor stadiums.

When the three Swifties heard that the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” was coming to the big screen in Korea, they rushed to buy seats, but even that wasn’t easy.

“I tried to get tickets for IMAX, but they sold out immediately,” said Lee Chae-won, one of the three. “I thought, wow, at this rate, if Taylor ever actually performs in Korea, I might not be able to get any more spots. But I’m so glad I can at least see it in 2D.”

It was no exaggeration when reports from abroad last month said fans were swarming the singer in their theater seats as it appeared to be a universal phenomenon.

Korean Swifties were no different and expressed their deep affection for the singer. Even though Swift wasn’t actually there, fans were on tenterhooks right from the start of the two-hour, 45-minute film. When Swift appeared on screen, fans cheered with joy and sang along to the singer’s first number, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” (2019).

The theater was full of die-hard fans who not only sang along to every single lyric, but had already mastered the fan chants and clapping of certain songs like “Bad Blood” (2015) and “Shake it Off” (2014). They shook so much to the music that the entire theater would have become a dance floor if they didn’t have to sit.

Taylor Swift performs during “The Eras Tour” in Nashville, Tennessee on May 5th. Swift will release her concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” on October 13th. [AP]

The concert film showed Swift singing about 40 songs, all spanning her different musical eras: from Swift’s earlier hit albums like “Fearless” (2008) and “Red” (2012) to later ones like “Reputation” (2017) and “Folklore” (2020) and finally closed the show with their latest album “Midnights” (2022).

After singing her final song, “Karma” (2022), Swift thanked everyone and left the stage, and Swifties in the theater cheered and clapped. It was almost as if Swift had just been here in Seoul.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is available in both 2D and IMAX at select CGV theaters nationwide. Tickets cost 25,000 won ($19) for 2D and 30,000 won for IMAX.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]