Metro Weekly

Half of Taylor Swift’s Tour Openers Are Openly LGBTQ

With a lineup that includes an array of LGBTQ artists, Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour is shaping up to be one of 2023's gayest musical events.

Taylor Swift Era Tour -- Image via instagram.com/taylorswift

Just a few days ago, Taylor Swift shocked no one and delighted everyone when she announced that after many years away from the road, she was finally headed back out on tour. The superstar is planning on trekking across the U.S. throughout much of 2023, and she’s not going alone.

Swift’s upcoming The Eras Tour will feature an incredible nine opening acts, with different artists and groups taking turns starting the party right on various stops of the venture.

Nine different names is a lot for a relatively short trek, but it seems Swift wanted to make the entire project a musical adventure with many tastes and sounds, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most LGBTQ-friendly major tours in recent memory.

Of the nine opening acts announced for The Eras Tour, five openly identify as part of the LGBTQ community. That grouping includes the singers Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Girl in Red, and Owenn, as well as the pop band Muna.

Taylor Swift: Midnight album
Taylor Swift: Midnight album

Two other groups – Paramore and Haim – and a pair of singer-songwriters – Gayle and Gracie Abrams – are also signed on to open for the pop superstar. Though they don’t identify as part of the LGBTQ community, they are certainly allies. In fact, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams even penned a letter for Billboard not long ago that called out a former bandmate for being homophobic, and she did not mince words.

None of the nine acts selected by Swift are scheduled to appear on all of the dates on her The Eras Tour, which means fans in different cities will be treated to something of a unique show, and that no two stops will be alike.

The Eras Tour is slated to begin in March in Arizona and run into August of 2023, concluding in Inglewood, CA (outside of Los Angeles).

The trek thus far only includes 27 shows, which is a surprisingly small number. For comparison, Swift’s last venture, 2018’s Reputation Stadium Tour, played to crowds at 53 different concerts, while her first major outing, the Fearless Tour, included a whopping 118 performances.

Swift teased a major announcement on social media before sending a video into Good Morning America in which she revealed the good news.

Fans around the world freaked out, and when it came time for the masses to navigate Ticketmaster’s messy and complicated system to sign up for the privilege to later buy tickets to a show (yes, there was a step required for many before they could actually purchase tickets), the site faced an issue and many were left frustrated. That’s just one sign of how massively popular The Eras Tour is going to be.

With a lineup that includes a diverse array of LGBTQ artists, a singer who has incorporated pro-LGBTQ messages into a number of songs that will be performed on the venture, and a fan base consisting of millions of LGBTQ fans, Swift’s The Eras Tour is already shaping up to be one of the gayest musical events of 2023.

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