If you didn’t manage to get tickets to a Taylor Swift concert this summer, you might want to stop by Canobie Lake Park in Salem. Three times a day, almost every day this summer, park guests can attend the Eras Tour — New Hampshire’s version.
The amusement park is staging a 26-minute tribute show inspired by the pop star, which has gone viral on social media. Clips of the performance have garnered millions of views on platforms like TikTok.
The concert is held in a wooden amphitheater instead of a football stadium. But the intricately replicated costumes, Vegas-trained backup dancers, and rapt audience can make it seem like Swift added a stop in Salem.
At the center of it all is June Baker, who performs as Swift. Over the course of the show, she cycles through multiple eras of Swift's discography and changes costumes three times. (Four if you count the Fearless inspired mini dress she wears for the post-show meet and greet with fans.)
Baker bears a striking resemblance to the pop star and only tweaks a few things to get into character.
"I wear blue contacts. I need contacts to see, so I just get blue ones to perform,” she said in an interview after one recent performance. “I don't wear them on my days off."
Baker is still new to this role. She was discovered on social media, where she often got told she looked like Swift. Through that, she connected with a Las Vegas-based entertainment company that puts on shows at Canobie.
"I've really only been doing vocals for about three or four months to get ready for the show," she said. "I worked intensively with a vocal coach and did a lot of training on my own at home with the keyboard."
Based on the packed pavilion Sunday morning, all of her hard work seems to have paid off.
Baker said fans have come from as far away as Florida, Nebraska and Colorado to see her perform. The airfare, lodging, and Canobie's admission fee still were probably all less than a ticket to the real deal Eras tour.
