Taylor Swift has revealed that the updated Eras Tour set was planned over eight months ago, as she was wrapping up the North American leg of the tour.
The popstar returned to the stage on Thursday May 9 in Paris, France, revealing seven new songs had been added to the setlist, from the 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department.
On Friday, she gave insight into the decision, telling fans that "it has been so rewarding playing it for you because we started planning this surprise for you about eight or nine months ago". "And then when we got two months off of the Eras tour, we really didn’t take any time off at all, we just went directly back into rehearsals," she added, going on to thank her "crew, my dancers, my band, my backing vocals, everyone who did that".
To reflect the new additions, several other songs were cut and two eras were combined, while new costumes were also on show. In an interesting twist, rather than the previous decision to reference the older eras with updated modern looks, she appeared to have worked with designers including Naeem Khan and Roberto Cavalli to instead simply copy the original eras looks, as most obviously seen in the Fearless dress.
Red replaced Evermore as the third era on the setlist, and the sixth era became Folk-more, a combination of Folklore and Evermore. 1989 followed and then she segued into The Tortured Poets Department.
The TTPD set was expected, as YouTube shorts shared by Taylor in the weeks since TTPD's release revealed new set pieces including a barre that features the album logo in the middle; it ended up being a bed frame for 'Fortnight'.
Her dancers had also been spotted with new props, while Taylor had been seen practicing in the same heels she wears in the 'Fortnight' video.
The set began with 'But Daddy I Love Him,' and she then sang part of 'So High School,' before a punishing performance of 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?' and into 'Down Bad,' complete with alien spaceships.
A performance of 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,' saw her dancers turn into a marching band, before 'I Can Do It With A Broken Heart' became a jazzy 1920s number that began with her being undressed from the TTPD dress into a sequin top and shorts.
Inspired by the era's silent films, it was a theatrical over the top moment with the dancers putting Taylor's shoes on her feet for her, and pushing her forward despite her protestations, a metaphor that spoke to the heartache she was going through every night in 2023 while performing on tour.
The final era, Midnights, received no changes, keeping its original seven songs: 'Lavender Haze,' 'Anti Hero,' 'Midnight Rain,' 'Vigilante Shit,' 'Bejeweled,' 'Mastermind,' and 'Karma'.