At this point, I feel pretty confident that when Taylor Swift takes the stage in Paris just over 48 hours from now, we will be seeing a different version of the record-breaking Eras Tour. Just how different? That’s the only thing that remains to be seen.
Why do I feel this way? For one, anything else would be a missed opportunity. Swift just had the biggest sales debut of her 18-year career with the April 19th release of The Tortured Poets Department. So why would you not include a Tortured Poets Eras set?
Sure she could make her way through the album using one of the two surprise songs to play a different Tortured Poets track each night. And I think that will happen more often than not. But I also think there will be a dedicated “era” in the tour for her most recent release.
Other than intuition (which as 17 years of being a Swift fan I have a pretty good grasp on) there is some other evidence of why this most likely will happen.
The first being the large break in the Eras Tour. The last show was on Saturday, March 9th in Singapore. Swift will perform again two months later in Paris on Thursday, May 9th.
Yes, transporting the massive stage was a huge reason for that break. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also planned around rehearsals for something new.
And clips in the videos shared as part of the social media “For A Fortnight” challenge, showed Taylor rehearsing. With new set pieces and a “TTPD” logo on one of those set pieces.
The Tortured Poets Eras Tour
So in my mind, only three questions remain. What, if anything, changes on the setlist to accommodate this new era? If songs are omitted, I’d expect them to be the ones left out of the theatrical version of The Eras Tour movie.
This would be “The Archer”, “Tis The Damn Season”, “Wildest Dreams”, “Cardigan”, and “Long Live”. In a perfect world, she would just add this era and keep everything. Yes, I’m aware the show is over 3 hours and 15 minutes long. Yes, I know this would make it around 3 hours and 45 minutes. A girl can dream.
The next question is where in the set would/will the new era be? The easiest would be the end. And it’s one of the two most likely. But “Karma” makes such a good closing song. So I wouldn’t be surprised if she slipped The Tortured Poets Department in somewhere else.
Perhaps, after the surprise songs or between Red and Folklore. She ends the Red set with the 10-minute version of “All Too Well”. While vocally long, performance-wise it does give her a physical break. Folklore is a more subdued set as all, so inserting a more physically demanding upbeat set in between the two makes the most sense to me.
And the final, most important question. What songs will she include? With 31 tracks on the total album there is a lot to choose from. I saw a post from Billboard that had their predictions and I agree somewhat.
But here are the predictions on what I believe will be the Tortured Poets Department Eras Tour setlist. And you best believe I’ll be tuning in to a live stream Thursday afternoon to see what happens!
