Behind The Eras Tour
- ejorigin
- Apr 4, 2024
- 7 min read
Written and Designed By: Lee Chin Yi (23-E4) Edited By: Hannah Lai (23-E1)
Indeed, it has been a long time coming since Taylor Swift came to Singapore. The first couple of weeks of March revolved around her, and though we are entering late to the party, we hope to share a different point of view from the articles that circulated through social media in March. Regardless of whether you went to the Eras Tour, enjoy this deep dive into the tour’s behind-the-scenes, set designs, and outfits!
Behind The Scenes
What does it take to be the Eras Tour? What makes this concert such a phenomenon, that people are willing to spend over $10,000 on? If you’ve even caught a glimpse of what goes on in the Eras Tour, you’ll know that Taylor Swift does not hold back. In order to put together a tour so large – and of a concert duration of about 3 and a half hours – what exactly does one need?
The saying goes that Rome was not built in a day. Neither was the Eras Tour. From her interview for Time’s Person of the Year Award 2023, we know that Taylor Swift started training for the tour six months in advance, also spending three months practising the dance choreographies. We can only assume that the talks and construction for the tour started long before that.
So, how big is the team behind Taylor Swift’s biggest tour? To start off, her team of backup dancers comprises of 15 dancers, all of whom are very talented. A majority of these dancers are no strangers to performing for big names in the music industry – with some of them having performed for Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber or Mariah Carey (to name a few) – and each of them has their moment to shine during the concert. Another essential team behind the tour would be Taylor Swift’s backup singers, who provide brilliant backing vocals to Taylor’s tracks with their melodic harmonies and stunning voices. This team of four singers are known as the Starlights, and they are not new to Taylor’s tours. Three of them first started singing with Taylor Swift during her Red Tour in 2013, and the fourth member of this group joined during the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. These marvellous singers don’t just sing during the tour but also are involved in some of the choreography during certain songs.
Photo Credit: Graham Denholm, TAS Rights Management, Getty Images
Of course, providing the live music is the large band – known as The Agency – that Taylor Swift travels with. Some of the members of the pop star’s band have been with her since her early days. The talented band comes up to the forefront of the stage during the Fearless Era and the song Long Live.
Photo Credit: John Shearer, TAS23, Getty Images
Aside from these wonderful performers, Taylor Swift obviously needs a big crew backing her. With two stages and so many sets – such as the Folklore Cabin and the scaffolding for The Man – she has many truckers and crew members setting up her stage and doing checks before every concert and works with caterers and even an athletic trainer.
Set Design
tolerate it
Photo Credit: Ronald Woan
Taylor Swift sets the scene for her song tolerate it from her album, evermore, by setting a table. As simple as the set is, it leaves a lasting impression on the audience. Seated on opposite ends, Taylor Swift and one of her dancers, Raphael Thomas, portray a relationship on the brink of totally falling apart. Taylor Swift fully utilises the props – casting them aside in a fit of anger as she sings – and crawling across the table to show her desperation to repair the relationship.
the last great american dynasty
Photo Credit: Instagram @tstheerastour
The folklore cabin plays a large part in the visual story that unfolds as Taylor Swift sings the last great american dynasty, a track off her folklore album. In the song, the folklore cabin represents the beach house owned by Rebekah (portrayed by the dancer Natalie Reid), and the dancers make full use of the cabin, dancing on the various floors, with Rebekah even climbing onto the roof of the house at one point.
The Man
Photo Credit: John Shearer, TAS Rights Management, Getty Images
If you’re talking about elaborate set design, you definitely can’t leave out The Man. Here, Taylor uses scaffolding and office props to emulate a corporate environment. The vertical scaffolding embodies the metaphor of climbing the corporate ladder; providing a theatrical platform to comment on sexism experienced in the workplace. With the bright screens showcasing shadows of office workers, a sense of overwhelmedness is evoked, mirroring the same feelings that are often experienced in a discriminatory work environment. Overall, this meticulous set plays a paramount role in Taylor’s commentary on gender inequality.
Look What You Made Me Do
Photo Credit: John Shearer, TAS Rights Management, Getty Images
Do you still remember the 2017 frenzy when Look What You Made Me Do just dropped? Well, Taylor is here to bring you back! Having a myriad of other ‘Taylors’ trapped in glass boxes, the stage transforms into an exhibition. As if they were real-life dolls, the Taylors then pay homage to her by performing rather disjointed dances, reflecting the false performativity present in the music industry. Finally, they exit the glass boxes in a fury, representing Taylor’s angst upon facing extreme public scrutiny in the past. Overall, the symbolic set-up and choreography aptly present the theme of vengeance in her sixth album, Reputation.
Honourable Mentions
The Introduction
Photo Credit: Don Braun, Celeb Mafia
With the gigantic flowy petals setting the stage for Taylor’s anticipated entrance, you can’t help but hold your breath. Coupled with the nostalgic mashup across her entire career, the introduction definitely leaves a beautiful lasting memory.
The evermore era
Photo Credit: Kevin Winter, TAS Rights Management, Getty Images
Photo Credit: Tempyx Blog
You can trust that there is no mistreatment of evermore here. With the moss-covered piano, the tall trees, and the witchy introduction to willow, the evermore set design is beautifully gothic. In particular, the introduction has the dancers and Taylor chanting as if it were a ritual, drawing similarities to the witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. With all these tangible props and effects, the world-building of evermore is extremely intricate.
Blank Space
Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur, TAS Rights Management, Getty Images
The car featured in The Eras Tour pays homage to Taylor’s very own Blank Space music video from 2014. Fortunately, the car here is virtual, and won't actually be smashed by the golf club props that Taylor and her dancers wield during the song!
Tour Outfits
Lover Bodysuit
Photo Credit: Reddit
Arguably the most signature outfit of them all, the Lover Bodysuit certainly has many bejewelled features. Designed by Versace, the bodysuit comes in four versions—the classic pink and blue, oceanic blue and yellow, enchanting purple, and hot pink. With these complementary colours, the bodysuits aptly echo the soft romanticism portrayed in Taylor’s album Lover. The countless sequins meticulously dotted across the bodysuit make Taylor look like she is sparkling on the stage. By picking up from the Lover era, Taylor is bringing the audience back to the time when Lover Fest would have begun, evoking nostalgia within the crowd. It’s a whimsical moment to see the outfit in real life.
Blazer for The Man
Photo Credit: Various Sources
After her teasing introduction to The Man, Taylor usually puts on an oversized blazer over her Lover bodysuit. The broad shoulders that frame the suit evoke a sense of manliness. After all, the feminist anthem The Man vividly presents the unequal treatment women oftentimes receive in today’s social environment. By embodying a man’s silhouette, Taylor powerfully conveys that if she were a man, she would be regarded as the perfect man, rather than the “incapable woman” people critique her to be. By using both bright and dark colours for different variations, we can see Taylor’s versatility in facing gender stereotypes. Particularly, the pinstriped blazer coupled with the gold ombré boots makes her look sleek yet flamboyant. Dominating the stadium with her shimmering suit and boots, there is no doubt that Taylor would indeed be The Man.
Folklore Dress
Photo Credit: Reddit.
Taking a break from sequins and sparkles, we have the folklore dresses. With folklore being one of Taylor’s more personal albums, the outfits that come along with it are naturally more muted. Nonetheless, whenever she twirls around during the bridge of august, the crowds naturally cheer at a higher octave. The sleeves of the dress would dance around her, mirroring the lightness of the autumn salt air. From afar, she looks like a flower blossoming into the season.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Alberta Ferretti
One of our favourites is the green chiffon gown, with its particularly long sleeves that reach to the floor. The gown was designed by Alberta Ferretti. With leaves embroidered across the edges of the dress, it looks as if they are etched onto Taylor’s skin, drawing parallels from Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture.
Reputation Catsuit
Photo Credit: Ethan Miller, TAS23, Getty Images
As she slithers onto her Reputation set, Taylor dons a catsuit designed by Robert Cavalli. It includes intricate patterns of snakes which start from her chest, and intertwine down her right leg. Additionally, the black sequins mirror the scales of a snake. The most eye-catching characteristic of the catsuit is its asymmetry – representing the eccentrics of her album Reputation, which conveys sentiments of revenge and boldness. Interestingly, this is the only outfit without an alternative option for its era.
Surprise! It’s the surprise song dresses!
Photo Credit: Reddit
Although the surprise song dresses may seem duller compared to her other outfits, Taylor actually hides a lot of intention behind them. As the queen of dropping Easter eggs, she likes to toy with her fans by hinting at new announcements. When Taylor announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in Los Angeles, she wore the blue surprise dress – the same colour that the album is associated with. Coincidence? Definitely not. A similar moment occurred when she wore the yellow dress on her fifth night in Singapore. As fans were frantically speculating what she could sing, she unexpectedly belted out to Sparks Fly and gold rush. With both song titles holding connotations to the colour yellow, it is obvious that Taylor had deliberately staged such a wonderful surprise.
All in all, everyone says that the Eras Tour is “an experience”. As big of a part as Taylor Swift herself plays in that, we cannot ignore all the manpower and effort that she – and everyone else on board – has put in to make it “the experience” for her fans.
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