Taylor Swift performs at the Paris Le Defense Arena as a part of her Eras Tour concert in Paris, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Food and Dining Reporter
Taylor Swift performs at the Paris Le Defense Arena as a part of her Eras Tour concert in Paris, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
When Taylor Swift embarked on the Eras Tour in 2023, she started with a setlist of 44 songs spanning 10 albums that had some small tweaks before filming and releasing her tour movie with 45 songs.
But after a two-month break and a new album drop, fans were expecting big changes for the first concert in Paris on Thursday.
Aside from Swift wearing a new outfit to kick off the concert, everything at first appeared to be business as usual.
After she finished skipped “The Archer,” the sixth song in the previous set list, fans immediately noticed, wondering what if the change was to make room for a new era.
Swift released a new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on April 19, and fans speculated that the singer would add it as a new era on the tour. She had posted a YouTube Short showing her practicing choreography that was not in the set prior to the two-month break after the Singapore stop.
But skipping her song from the “Lover” album was just the beginning of several changes that may be seen when Swift comes to New Orleans in October.
The international popstar started her concert in the usual manner with “Lover” songs then “Fearless.” She rearranged the set list, placing her “Red” album’s song right afterward, instead of transitioning to “Evermore” as she had in the past.
After finishing her 10-minute version of “All To Well,” Swift disappeared and new graphics danced across the backdrop, and in came dancers wearing purple dancing to a soft track singing, “Please, don’t be in love with someone else. Please, don’t have somebody waiting on you,” before performing the single off “Speak Now.”
In the week leading up to the Paris show, social media rumors that her koi fish guitar used on the tour was returned to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. That makes sense because the song “Long Live,” which she sung while playing the famous blue guitar, was cut in Paris.
After the singer’s “Reputation” era ended, a snake slithered across the display through a forest scene and then dissipated into firefly-like sparkles covering the stage as the concert transitioned to the Folklore era.
After April 2023, Swift started her “Folklore” section of the concert with “The 1,” “Betty” and “The Last Great American Dynasty,” but this time she started with “Cardigan” while she was on top of her “folklore house” before singing “Betty.”
Swift then announced the sister albums, “Folklore” and “Evermore,” have now been combined into one segment as she started playing “Champagne Problems” on the piano.
The singer finished that segment with “Willow” before the mountains behind her disappeared into the cityscape that her “1989” portion of the set is known for.
After finishing “Bad Blood,” the arena went dark and papers started to float on the screen in black and white as members of the audience started screaming for “The Tortured Poets Department,” which Swift later jokingly called “female rage: the musical.”
As the screen started to show an empty street, Swift rose at the front of the stage with a white dress akin to one she wore at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where she announced the release of the album.
She started with “But Daddy I Love Him,” then did a brief portion of “So Highschool” before doing a moving performance of “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” with a platform that had the singer floating around the stage.
To continue “The Tortured Poets Department” section, Swift performed “Down Bad” and then transitioned to her first single of the new album, “Fortnight,” as dancers pushed onto the stage a platform with two chairs and a typewriter.
When Swift got to the bridge of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” a group of people playing snare drums marched behind her before falling to the ground with Swift to end the song.
Picking Swift off the floor, she and two dancers put on a short vintage Hollywood-style play to revive the singer before she started to perform “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart,” complete with 1950s-style feather fans and costumes. Then the curtain closed on “The Tortured Poets Department” before the acoustic set.
Swift finished the concert with the “Midnights” album set with no changes.
Email Chelsea Shannon at [email protected].
Taylor Swift fans hoping to hear songs from her new album at the New Orleans concert dates later this year are likely in luck.
Taylor Swift’s fame has become colossal over the years. Her cultural impact has managed to seep into every corner of the globe, and her unreachable celebrity status demands to be noticed.
Brushes with someone on the path toward superstardom leave a lasting impression.
How does your daiquiri of choice or your favorite Mardi Gras krewe relate to Taylor Swift?
Food and Dining Reporter
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