The Chairman is here, and she’s brought her typewriter. Taylor Swift has come straight from The Tortured Poets Department to the Paris La Defense Arena. On the opening night of the European leg of The Eras Tour in Paris, France, Swift debuted live versions of her latest double album release: The Tortured Poets Department and The Tortured Poets Department:The Anthology.
In a dramatic shift after the 1989 set, Swift reemerged onstage in a white gown straight from the “Fortnight” music video to usher in a whole new era to The Eras Tour. It’s truly tortured with seven new songs. The TTPD era opened with “But Daddy I Love Him,” before abruptly switching into “So High School” for the outro. The pop star was a full blown mad woman levitating over the stage for “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” which was followed by a mash-up of “Down Bad” and “Fortnight.” Next, Swift was surrounded by a somber marching band for “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
The set was complete with accompanying visuals, set designs, theatrical choreography and outfit changes. Swift even acted out a silent film sketch before breaking into the final number “”I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” ahead of the surprise song portion of the show.
The additional era was not the only change to The Era’s Tour set list. Before Swift took the stage, eagle-eyed fans noticed the addition of TTPD lyrics from the title track and “The Alchemy” in the opening mash-up intro. The eras correlating to each album were also switched around, with Red and Speak Now sets coming after the Lover and before Folklore and Evermore. Swift also cut plenty of songs from the set list, including “The Archer,” “Long Live,” “‘Tis the Damn Season,” “Tolerate It,” “The 1,” and “The Last Great American Dynasty.”
There were also some notable outfit changes from a new pink and orange sparkling bodysuit for Lover to a different T-shirt for the Red era that cryptically donned the message “This Is Not Taylor’s Version.”
During the Red era, Swift played into the chaos of the changes. Before performing “All Too Well (10 Minute Version), she told concertgoers, “I see the reactions from this crowd… it makes us want to show you all kinds of fun surprises.”
Fans began speculating about how The Tortured Poets Department would be included in Swift’s upcoming tour dates since double album’s release on April 19. Theories swirled as soon as the pop star shared a video of tour rehearsals a “fortnight” before the show in Paris, which seemed to include new stage sets and choreography.
As Swift said during the Arlington, Texas stop of the The Eras Tour, “Let it be said about the Eras Tour, we’re tricksy. That’s what we are [and] we enjoy a good, healthy set list hijinks.”
