Taylor Swift has dropped the first two episodes of her “Eras Tour” docuseries, revealing an inside look into her creative process and the trials and tribulations of the life of a showgirl.
The six-part docuseries will release two episodes weekly until Friday Dec. 26. The pop star broke records with her $2 billion grossing world tour. “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” documents the European leg of her tour, picking up cameras just days after Swift was forced to canceled her shows in Vienna, Austria amid terrorist threats.
Though “The Eras Tour” brought 10 million fans together worldwide, Swift shared that the experience was an emotional release of not just joy but of shared heartbreak, love and friendship.
Keep reading for the biggest takeaways and reveals of Swift’s “Eras Tour” docuseries.
The bad things that inspired The Eras Tour
Swift said that her record-breaking world tour may not have happened if it weren’t for two terrible moments in her life.
The first being her music catalog being sold in 2020 without her consent. Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings LLC sold the masters to her first six albums in November 2020. The deal was believed to be worth $300 million and valued at over $450 million. The pop star said that sale inspired her “Taylor’s Version” re-records, a trip down memory lane that sparked the concept for the tour.
The second moment that inspired the tour was the COVID pandemic. During the pandemic, the pop star had more time to reflect, releasing fan-favorite albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” within just four months of each other. The fans tie to the new style of storytelling inspired the artist to create more for them.
Taylor met with survivors and victims of the Southport, England stabbing attacks
Ahead of her five-night stint at Wembley Stadium, there was a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport, England, in which three young girls were killed.
“It was little kids,” Swift said, before breaking down in tears in a confessional interview in London. “I have a hard time explaining it.”
Swift met privately with the families of survivors and victims of the attack each night before her five shows at Wembley Stadium. The docuseries shows the pop star, dressed in her glittery orange blazer, sobbing as she leaves her meeting with the families.
Taylor’s response to the Vienna terrorist threats
The popstar had to cancel three shows in Vienna, Austria after evidence of a terrorist threat was found near the stadium. In her own words, the tour narrowly “dodged a massacre situation” when the CIA identified the plot to explode a bomb at the concert.
Swift’s first show back was in London at Wembley Stadium. She appeared more nervous than usual, listening to an audiobook to calm down her anxieties and taking comfort from her mom.
Moments after the first show, Swift exclaimed “We’re back!” She cheered and hugged and high-fived her production cast and crew as she skipped off stage and into her black getaway car.
Glimpses into Travis Kelce and Taylor’s relationship
Fans saw a sneak peek into Swift’s relationship with her now fiancé Travis Kelce. The star included two phone calls with the Kansas City Chief’s NFL star in the first episode of the docuseries. She exclaimed “Baby!” when the NFL star answered her call from London.
The couple raved over how the pop star could remember so many dance steps and how the football player could remember so many plays.
“It’s basically the same job,” Swift said. “I got songs to remember you’ve got plays to remember.”
“You’ve got teammates. I’ve got teammates,” Kelce replied.
Swift called Kelce again moments after her first show back post-terrorist threats, beaming about how it all worked out okay.
Ed Sheeran collaboration and pep-talk backstage
Swift brought out longtime collaborator and friend Ed Sheeran for her first show back in London. The duo rehearsed their mashup backstage, including “Everything Has Changed,” “End Game” and “Thinking Out Loud.”
Emma Stone told Swift the “one person” who should choreograph her tour
While prepping for what she knew would be a mammoth undertaking, Swift turned to close friend Emma Stone for advice. The “La La Land” star told the pop star that there was just one person, who should choreography “The Eras Tour”: Mandy Moore.
Moore admittedly had never choreographed for a stadium-size world tour of this nature. Her credits included choreographing for “Dancing With the Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance” and several award shows. She also choreographed for “La La Land” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Making of “The Tortured Poet’s Department” era
Halfway through “The Eras Tour,” Swift released a 35-track album “The Tortured Poet’s Department.” As a surprise for her fans, she added an entire era for the new addition to her discography.
Swift detailed how she and her dancers rehearsed the new chunk of the show in secret, quietly renting out practice spaces and rehearsing without playing the music aloud because it was yet to be released. Swift worked closely with her choreographer to make this section of the tour as flashy as the rest on her break between Asia and Europe.
Bonus Day!
Swift delivered hand-written, wax-sealed letters to every member of her crew, onstage and off, giving them their bonuses from the tour. “The Eras Tour” grossed over $2 billion from ticket sales alone.
The Grammy Award-winner gave out $197 million in bonuses to her entire “Eras Tour” crew. The clip from the docuseries showed Kam Saunders, one of her now viral dancers, reading her letter to the crew aloud. While the directors bleeped out how much each dancer was awarded in bonus checks, they all reacted with shock and gratitude to their boss and head honcho of the tour.
“My full gratitude doesn’t come from a bank, but here’s —” Saunders said before pausing to catch his breath after seeing the dollar amount of his bonus. “To express my thanks.”
Florence Welch and Taylor struggle learning choreography for “Florida!!!” cameo
Swift also brought out friend and collaborator Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, to perform “Florida!!!” at Wembley Stadium. This cameo, however, was not just the two standing at mic stands and performing. Swift brought Welch on for a full production number.
“I don’t do this. I’m going to f–k this up,” Welch joked as she learned choreography mere hours before the duo took the stage in front of 70,000 cheering fans.
Swift admitted that it has taken her forever to learn how to master choreography, too. She revealed that the only way she can get the moves down is by attaching it to her lyrics and leaning into the story of the movement.
The first two episodes of “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” are available to stream on Disney+. New episodes will come out on Fridays until Dec. 26.
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