The Taylor Swift docuseries just landed. Here are 5 things we learnt

2 months ago 7

It’s fair to say Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not only was it a three-and-a-half-hour journey through her discography, it was also the highest-earning tour of all time, grossing more than $US2 billion ($3 billion) and shattering attendance records. It spanned five continents, 21 months and 149 shows and even boosted local economies around the world.

Many left the concert (or flicked through videos of it on TikTok) wondering how on earth she pulled it off. Now, thanks to Taylor Swift: The End of an Era, we finally know.

Taylor Swift stunned the world with the Eras Tour. Now, she’s showing us exactly how she made it happen.

The six-part docuseries, the first two parts of which landed on Disney+ on Friday (the day before the pop star’s 36th birthday), pulls the curtain back, bringing fans behind the scenes and introducing those who made it possible.

And while the docuseries may sound like pure fan service – especially when it already has a box office-breaking concert film attached to it – its value lies in its ability to reveal the mechanics behind such a mammoth production. On that note, here are five of the most interesting things we learnt.

Taylor’s emotional response post-Vienna

A large portion of the first episode is dedicated to Swift’s personal response to the thwarted terrorist plot in Vienna, which led to the cancellation of an entire weekend of shows in 2024. This came shortly after an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the UK’s Southport, where three children were killed. Swift touches on both matters ahead of her shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.

“It’s just kind of a weird feeling going into these last five shows in Europe because ... we’ve done 128 shows so far, but this is the first one where I feel like I’m skating on thin ice or something,” she says, tears welling in her eyes. “I’ve just been kind of all over the place.”

The singer met with the families of the Southport victims before each of her London shows, and is filmed breaking down in tears, consoled by her mother, Andrea. However, she also shares the immense pressure she feels to keep it together for the fans.

“It’s like you’re a pilot flying a plane. If you were like, ‘There’s turbulence up ahead, I don’t know if we’re actually going to land in Dallas’ … Everyone on the plane is going to freak out,” she says. “You just have to have a calm, cool, collected tone of, ‘We will be landing in Dallas at 6.05pm. Got a little turbulence up ahead, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Just keep your seatbelts fastened and welcome to the Eras Tour’.”

The making of a phenomenon

It’s already common knowledge among Swifties that the Eras Tour was the product of two things: the COVID-19 pandemic, when no live shows could take place, and the battle for Swift’s masters, which were sold out from under her in 2019. However, The End of an Era captures never-before-seen early moments between the singer and her crew.

The series uncovers the headspace Swift was in during the show’s preparation, from tearing up while introducing herself to the dancers, to laying out her vision of the concert beat by beat. It lays bare her meticulousness and passion (verging at times on obsession), which became the driving forces behind the show.

Introducing the Eras family

Dancer Kameron Saunders caught our eye during the Australian leg, and now we know he’s as much of a delight as we thought. We’re not only offered insight into his struggles within the dancing industry before Eras, we also meet his mother, who “pops off” (her words) when she sees him on-stage.

Taylor Swift with her dancers performing at the Eras Tour in Melbourne.

Beyond Saunders, we hear from Amos Heller, a bassist who has worked with Swift since 2007 (and who likes to rehearse in the shower), choreographers Mandy Moore and Amanda Balen and, of course, Mama Swift, who co-manages the pop star.

Then there are the guest stars, two of which appear in the debut episodes. Footage of Swift rehearsing with Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch depicts the celebrities as normal friends who enjoy creatively riffing off one another.

Taylor’s post-show routine

What would someone do to relax after a show as insane as Eras? Following a particularly solid performance in London, Swift is filmed coming off-stage, immediately getting into a car, having her boots pulled off and calling her now-fiance Travis Kelce (whom she likens to a “vitamin drip”) for a debrief. Once she’s at her hotel, she says hello to her cat Benjamin Button, runs a bath and removes her make-up.

As if we didn’t already know enough about Taylor and Travis’ relationship, we now know he’s her “vitamin drip” while on tour.

“I don’t do drugs, so I just let [the post-show high] ride,” she explains. “I’ll just go to sleep when I’m tired, and when I’m tired is at like four in the morning. So, I just watch tons of TV, I get room service in bed, I sign a box of 2000 CDs, and then I’m tired, and then we do the whole thing again.”

The nuts and bolts

A lot goes into creating a tour on the scale of Eras. Here are a few technical details shared in the first two episodes:

Swift began physical training six months before rehearsals began.
As each leg of the tour concluded, she prepared bonuses for every dancer, musician and crew member (delivered via a handwritten and wax-sealed note). Though the exact amount for each individual member was bleeped out, a screenshot of a People article showed the collective bonus given was $US197 million ($295 million).
A top-secret rehearsal facility was built to lock in the new set list when Swift created The Tortured Poets Department. The dancers had to learn all the new choreography verbally because they couldn’t play the songs out loud since they weren’t officially released yet.
Swift doesn’t learn choreography with eight-counts, but by attaching a movement to the syllables of lyrics. Some Eras dances were learnt in as little as 30 minutes.