Everything we learned from first two episodes of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour documentary

Taylor Swift has given fans behind-the-scenes access to her record-breaking Eras Tour as part of a six-part Disney+ docuseries.

The worldwide tour became a cultural phenomenon with fans dressing up as their favourite Era, exchanging friendship bracelets and predicting what surprise songs Swift was going to sing each night. It also boosted local economies, generating an eye-watering $2 billion.

On Friday (December 12), the first two episodes of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show were released on the streaming platform, where we got to learn more about the development, impact, and inner workings of putting on a tour of this scale.

Here is everything we learned:

How The Eras Tour came to be

Swifted noted that the idea of the Era Tour was down to two "unpleasant" things she experienced, the first being that her music catalogue (first six albums) had been sold, she bought back her masters, and so she then decided to re-record those albums. Another contributing factor was the COVID pandemic, as this was a time when concerts couldn't go ahead.

“What if I did a tour that celebrated all of these different moments in my life and career?” Swift recalled.

As the ideas for the Eras Tour developed, Swift had a clear goal set to “overserve” her fans in every way - songs, production, and choreography, and in the end came up with a tour that lasted three hours.

She gave handwritten letters to her tour crew on bonus day

We also saw Swift writing letters to her tour crew by hand and sealing them with wax. Inside the letter, she revealed how much they would be getting as a bonus - it's previously been reported that the singer gave her tour team $197 million in bonuses.

Appearances from Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch

Disney+

Swift was seen with her showbiz pals Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch in these opening episodes as they joined her on stage on different nights of the tour when it arrived in London.

Swift and Sheeran could be seen practising their duet backstage (a medley of their collabs 'Everything Has Changed,' 'End Game,' and Sheeran’s song 'Thinking Out Loud'). Meanwhile, Welch joined Swift for the first live performance of their track 'Florida!!!' and viewers got to see choreography practice in secret, where smaller, limited speakers were used so it wouldn't ruin the surprise for fans.

Her celebrity pal recommended her tour choreographer

To put on a massive production for the Eras Tour, Swift worked with Mandy Moore after actor and longtime friend Emma Stone recommended her after they worked together on La La Land.

Moore has more of a film background, and so this was a new project for her, but noted the cinematic elements of Swift's music as she notes in the second episode: “Her songs are mini movies."

Singer reacts to Vienna shows being cancelled over terror threat

Swift also commented on the cancellation of her shows in Vienna due to a terrorist threat, noting they'd "dodged a massacre situation."

"We're in London at my hotel and basically it's just kind of a weird feeling going into these last five shows in Europe. Because it sort of feels like we've done like 128 shows so far, but this is the first one where I feel like, I don't know, like I'm skating on thin ice or something. We've had a series of very violent, scary things happen to the tour," she said.

Swift breaks down in tears recalling Southport stabbings

Disney+

Swift can be seen in tears as she reflects on the tragic Southport stabbings that occurred while on tour.

Backstage footage shows the singer emotional before meeting survivors and families of the victims of the July 2024 attack at a Swift-themed event in Southport, where three young girls were killed, and others were injured.

Swift struggled to talk about the violence and was comforted by her mother before going onstage at Wembley Stadium. The documentary highlights her effort to balance grief with performing for fans.

Sweet phone call with fiancé Travis Kelce

We saw Swift on the phone to fiancé Travis Kelce in the teaser clip, and we now know this conversation was ahead of her first London show - the first show back since her Vienna dates were cancelled.

At one point, the singer hilariously compares how Kelce has coach Andy Reid, and she has her mother, Andrea Swift.

She also opened up on how their phone calls lift her mood, saying: "Some people get a vitamin drip; I get this.”

Then, post-show after London night one, she called Kelce again to inform him that it went well and how the crowd got her through it.

“We’re back!” she exclaimed.

The first two episodes of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show are now available to stream on Disney+ and will be followed by two episodes per week until the finale.

Elsewhere from Indy100, Taylor Swift is giving fans behind the scenes look at the Eras Tour, and Taylor Swift's mum reminisces in new teaser for Eras Tour documentary.

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