Taylor Swift’s three-hour tour de force, the Eras tour, is even tiring audiences out night after night. Just look around once the folklore interlude starts, about two hours in, as everyone savors their one (1) minute of sitting down before the final stretch. Luckily, most of us only have one performance to get through. Swift is doing this night after night, performing 66 shows so far! As the singer was named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, she opened up about her arduous preparations for the shows that kept her on our minds all year. And, like the tour, it happened in eras.
Swift started six months out, when she would sing through the entire set list while on a treadmill every day. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs,†she explained. Three months out, she started working on her dancing. “I wanted to get it in my bones,†she said, admitting that “learning choreography is not my strong suit.†She also gave up drinking for the tour. “I don’t want to know that world,†she says of performing a show hungover. Swift admitted she used to perform “like a frat guy,†but knew training would pay off for the Eras tour. “I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans and not lose my train of thought,†she said.
And after a weekend of shows is over, recovery is just as important. “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there,†Swift said of the day after. “It’s a dream scenario. I can barely speak because I’ve been singing for three shows straight. Every time I take a step, my feet go crunch, crunch, crunch from dancing in heels.†Then, for the rest of the week leading up to the next shows, it’s back to more workouts. No wonder she’s dating an athlete now — who else could keep up with her?