who's afraid of surprise songs?

Will Tortured Poets Be Added to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour?

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour - Tokyo, Japan
Photo: Christopher Jue/Getty Images for TAS Rights

We are less than a fortnight away from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour arriving across the pond in Paris, France. We are also in the middle of Swift’s latest era The Tortured Poets Department, that’s filled with 31 brand spanking new songs. How is she going to fit them into the upcoming concerts? That’s way too many only to be played during Swift’s surprise song set, where she sings two songs acoustically on piano and guitar. She only has fifty shows in Europe, so it would take up 31% of the acoustic set if she decided to savor them all for the latter half of the show. But Swift’s too much of a mastermind for that. This leg of the tour only had one opener, Paramore, meaning more possible stage time for Swift. Could she add her newest era to an already 3-hour and 15-minute concert? Here’s all the evidence we’ve collected as to why Tortured Poets could be added to the Eras Tour.

Exhibit A:

Ah, YouTube shorts. Probably one of the most annoying features added to the platform as it floods the subscription feed with short-form videos on a site that thrives in long form content. But it is now our first piece of evidence. Looking closer at the 15 second video of Swift rehearsing the concert, you can see her leaning against a railing that looks like… The Torture Poets Department logo?

Photo: Taylor Swift/YouTube Shorts

She’s wearing what we can assume to be a lilac skirt, which is also seen in another YouTube Shorts video and mentioned in “imgonnagetyouback.” Below is a closer look at her heels, which are very similar to the same shoes she wears in the “Fortnight” music video. Now, why would she need to practice in different shoes if not for a new set?

Our last piece of Shorts evidence shows dancers wearing black hats and holding canes. Now, after what feels like countless viewings of the Eras Tour movie, I do not remember seeing Swift’s dancers with either of those items, nor doing any of those moves with Swift at the center.

Photo: Taylor Swift/YouTube Shorts

Exhibit B:

In March 2023, Swift, similarly to the “Fortnight” challenge, shared bits and pieces of her life in a TikTok, where she showed different colored mics from the Eras Tour, including a white one, which we haven’t seen on tour yet.

Over a year later, the white microphone has made its way back into Swift’s hand, possibly for a Tortured Poets appearance.

Photo: Taylor Swift/YouTube Shorts

Exhibit C:

The Anthology announcement echos a similar message that Swift shares on the Eras tour. Right before she plays “Lover,” she tells the crowd some variation: “These songs maybe started out being about my life, but my goal, my dream is that by the end of the night, they’ll be about your life.” And now for her latest album release, Swift writes, “And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.” Swift loves to create parallels between her new music and her previous work. Can this be an Easter Egg for what’s to come?

Will ‘Tortured Poets’ Be Added to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour?