Fifty-two stadiums, 10 albums, 44 songs taking on in all greater than three hours: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which kicked off March 17 at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona, is a production of epic scale.
There are nonstop costume changes, large-scale set swaps and stunts on the outrageous order of a Las Vegas residency.
“It’s almost like a special Broadway musical for every song,” Dave Brooks — Billboard Senior Director of Live Music and Touring — told The Post.
“The production quality is just up to now ahead of whatever has been [done] … They’re constructing these very elaborate sets that they’re using for several songs versus the entire concert.”
The worth tag can also be astronomical.
“The fee has gotta be well north of $100 million … probably lots greater than that,” said Brooks. “It’s gonna be one of the expensive tours ever, but it’s going to even be considered one of the highest-generating tours financially. So it pays for itself mainly.”
And it seems to have put all the Ticketmaster-crashing drama behind the “Anti-Hero” singer together with her legion of Swifties.
Erica Gabriel, an event producer who traveled from Salt Lake City to Glendale to see the second show of the tour on March 18, told The Post that the experience was “unbelievable.”
“It literally exceeded every expectation that I had set for myself — like, by 10 times — and I already had high expectations.”
Here’s a peek inside Swift’s next-level spectacle.
Setting the stage
A huge catwalk stretches nearly all the length of the stadium, the higher for Swift to work the runway with a military of over a dozen dancers.
The strategy of constructing that stage — and all the remainder of the sets — begins on the venue weeks before the pop princess launches into the “Lover” opener, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.”
For a stadium tour of this magnitude, Brooks said, “They’ve advance teams that could be prepping and pre-building.”
Closer to the date, a team of an estimated 90 trucks pulls into the venue to construct the sprawling scene for Swift to sing career-spanning hits starting from her 2006 self-titled debut album to her latest LP, 2022’s “Midnights.”
“It takes two to a few weeks, in my understanding,” said Brooks.
The large set piece
One among the structures — the mossy cabin atop which Swift sings through the “Folklore” section — seems especially tricky to construct and break down from city to city.
“It’s almost like you think that that they’d must have two,” said Brooks, “in order that they could be constructing one while the opposite is [being used].”
A daring stunt
Swift takes stage-diving to a complete different level.
Slightly than plummeting into the gang, the 33-year-old superstar plunges headfirst right into a trapdoor within the stage after singing her breakout hit “Tim McGraw.” Then she appears to swim through the stadium via a water-filled catwalk before resurfacing — dry and fresh in a recent costume — to perform “Lavender Haze.”
The stunt likely involves her landing on a crash mat after which using the identical “rocket sled” apparatus that she employed to zoom through the stadium hidden from view during her 2018 “Status” Tour. Brooks credits the oceanic illusion to exactly timed, pre-filmed visuals that “are almost form of a second performer together with her up there.”
Costumes galore
Swift wore greater than a dozen different looks on opening night, including a gold Roberto Cavalli flapper dress, a lavender Alberta Ferretti gown and bedazzled bodysuits by Atelier Versace and Oscar de la Renta.
Quick changes are key.
“All costumes are typically modified ultimately that’s going to make it very easy to get out and in of,” Dan George, a onetime tour manager who has worked for Shakira and Britney Spears, told The Post. “A dress that may typically have buttons, perhaps they add a zipper on it as a substitute. Or the performer might must have a pouch for a battery pack in a costume. You recognize, little customizations that make things easier.”
A marathon playlist
And at the top of the day, Swift— who will bring her Eras Tour to MetLife Stadium May 26 to May 28 — is the last word special effect, regardless of how massive the production is.
“Her endurance is basically the ‘next level’ to me,” said Brooks. “The proven fact that she’s gonna do these marathon, three-hour-plus shows — it’s gotta be exhausting.”
George, nonetheless, notes that her type of singing isn’t as tiring as some divas.
“Taylor is more of a stylistic vocalist. She’s got a really pretty voice, but she’s not an influence vocalist. So when she’s singing live, she’s not screaming at the highest of her lungs,” he said. “So it’s not, like, super difficult for her vocally.”
Still, the performance is an incredible feat.
Brooks said, “You’ll be able to innovate a stage, a touring element. But you possibly can’t really innovate the human body an excessive amount of — and the person’s ability to deliver.”
