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Eras Tour attendees, welcome to the “Department of Tortured Poets”.
At Taylor Swift’s concert in Paris on Thursday night (the European kickoff to the record-breaking tour and her first show since the album’s release), the pop icon premiered several of the new songs live at La Défense Arena , beginning with “But Daddy I Love Him.” .” She then sang “So High School” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” while standing on top of a glass block that moved across the stage. “Down Bad,” “Fortnight,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” followed, with “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” marking the end of the segment.
Swift kicked off the show with her usual opener, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” playing songs from her “Lover” and “Fearless” eras. She then changed the established order, performing songs from “Red”, “Speak Now” and “Reputation”, instead of transitioning to “Evermore”, as she had done during the previous leg of the tour. “Folklore” followed “Reputation,” accompanied by new footage showing a snake slithering through the grass.
The singer announced that she has always seen “Folklore” and “Evermore” as sister albums and that she would combine them into “one chapter” on the show, stating, “Now we have reunited the sisters.” She then performed songs from both albums before moving on to “1989.”
After “1989,” new images incorporating images of clocks marked a transition to “The Department of Tortured Poets.” Swift re-emerged on stage in a white dress with writing on it.
Following “The Tortured Poets Department” era, Swift performed “Paris” and “loml” as surprise songs during her acoustic set before concluding the show with her “Midnights” segment.
Ever since Swift announced she would be releasing a new album in the middle of the Eras Tour, fans have been speculating about how she would include it on the songs list. Some predicted that the album would mark a completely new era, while others thought she could represent it within the surprise song portion of the show.
“The Tortured Poets Department” was released on April 19 and Swift surprised her fans with a double album consisting of 31 songs. It debuted with 2.61 million units, marking the best weekly figure for any album in nine years. The album also ranked in the top 14 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Swift the first artist to do so. “Fortnight,” her duet with Post Malone, took first place.
“The Department of Tortured Poets” also earned critical acclaim, with VarietyChris Willman called it “audacious” and “paralyzing.” He wrote that the album “gives everyone a full dose of the Taylor that never gets over it and that no one really wanted to get over. As breakup albums go, it’s a marvel, as they would have said in Clara Bow’s day: an absolutely dramatic (if often witty) record that will soundtrack countless millions of tragic breakups to come.”
After three more dates in Paris, Swift continues the European leg of the Eras Tour in Stockholm, Sweden, before finishing with five dates in London in August.
