The End of an Era Watch Thoughts
My instant (ish) reactions to the six-part documentary series.
If you know anything about me, you know two things to be true: I love logistics, and I love Taylor Swift. So a six-part documentary that treats her career like a masterclass in planning, pacing, and precision is truly more than I could have ever hoped for. What follows are my high-level, running thoughts—captured in real-ish time. I’ll be updating this piece as the batched episodes drop, because a project this layered deserves a living document!!!
Episode 1 : Welcome to the Eras Tour!
Her pep talk before the final show where she tells the band and dancers “I think about each of you as little kids” and “I see you when you’re older” had me in full body chills and tears, two minutes in. It make absolute sense she is an incredible orator but still to hear her give a speech with such poetry!!!
Not Tay in the Eagles sweatshirt at first rehearsal with dancers!
When Travis was saying with true exasperation “I want to be thereeeeee” I felt it and it was so genuine and real! Also him saying “I’m going to be scouring the internet” had dying be (i you’re telling me he also was watching those grainy ass live streams?; and (ii) made me think of the meme of him from Grotesquerie where he is smiling looking at a laptop.
It was so fascinating hearing her speak with clear language about how she was manifesting anxiety and nerves in her body and the specificity of that language. This is a girl who has been to therapy loll.
I truly cannot believe she went out and met the Liverpool victims and their families before each of the August Wembley shows.
I forget what a talented musician she is, like, technically but the Ed rehearsal scene drove it home for me. I don’t think she gets enough appreciation for that side of her intelligence. She gets a lot of praise for her lyricism but her musical theory is incredibly impressive.
I absolutely LOVE how she literally goes straight to a car after the stages and gets her shoes taken off before they even leave. That’s so real be shoes are my first thing coming off.
I also know that no matter what my logistical cravings will never be satiated because what do you mean you order room service at midnight do they offer you the full menu do you order from an outside vendor is your meal prepared and brought up at a certain time what food do you eat after the show and then you don’t go to bed until 4am so what time do you wake up and then what happens.
Taylor swift still uses makeup wipes so I will literally never fall for propaganda that I shouldn’t be using them.
My greater thesis takeaway of this episode is that I am SO proud to be a Swiftie and experienced The Eras Tour. I will NEVER forget for my entire life the feeling inside of the shows. The ultimate celebration of girlhood and glitter and all things fun and sparkly and wildly and full emotive. There was the largest crowds I’ve ever experienced but no pushing or jostling or “us against them” feelings. I vividly remember from both shows I went to catching the eyes of total strangers in the middle of the performance and us all just gushing with the looks and giggles of “I can’t believe we are actually here!” It was truly so special and this documentary episode really captured that essence.
Episode 2: Magic in the Eras
It is SO impressive to me that all the rehearsals for the TTPD leg of the tour was done with in-ears/headphones. I do wonder if the dancers get to actually hear the songs or if they too only get beats/clicks and the track name?
I also didn’t appreciate how the TTPD addition really did alter the course of the entire rest of the performance and they had to re-learn the entire run of show!
One thing we learned from Taylor during her TLOASG press tour and her New Heights appearance was that she self-proclaims she doesn’t spend time online . . . That being said, we have a lot of evidence that she does! Maybe she’s not chronically online where she will know every niche meme and such, but she explicitly referenced a fear of seeing people online talk about not liking the “new” show after the addition of TTPD set.
This episode really highlighted to me how much profound appreciation and respect Taylor has for each member of her crew and how she genuinely views them as the best of the best in the industry.
In this episode, we learned a lot about choreography and the logistics behind them. First, I love that Emma Stone was the one who recommended Mandy Moore as The Eras Tour Choreography, and Taylor’s decision to select her despite having no live performance choreography experience and a portfolio that focused on film and television precisely because of that. As Mandy describes, I’ve always thought of Taylor’s discography as truly mini theatrical or movie performances, and to select a choreographer who would view her tour through that lens was an amazing decision.
I am so impressed with Mandy/Amanda as choreographers that they teach the dancers 8-counts but instruct Taylor by lyrics and switch effortlessly between the two instruction methodologies. It also is so interesting to just see how different people’s minds work!
We also got to learn about some of the dancers’ backgrounds, which I adored!
Amanda Balen, whose job was to show Taylor what to do on stage as Taylor! And how Taylor encouraged her to come out of retirement and join the dancers. Not to sound like a total sycophant, but I love seeing Taylor push those around her to chase after their passion and artistry.
Kameron Saunders—who I obsessed with following on Instagram—melted my heart right in half when he said “It’s important to know I come from a family with an excess of love.” I also adored the story of his NFL brother paying for his flight to the audition, even when Kam didn’t have any details on who it was for.
In general, we learned about how intentional Taylor was to curating a diverse slate of dancers so as to create a tapestry of talent that audience members could find themselves and their friends within. This made me actually tear up because it really is so heartbreakingly unique of an experience that felt so honest and real in that space!
Another significant part of the episode was dedicated to showing Flornce + The Machine’s guest appearance on the final night at Wembley (which we know she eventually reprised three more times at the Miami shows!). I simply adore that Taylor decided to dedicate a full cinematic appearance to this performance.
I gasped when Amanda told the dancers to “deflate” and then they all immediately did exactly what she meant for them to do! I mean, obviously they are professional dancers but it was so impressive to me to see their instant capabilities and mind-body connection for movement.
Seeing Mandy Moore get nervous to show Taylor the choreography is so real—her just wanting to do well for Taylor! Literally how I felt as a member of the crowd :)
I absolutely adored seeing Taylor have such appreciation for her dancers in the composition of her performance. When she said “I don’t want dancers who blend in; I want them to pull focus” speaks to her desire for grandiose theatrics and her security as an absolute superstar.
Also, Florence!!! Her voice is mesmerizing, she is so ethereal, and the description of herself and Taylor as people and friend’s is beautiful: “The persona is huge but the person is soft.”
Finally, I was cackling at even Florence saying that when she finally got on stage with Taylor Swift at Wembley - “Oh my god it’s Taylor fucking Swift.”
Last but not least, the end of tour leg bonuses!
First, I bitch non-stop anytime I have to handwrite more than like, five, cards. So the face that Taylor writes a note for every member of the crew for each end of tour leg bonuses is yet one more reason she is a better woman than I! That and I will never get over the way she holds a pencil.
It truly makes me emotional that so many funds from this tour were used to change so many people’s lives and in a way that is so augmented from typical norms (for example, most tour bus drivers noted that $5,000-10,000 were normal bonuses; Taylor gave her drivers $100,000).
I’ve done some deep diving outside the confines of the documentary, and from what I’ve seen people are nearly positive the crew bonus amounts were $750,000 (!).
The dancer who needed to grab their inhaler. Yep.
