But what does that mean for the rest of the Eras?
Taylor Swift is taking the stage again in Paris on May 9. In honor of her return to the Eras Tour, the singer shared fourteen behind-the-scenes clips of her preparing for the upcoming leg — and her fans are convinced that Swift added The Tortured Poets Department to her setlist.
Swifties on X, formerly called Twitter, and TikTok flocked to analyze the videos, coming to an exciting consensus for those who have tickets for upcoming Eras Tour dates. The prevailing theory: Swift dropped plenty of Easter eggs that she incorporated her latest album into the setlist.
After they dutifully dissected all of the clues, Swifties came to a startling conclusion. One tweeted, “oh taylor is really going to add ttpd to the setlist isn’t she.” From a white guitar to a TTPD-looking railing, these Easter eggs are pretty convincing — even for fans who usually don’t buy into the Swiftspiracy theories.
Swift has been encouraging her fans to participate in her “For A Fortnight Challenge” — sharing fourteen clips to the tune of “Fortnight.” On April 25, Swift shared one of her own compilation videos, which gave BTS of her Eras Tour rehearsals. “A fortnight til Paris 🤍,” Swift captioned the post. Could this mean that “Fortnight,” the first single off of TTPD, has a spot on the setlist?
In one of the clips, Swift is strumming on a white guitar — one that hasn’t been spotted on the Eras Tour so far. Instead, the guitar looks like what she used when she surprised The 1975’s audience with a performance of “Anti-Hero” at their show in London.
Considering fan theories that Tortured Poets is about The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, this guitar choice could prove to be an Easter egg that the album is gearing up to make an appearance at Paris Night One.
Between the white guitar and constant white heart emojis, it seems like Swift has decided on white as the color scheme of TTPD. Swifties noted that in some of her “Fortnight” challenge clips, she’s holding a white microphone — which also hasn’t been used on tour up until this point.
On X, one Swiftie pointed out that Swift teased a photo of her tour microphones — including the white one — prior to the Eras Tour, but was never spotted using it until now. Maybe she was saving it for TTPD.
In another snippet, Swift’s backup dancers were sporting some surprising accessories: top hats and canes. Although the Eras Tour crew is often decked out, there’s no song on the *current* setlist that involves these props.
However, in “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?”, one of the most passionate tracks on Tortured Poets, Swift does have a lyric that could explain her dancers’ hats and canes: “I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean / ‘Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth’ / Who's afraid of little old me?” Swifties are taking this as an Easter egg that the song found its way onto the setlist.
Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that in the background of one of the clips, you can *just* make out a desk (above Swift’s right shoulder) — and it doesn’t match the desks used during her “The Man” performance.
Could the furniture be a stand-in for the real “The Man” props? Yes. But could it also be a TTPD prop, especially considering all the office decor in the “Fortnight” music video? Swifties think so.
The most convincing Easter egg has to be the TTPD symbol. In one part of the video, Swift is holding onto a railing with the “PD” of the TTPD insignia visible. It could be a red herring, but it certainly seems like this means at least one Tortured Poets track will be featured in future Eras Tour shows.
If you focus in a little more on that TTPD railing, you might notice it looks a lot like a bed frame, which could be another reference to Swift’s “Fortnight” music video. It opens to Swift being chained to an empty bed frame, setting the scene for an asylum.
