Last Friday, the first two episodes of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour documentary — The End of an Era — officially dropped on Disney+. Whether you’ve already watched it and want to fangirl along with us, or you just want the tea, here are 13 facts we’ve learned (so far!) that people can’t stop talking about:
1. Before Taylor took the stage to kickstart the show with the Lover era, eagle-eyed fans noticed that her crew would leave her sweet messages on her lift’s screen every night. We saw one of these in the documentary’s trailer, and a different one in Episode 1.
2. Between the Asia and Europe legs of the Eras Tour in 2024, Taylor and her team had a two-month break…or so we thought. They were actually working The Tortured Poets Department into the Eras Tour, building a “top secret rehearsal facility” to do so privately and without leaks. Additionally, her dancers had to learn their choreography with the lyrics in their heads, as it couldn’t be played out loud because the album wasn’t out until April.
3. In a scene where Taylor’s on the phone with Travis, we get a quick glimpse at her screen, where it appears as though her fiancé is saved in her phone as “Travis ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥.” As we know now, the flaming heart icon is the emoji-of-choice to represent her latest album and era, The Life of a Showgirl, which Travis heavily inspired.
4. Taylor’s tour choreographer, Mandy Moore, was recommended to her by her longtime friend, Emma Stone. Emma worked with Mandy on La La Land.
5. When casting dancers for the tour, a confidential email was sent out for an unnamed artist, only identifying Mandy as the choreographer. When seeking talent, Taylor specified that, rather than aiming for a specific gender or aesthetic like some do for the sake of uniformity and to prevent drawing attention away from the artist, Taylor wanted each of her dancers to shine and be as diverse as the audience.
6. Taylor revealed that she was taught choreography from a lyrical perspective on tour, meaning rather than using traditional eight-counts, she times her movements to the syllables of words in her songs. According to her, this is the only way she can learn it.
7. For each leg of the tour, Taylor gives every member of her crew a handwritten, wax-sealed thank-you note, in addition to a sizable bonus. According to her, the more the tour grosses, the more her team gets.
8. The full amount her dancers were given in bonuses was bleeped out, but given their reactions, how long the bleep lasted, and that it *seemingly started with the letter “s”, fans speculate they were given somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000 each for that leg alone.
9. In the first episode, Taylor tearfully addressed the several violent attacks surrounding her and the tour, including the stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor-themed dance party in Southport, England, and the thwarted terrorist attack targeting her shows in Vienna, Austria, which ultimately led to them being canceled. Additionally, she met privately with the survivors and families of the victims of the attack in Southport prior to each of the five shows in England.
10. We got a special look at two musical guests on the tour — Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch — and just how different their behind-the-scenes prep really was. While Ed’s surprise song appearance seemed to be a low-key, backstage coordination day-of, Florence’s special “Florida!!!” performance for the last night in London took days of prep and required the dancers, Florence, and Taylor herself to learn new choreography.
11. In a quick scene in the first episode, we see Taylor listening to an audiobook on her phone, in an effort to soothe her anxiety. While we still may not have a Taylor Swift book club, I do have some answers for you as to what she’s been reading this year. Fans have identified the book as “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore, if you’re curious.
12. It appears as though Taylor gets into a car almost immediately after leaving the Eras Tour stage after “Karma,” still clad in her Midnights bodysuit. In fact, we see her still in costume in the next scene in her hotel room.
13. We also got a peek into Taylor’s post-show routine, which includes hanging out with her cats, soaking in the tub, eating room service in bed, watching TV, and signing a box of 2,000 CDs before finally getting tired enough to go to sleep around 4 a.m.
