Taylor Swift is known for her Easter eggs. The superstar has hidden clues, hints, and callbacks in her music videos, live performances, interviews, and record liner notes since her early career.
“I love to communicate through Easter eggs,” Swift told Entertainment Weekly in 2019 to launch her Lover phase. I believe obscure messages are more effective. Planning something so far in ahead is kind of flexing. A real Easter egg does that.”
Swifties should not be surprised that The Eras Tour follows their queen’s meticulous preparation and attention to detail, even to her nail polish during tour rehearsals.
As the U.S. leg of the highly anticipated tour began, fans at the first two gigs in Glendale, Ariz., and later online thanks to #SwiftTok, noticed each singer’s onstage selections. Her clothing, dance, and setlist songs (or lack thereof) were all up to wild interpretation.
Fans have found Easter eggs on The Eras Tour across America. Billboard compiles a list. Many Swifties believe the artist is transmitting hidden messages and surprises from the stage.
Red (Taylor’s Version) T-Shirt
Taylor wears a T-shirt from the 2012 “22” music video during her Red period setlist. The shirt reads “Not a lot going on at the moment,” which Swifties worldwide knew meant their queen was planning a big surprise. 2020’s Folklore and Evermore strike twice.
On the first night of the tour (March 17), Tay’s shirt said “A lot going on at the moment” in bold block letters with “A lot” in bright red. Next night, the shirt said “Who’s Taylor Swift anyway?” from “22”. Ew.” “Ew.” was red this time.
One TikTok user imagined the red words would form “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” anagram. Swift announced her next re-recording, the 2010 third studio album, out July 7, despite the shirts not making it past Speak Now.
Unpacking ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’?
Fans were curious when Swift sang Reputation lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” with backup vocalists from her different album eras on stage in large plastic crates.
The backup vocalist in the box wore a purple halter dress that resembled Swift’s 2011 and 2012 Speak Now World Tour attire, fueling internet fan speculation that Speak Now will be Swift’s next re-recording. Taylor approaches her cage and pounds the glass to the beat as the singer tries to escape. The moment appears to be part of the choreography, but many Swifties believed it could signify the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which had been delayed by trademark and copyright concerns until earlier this week.
By song’s end, the Speak Now avatar and one other singer from a mystery era remain in their boxes, but most of the other singers-as-album eras are released.
View TikTok fan footage of the time.
On May 5, Swift presented Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, confirming the notion.
Speak Now or Later?
Speak Now’s reverse Easter egg was another notion. Her three-hour, fifteen-minute repertoire includes 44 songs from 10 albums. Although she sang many fan favorites in Arizona’s State Farm Arena in the first two nights, she only performed one song from 2010’s Speak Now, the album cut and originally planned title track “Enchanted.”
“Mine,” “Back to December,” “Dear John,” “Mean” and “The Story of Us” were missing, but like with everything Taylor does, it may have been intentional. Many fans believed the singer was reducing her third album’s focus since she may be releasing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Light-Up Wristband Colors
Another Speak Now Easter Egg for good measure. Taylor Swift startled Eras Tour goers at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium by turning their light-up wristbands purple at the end of the event, representing Speak Now, a week before announcing Taylor’s Version of her third album.
Manicure for Her ‘Eras Era’
Tay posted a carousel of stage photographs and the hashtag “In my Eras era” one day before the tour that showed the rehearsal process. The last photo in the slideshow showcased the star’s beautiful manicure, with each finger painted a different color for each record era: brilliant gold for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), glossy teal for 1989, matte black for Reputation, etc.
She can sparkle the stadium! During the setlist for 2022’s Midnights, Swift performed TikTok user Mikael Arellano’s popular “Bejeweled” choreography, striding across the stage with her dancers and doing the creator’s “twinkle fingers” motion. Arellano’s excitement at the dance is shown here.