No one does suspense quite like Taylor Swift.
From her extensive use of Easter eggs in music videos to the creative promotion of her most recent album “Midnights,” this queen of pop can send millions of fans into a tizzy with a single, cryptically-placed exclamation point.
Eras Tour concerts are filled with carefully choreographed references that Swifties dissect in group chats, TikTok videos and Twitter threads. The set lists for the three-hour concerts are the same from city to city with one exception: the surprise songs.
Swift selects two different songs from her discography to play each night, in addition to her regular set list of 44 songs. Fans are left to guess which surprise tracks from her 10 studio albums she’ll perform at each concert.
ERAS TOUR SURPRISE SONG RULES
The singer-songwriter has her own rules for what can qualify as a surprise song. If she hasn’t performed the song yet on the tour then it is in the running. Occasionally, Swift will, as she puts it, “mess up” a surprise song, which then in turn makes it eligible for another performance during the Eras Tour.
Swift’s two performances at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium July 7-8 come after nearly four months of concerts, which leaves 74 potential surprise songs for Kansas City fans. Since the tour began in Arizona last March, Swift has been selecting two different songs from her discography to play each night, in addition to her regular set list of 44 songs.
The first Kansas City concert on July 7 coincides with the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” leading many Swifties to believe that the surprise songs during the KC shows will hail from that album specifically.
KC SWIFTIES PICK THEIR CONTENDERS
The Star shared a poll asking Swifties what surprise songs they want to hear played during the KC concerts this weekend. Nearly 700 people responded. “Dear John” was a top contender and had received the most votes, until Swift performed it during her second show in Minneapolis two weekends ago, thus making it ineligible according to her rules.
After two weeks of polling, the top three surprise songs fans want Swift to play this weekend are “Long Live” and “Back to December” from “Speak Now” and “Picture to Burn” from her debut album.
This story was originally published in The Kansas City Star.
All of the graphics in this package were designed by Isa Luzarraga.