Let’s Talk Delusion (Eras Tour Version)

My Eras Tour Revisions Predictions!

There are only three days left until Taylor Swift resumes her blockbuster Eras Tour in Paris, France.

However, it seems like the Eras Tour is not going to be the same as it was before, because Taylor has put out a brand new album, with 31 new songs, and I am sure that she would want to add them to the setlist.

Well, she kind of confirmed that herself, when she shared a photo of her in rehearsals standing over a bar with the TTPD logo on it.

If Taylor adds a new Tortured Poets set, I assume that it would be around 20-30 minutes long. Yet, she is still a human being, and I’m not sure a human being can perform for almost 4 hours in a row, so Taylor is set to make some cuts from the other sets.

Current Set Lengths

There are currently 10 different sets on the Eras Tour, with each set lasting an average of 15-20 minutes. Here is the list of lengths of each set:

Lover - 27 minutes
Fearless - 12 minutes
Evermore - 21 minutes
Reputation - 15 minutes
Speak Now - 8 minutes
Red - 23 minutes
Folklore - 31 minutes
1989 - 20 minutes
Surprise Songs - 10-15 minutes
Midnights - 21 minutes

Taylor would probably cut off songs from the longer sets, which means that Lover, Evermore, Red, Folklore, 1989, and Midnights are in danger.

Possible Cuts

The Archer - The Archer is the last song in the Lover set. Though it is a fan favorite, it is still unnecessary, a 3.5 minutes song that is only there for Taylor to move around the main stage and make eye contact with fans (I personally LOVE The Archer, but I don’t think it would make the cut this time).

'Tis The Damn Season - To be honest, until I started watching livestreams this February, I didn’t even know the song was on the setlist. I’m sorry, but the performance of this song is boring and it is completely the worst song to start the Evermore set with. I personally think that it shouldn't have been on the setlist, that starting this era with Willow would be much better, and I think that Taylor has come to the same conclusion (after all it was the only song that wasn’t on the Eras Tour movie).

Long Live - It hurts my feelings, it truly hurts my feelings, but Long Live is probably not making it. Taylor previously added Long Live to the EXTREMELY short Speak Now set after the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and it seems like we’re losing it. The Koi Fish guitar, which Taylor used when she performed Long Live, is back in the Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum, where it was displayed before Taylor started using it for the Eras Tour.

WANEGBT / IKYWT - The Red set is long, way too long. And I get it, both All Too Well and 22 are a must, removing them is a crime, but there are two other songs on this set: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble. They are both iconic cult songs, but each of them takes a good 3 minutes that Taylor would probably rather spend on new songs from TTPD. I can't determine which one of them will go, but both of them are definitely not going to stay.

Illicit Affairs - Another cut that truly hurts me. Illicit Affairs is one of the most powerful performances at the Eras Tour. Yet I think that if Taylor wants to cry on the floor to a heartbreaking bridge, TSMWEL is a better option for her, and it is also from TTPD, so she might swap Illicit Affairs with it.

Cardigan - Honestly, this song is such a miss. I get the fact that it’s the lead single from Folklore, but it’s boring. Its performance is boring, and you can see that Taylor doesn’t put her 100% in it. It’s only there for her to get back to the main stage after MTR. It’s the bathroom break, the time to check your messages and upload a story, and Taylor gets it. I don’t think it will survive.

My Tears Ricochet (shortened!!) - MTR is not a song Taylor is going to give up on easily. It’s one of her favorites off Folklore, and it is also a fan fav. However, I think she would shorten and change the choreography of the song so she would end up on the main stage (since we cut Cardigan). I think that what she would (or at least should) do is perform the first verse, the chorus and the bridge and leave it there.

Mastermind - It’s really a death by a thousand cuts. But again, just like Illicit Affairs, I think that Taylor can serve the Mastermind vibes with a performance of something from Tortured Poets (probably WAOLOM), and I think she probably wouldn’t do such similar performances, so there goes Mastermind :(

The TTPD Set (my vision)

Set #1 - between Lover and Fearless:

Image Taylor going off the stage after Lover. Suddenly, we start hearing sentences like “I love you, it’s ruining my life”, “you’re the loss of my life”, “so long, London”, etc. They all start mixing up, it’s complete chaos. Suddenly, you hear Taylor singing “Now, pretty baby, I'm running back home to you” and Fresh Out The Slammer starts playing.

She doesn’t sing the entire song, only the first verse and the chorus. Afterward, you see something pops up on the back stage: it is the Folklore cabin, but it is designed as a The Man kind of an office. Taylor starts singing the title track of The Tortured Poets Department. The performance is a mix of TLGAD and The Man, with busy people and fun dances and interactions.

After that, Taylor is alone on stage, singing a shortened version of Fortnight. She is slowly walking all around the stage while having crazy visuals from the MV behind her on the LED screen and the floor.

The show goes on with Down Bad, a fun, danceable performance in the style of the Red and Midnights set performances. Then, she sits next to a white piano, giving a short speech about what TTPD means to her and singing loml.

Afterward, she gets up and starts walking around the stage slowly. Dancers come out wearing angel wings and Taylor performs Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me? The performance is very Mastermind coded with a touch of Reputation, and it is the best one on the tour.

Taylor finishes the performance and everything goes dark. It seems like we’re going on to the next era, but quickly she comes out in a sparkly white bodysuit singing I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.

This whole thing takes about 30 minutes, which is the amount of time I assume Taylor would want to dedicate to this new era.

The setlist:

Fresh Out The Slammer
The Tortured Poets Department
Fortnight
Down Bad
loml
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart

Set #2 - between Evermore and Reputation:

As we know, the Evermore era ends with Tolerate It, a tragic melody about laying the table with the fancy shit and watching him tolerate it. After that, everything goes dark. Suddenly, you hear someone singing the words “I look in people’s windows”. Everything is lightened with bright white light. Then it goes dark again. “I look in people’s windows”. Light again, then darkness. At the third time, Taylor comes out of the main stage, singing the chorus of I Look In People’s Windows.

After that, she turns around and drops to the floor, singing the bridge of The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived in a very Illicit Affairs kind of way.

She finishes the song sad and angry, with a painful look on her face, but then she jumps up and starts singing I Can Do It With A Broken Heart from the chorus.

Then she plays Down Bad and dances happily around the stage. After that, she is alone, Fortnight plays while she is slowly walking all around the stage. The visuals for both songs are from the black and white videos from the TTPD photoshoot.

Afterward, she plays the title track, bringing back The Man office from the Lover era. Her dancers are going around the office but she stays downstairs.

Then next to a white piano, giving a short speech about how songwriting saved and singing loml.

She gets up and starts wandering around the stage mysteriously. Dancers come out wearing angel wings and Taylor ends the set with Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me? before going on to the Reputation era.

This entire performance takes 28 minutes, just around the time she probably wanted.

The setlist:

I Look In People’s Windows
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
Down Bad
Fortnight
The Tortured Poets Department
loml
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?

Possible Outfits

I think that for the TTPD set, Taylor is going to wear a white one piece. A mix of the Speak Now gowns and the Folklore flowing dresses. There is also a possibility of a black/white two piece 1989-ish set, but I highly doubt it.

If she will do an outfit change for ICDIWABH, I think she will wear a white version of the Lover bodysuit.

However, this is Taylor Swift we are talking about, and nothing is expected when it comes to this woman. We will just have to wait until May 9th!