"I can't believe we never get to go to the Eras Tour again." We're curled up, three of us, on my friend's sofa to watch the new Taylor Swift docuseries on Disney Plus, Taylor Swift: The End of an Era. In a reverent tribute to the communal joy we experienced at The Eras Tour, screening these first two episodes doesn't seem like something we should do alone, in our separate homes.
Just like my friend, I often despair that the Eras Tour was such an ephemeral phenomenon. It feels as though it should be like Disneyland or Glastonbury — the kind of thing you get to do once every year for your annual boost of escapism and serotonin.
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But they're not the same. In Disneyland, Mickey can be played by an interchangeable cast of people in a sweaty mouse costume. And part of the fun of Glastonbury is the ever-evolving list of headliners. The Eras Tour experience, however, relied on the perpetual presence of just one person: Taylor Swift.
Yes, it's tempting to view Taylor Swift as a combined character-brand-cultural force. But she is -- as Ed Sheeran points out in her Wembley Stadium dressing room as she begins her second London residency -- a real human being. The Eras Tour is so much bigger than Swift, but it's a show that can't go on without her. It relies on Swift to set aside any fatigue or melancholia that might be plaguing her, pick herself up off the couch and pour herself into a sequined bodysuit.
Swift shared the stage with Ed Sheeran during her fourth London show. Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Some days must have been harder than others, and this day — the day of the Ed Sheeran surprise cameo, and the day we see most prominently in this first episode — might have been the hardest of them all.
Swift is teary and anxious. She's reeling after a one-two punch of violence and threatened violence have ruptured the safety of the space she's meticulously crafted for her fans. First, an attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, in which a man killed three little girls in Southport, England. This is followed by the cancellation of Swift's Vienna shows when law enforcement uncovers a terrorist plot. It could, in Swift's words, have resulted in a "massacre."
We see Swift reckon with her own visceral grief, then set it aside in her bid to comfort the families of the victims of the Southport attack immediately before going on stage. "It's my job to handle all these feelings, and then perk up immediately to perform," she says. "That's just the way it's got to be."
I've long admired Swift's ability to offer support to the people she meets, willingly absorbing their heartaches and confessions, and responding with softness and empathy. This meeting, with her own heart breaking for the victims, is no exception.
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