Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift’s new documentary series, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour | The End of an Era, debuted on Disney+. The singer talked about the difficult period during her Eras tour in the first two episodes of the docuseries.
Taylor considers the foiled terror threat that led to the cancellation of her three August 2024 concerts in Vienna in the first episode.
According to the Associated Press, three individuals were detained at the time, and authorities claimed that the Islamic State group served as the inspiration for the scheme, which the CIA claimed was intended to murder "tens of thousands of people".
Taylor’s preparation for her first post-terror threat concert in London is depicted in The End of an Era, along with her reeling and tension when the gigs were cancelled.
Ahead of her series of shows at Wembley Stadium, the singer said, “It's just kind of a weird feeling going into these last five shows in Europe because it sort of feels like we've done like 128 shows so far, but this is the first one where I feel like...I don't know, like, I'm skating on thin ice or something.”
“We've had a series of very violent, scary things happen to the tour. We dodged, like, a massacre situation. And so I've just been kind of all over the place,” added the singer.
Taylor looked emotional and added, "There was this horrible attack in Liverpool at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party, and it was little kids that ... I have a hard time explaining it."
Taylor then tells her mother, Andrea, in a backstage video prior to her August 15 performance in London that she feels "twitchy and fidgety" about returning to the stage following the near-tragedy, but she also acknowledges that she needs to "get back on the horse."
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She continued, “From a mental standpoint, being like afraid that something's gonna happen to your fans at any moment, this is a new challenge," adding, "I want to keep all of the nerves I have away from the crowd. Because when you're sort of the ringleader of this show, they can sense any kind of shift energetically in you. and you have to really focus on that and factor that in, that you're at the Eras Tour, nothing's wrong."
Taylor was grieving the loss of three teenage fans who were fatally stabbed on July 29 at a Swift-themed dance and yoga class in Southport, England, while she struggled to come to terms with going back on stage following the terror plot.
In the documentary series, an emotional Taylor talks about wanting to give fans happiness and a sense of escape following the attack, but she feels "like a pilot flying the plane" going through turbulence as she tries to perform normally.
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The singer revealed that she will meet some of the families of the victims and put on a pop concert.
The singer says through tears before the first London show, "I'm not gonna do this. I'm gonna be smiling. So any of this gets out of the way before you ever go on stage."
Taylor Swift met with victims and their families prior to her five performances in London. Following one such encounter, a distraught Swift, clad in her orange "The Man" jacket and boots and ready for the stage, sobs in a room by herself just before taking the stage.
The Eras Tour | The Final Show, a concert film from Taylor Swift's final performance in Vancouver in December 2024, was also released on December 12 and is currently available on Disney+.
The first two parts of the six-part documentary series are already available for streaming.
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