Swift switches it up with new sold-out show surprises

Taylor Swift played three sold-out shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12. This comes after a two-month hiatus from touring which Swift spent attending football games, going to the studio, and releasing an album.

The first night was full of surprises; Swift opened the show in a brand-new bodysuit, welcoming fans to the concert by saying, “Bienvenido a la Eras Tour.” Her acoustic set featured two performances of songs Swift had never sung live: “The Very First Night” on guitar and “Labyrinth” on piano. Fans were delighted by the fact that a plane flew over the stadium after Swift sang the lyric, “I thought the plane was going down, how’d you turn it right around?”

Perhaps the most discussed night of the Argentina stop of the Eras Tour was night two; after the Nov. 10 show was canceled due to severe weather, the Nov. 11 show became night two. It was a high-energy night, with Swift acknowledging her six Grammy nominations and the cancellation of the previous show. The two surprise songs were a mash-up of “Is It Over Now?” and “Out of the Woods” on guitar and “Endgame” on piano. The “Is It Over Now?/Out Of The Woods” mashup went viral on TikTok after Paige Owen (@pto_dressage) uploaded a video singing the two songs together in her car. Swift liked the video, but fans were not expecting the singer to include a mash-up in the acoustic set.

The most talked about aspect of the Nov. 11 show is the presence of Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce arrived in Argentina on Nov. 10, sparking rumors of his attendance before the cancellation was announced. Kelce spent the show in the VIP tent with Scott Swift, Taylor’s father. Scott notably sported a Kansas City Chiefs lanyard, a big gesture for an Eagles fan. Taylor Swift was seen gesturing toward and looking at Kelce during performances such as “willow.” In a move that shocked Swift’s dancers, family, and fans, as well as Travis himself, she changed a lyric in the closing song to reflect her relationship status.

“Karma” is the closing track of the Eras Tour as well as a single off of Swift’s 2022 album “Midnights.” In the last chorus, a lyric reflecting Swift’s partner at the time says, “Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me.” Saturday night, however, Swift sang the lyric, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.” Fans have reacted on various social media platforms, even circulating the video of the moment Kelce heard the change.

The third and final night of Swift’s Buenos Aires performances was Nov. 12, the rescheduled date for the canceled Nov. 10 show. This show saw the first instance of what has become an epidemic in live music; at least two items were thrown on stage, one during the Fearless era and another during the evermore era. After sitting at the piano to sing “champagne problems,” Swift addressed the crowd and requested that fans refrain from throwing anything on the stage. The night continued and nothing else was thrown.

Although the night was already full of magic for fans, the clowns never stray far from the circus, as several online Swifties speculated that Swift might announce her next re-recording during the show. As both “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” and “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” were announced at shows, it wouldn’t be completely shocking for Swift to announce “reputation (Taylor’s Version)” at a show. Fans in the stadium began chanting “reputation” as Swift began speaking about her journey to rerecord her first six albums. A moment of comedy came when Swift cut them off with a simple intro: “now go sit in the corner and think about what you did.”

The first surprise song was “Better Than Revenge,” a track that notably got a feminist makeover when “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” was released in July 2023. The changing of a lyric thought to be misogynistic and slut-shaming did not stop fans from singing the original when Swift performed it live. Perhaps anticipating this, Swift played into the irony as she sat at the piano and performed her new song, “SLUT!”

Taylor Swift heads to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next week for three shows at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, with opener Sabrina Carpenter. This will be the first of two weekends Swift spends in Brazil; she plays three shows in São Paulo the weekend of Nov. 24.