Brace yourself as Taylor Swift’s all-conquering Eras tour — a Swarovski-encrusted juggernaut — thunders into the UK next week.
With private jets, a bevy of bodyguards, a rider specifying chocolate milk and a daily Starbucks at 11am sharp, plus a travelling circus of dancers, singers, musicians and crew — not to mention a beefy American football-playing boyfriend — there’s nothing quite like Taylor, 34, on tour.
And it’s said that the 15 dates, including an unprecedented eight sell-out nights at Wembley Stadium, will bring a £1billion boost to the UK economy.
Alison Boshoff delves behind the scenes of the biggest, sparkliest phenomenon in showbusiness, and the gargantuan effort it takes to bring her record-breaking show to our shores.
His and hers private planes
A star of Taylor’s magnitude wouldn’t travel in anything but a private jet, and there are two Dassault Falcon aircrafts at her disposal, each worth around £30million and with room for 12 passengers. Taylor’s brother Austin, 32, an actor and producer who has worked with his sister, often hops on one plane.
There’s little sibling rivalry here: the pair are incredibly close and she’s described him as ‘one of my best pals’.
Taylor, meanwhile, flies with her long-time manager Robert Allen, publicist Tree Paine and road manager Erica Worden. It’s almost certain that her boyfriend of nearly a year — Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce — will be on her plane too as he’s indicated he is coming along for this part of the two-year tour, saying: ‘Oh, you know I gotta go support.’
He added: ‘I think she’s at Wembley eight times. Which is mind-blowing that she can do that many shows in one stadium and fill that thing up.’
Her famously supportive parents Andrea and Scott, who both worked in finance, may also be there as they’ve been spotted at other gigs on the Eras tour. They raised Taylor and Austin on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania before moving to the Nashville suburbs when she landed her first record deal aged 14.
While Taylor’s tour may be a money-spinner, her private jet habit comes at a high cost to the environment.
Last year it was calculated that she had flown the equivalent of seven times around the world, often to spend time with Travis and to cheer him on at NFL games. Private jets are said to be costing her $5million (£3.9million) for the European leg of the tour alone.
90 lorries to transport sets – and bumper bonuses for the crew
Fans have praised the extraordinary immersive sets on the Eras tour, which change with almost every song in the three-hour set to reflect the ten different stages — or ‘Eras’ — of her career. There’s everything from a fairytale forest to a simulated house.
Produced by her own company, Taylor Swift Touring, it’s a logistical marathon.
A fleet of 90 trucks are used to haul staging and equipment around for the shows, which use smoke machines, light beams, confetti shooters, coordinated serial lights, pyrotechnics and hydraulic platforms. There are also digital displays including a gigantic curved screen.
But Taylor knows how to keep her production staff loyal. Last summer, it was revealed that she had given a total of $55million (£43million) in bonuses to her dancers, sound technicians, riggers and truck drivers.
The owner of one of the transportation companies praised the singer, saying the individual sums involved had been ‘life changing’.
The fearsome foursome
Taylor is supported on stage by 16 dancers, four back-up vocalists and a live band of six instrumentalists, who have been in place since the tour started in March last year.
The band is led by Mike Meadows, who has been with Taylor for over 15 years. And one of her guitarists has an illustrious pedigree: Max Bernstein has been with her since 2018 and his parents are the renowned late US novelist Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post journalist who broke the Watergate scandal.
A third guitarist is Paul Sidoti — known by Swifties for his big hair. They are joined by a bassist, drummer and classically-trained pianist Karina DePiano.
Backing vocals are provided by four singers called The Starlights — Melanie Nyema, Kamilah Marshall, Eliotte Woodford and Jeslyn Gorman — most of whom have been with her for at least a decade. They reportedly counsel Taylor on boyfriend problems, which perhaps is why they’re nicknamed the ‘fearsome foursome’.
Jeslyn says of her boss: ‘Your heart and generosity is beyond beyond. And just when I think you’ve done it, you top that!’
Lead choreographer Mandy Moore — who put together Barbie star Ryan Gosling’s sensational I’m Just Ken routine at the Oscars — is responsible for the routines. Mandy got to know Taylor through actress Emma Stone, one of Taylor’s besties, after they worked together on the film La La Land