How Taylor Swift Picks, Rehearses Each ‘Eras Tour’ Acoustic Mash-Up

Taylor Swift has gotten increasingly creative during her Eras Tour acoustic section, which takes time and practice.

“The acoustic section has gone through many iterations and rules,” Swift, 34, wrote in the official Eras Tour Book, which hit Target shelves on Friday, November 29. “At the start of the U.S. tour, I decided I was going to challenge myself to only play a song one time, pushing myself to play as many songs as possible.”

She added, “Because of this, fans would keep track of which songs had been ‘lost’ that night. Then once I’d played pretty much every song I’d ever released, I announced that all of my songs were fair game again.”

Swift then started performing mash-ups, where she combined two or more of her hit songs “that go together thematically or rhythmically.” (A list of all the medleys was also listed in the book.)

“By the end of the tour, I was playing between four [and] five mashed-up songs in a night in the acoustic set,” she recalled. “It takes a lot of rehearsing to get the mash-ups just right, but when the crowd screams like crazy when I transition, it’s beyond worth the prep time involved.”

Swift kicked off her Eras Tour, a three-hour-long concert celebrating all of her past and present albums, in March 2023. According to the tour’s companion book, she began rehearsals back in 2022.

“I’ll never forget the call when I explained my idea of the concept for The Eras Tour to my team,” Swift recalled in the book’s prologue. “At the time, I was working on the Midnights album and if we were to do what I’ve always done, I would’ve embarked on planning The Midnights Tour. But there’s nothing I hate more than doing what I’ve always done.”

She added, “My goal was for every fan to leave that show knowing I gave them absolutely everything I had. I made a promise to myself to be physically and mentally tougher than I ever had been before. To be more disciplined and committed to my health, fitness, and stamina. Thankfully, I’m surrounded by my incredible crew, band, singers, and dancers who all matched my dedication to the massive scale and challenges of this show.”

From the start, Swift knew that she wanted to honor each “era” of her life. In addition to putting together set lists for Fearless, Reputation, 1989 and more, Swift also added a “surprise song” section. After her guitar and piano renditions, she would “dive” into a hole beneath the stage.

“At the end of the second song, the stage becomes an ocean and I ‘dive’ into it, which involves a lot of blind faith and a big airbag under the stage,” she wrote. “It’s the coolest illusion of the night and I’ll never forget the sound of the crowd the first time they saw it, somewhere between shock, horror and elation. Mission accomplished.”