Taylor Swift may be a billionaire, but she’s still a relatable queen.
Since embarking on her Eras Tour in March, Swift has floored fans and critics alike with her impressive record-breaking concert, which spans over three and a half hours in length and features the singer performing a set list of 44 songs divided into 10 acts. The tour has reportedly already earned $1.04 billion, spawned its own movie and catapulted Swift into billionaire status.
While a master of her craft and an undeniable professional, much of what fans have adored about Swift is her relatability. The singer has not been afraid to own up to mistakes that have occurred during many of her concerts, sparking Swifties to lovingly joke that The Eras Tour is The Errors Tour.
From stage malfunctions to lyric flubs, the on-stage surprise moments have been audience favorites, often going viral online. The pop star most recently caused a crowd frenzy in Bueno Aires in November when she accidentally forgot the words to her song “Champagne Problems” off her 2020 Evermore album.
Taylor Swift Through the Years
Taylor Swift started writing songs about love and breakups in the early 2000s, but her talent was soon recognized by music executives who knew she was the real deal. From releasing her first record in 2006 to gracing stages all over the world this star has earned her place in the Hollywood A-list music scene. […]
“I’ve had two months off,” Swift quipped of the error while seated at the piano.“I’ve practiced this so many times before tonight. And you thought you came here to see a professional.”
Keep scrolling for all of Swift’s best Errors Tour moments:
When She Proved She’s Still ‘Swift AF’
When a platform malfunctioned during her Reputation era at the Cincinnati stop, failing to lower her down beneath the stage, Swift found herself sprinting past her dancers to reach the backstage area.
After Paycor Stadium concertgoers caught the moment on video, Swift took to social media to poke fun at herself. “Still swift af boi,” she commented under one TikTok clip of the incident.
When She Had Hairdo Problems
Before performing “Champagne Problems” in Denver, Swift had a stern talking-to with her hair when it refused to behave. “Excuse me,” she said to her unruly coif. “This is unacceptable. There are 73,000 people here!”
Her locks got away from her a second time in Cincinnati when they latched onto backup singer Kamilah Marshall’s eyelashes during Swift’s Fearless era. Swift was quick to catch the mistake: “Sorry, I’m sorry!” she said while brushing the hair away.
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When She Choked on a Bug
Another Evermore era whoopsie occurred when she swallowed a bug at Chicago’s Soldier Field. When going to speak to the crowd, she began furiously coughing, telling the audience, “I swallowed a bug, I’m so sorry.”
As fans erupted into laughter, she quipped, “Is there any chance that none of you saw that? It’s fine. I’ve swallowed it.”
That wasn’t the only cough-related issue Swift suffered. She also found herself unable to speak during a Lover era set when she suddenly lost her voice.
“You know when you’re not sick, a bug didn’t fly into your throat, you just go to talk and it doesn’t work?” she asked before reassuring the audience: “It’s over now, it’s over now, it’s fine.”
When She Had an Electric Touch
Swift’s Reputation set in Mexico City went viral when fans noticed the static electricity in the air, which caused the singer’s hair to stick straight up on its ends. Some Swifties joked about her gravity-defying fly-aways, while others worried the static was a bad omen. (The National Weather Service claims hair standing up on its ends can sometimes be a sign that lightning is about to strike a person, but that wasn’t the case here. She was OK!)
When She Couldn’t Take a Dive
Swift mystified fans with her swan dive optical illusion. She jumps into the stage after her surprise songs set, where the singer plunges head first onto an inflatable bag after a green light gives her the go-ahead.
However, while performing in Tampa, Swift found herself stranded when the trap door didn’t open. While the splashing sound effect of her dive went off, Swift was left with nowhere to jump, yelling “The f—k?” at the ground. Eventually, the door gave way and she gracefully made a late exit.
When Her Garter Was the Problem
A second Tampa mishap happened when Swift noticed her garter was broken during her Midnights era. While singing her hit single “Anti-Hero”, Swift walked over to her backup singers and pointed out the broken accessory asking for help. As her team fixed the wardrobe mishap, Swift continued the song, singing the lyrics, “I should not be left to my own devices, I end up in crisis.”
When Her Mic Failed Her
While performing the Lover segment of the show in Chicago, Swift’s pastel-colored microphone stopped working. When she tried to scream into it to see if the crowd could hear her, concertgoers were met with silence.
After doing everything she could to fix the issue — including hitting and shaking the mic as hard as she could — a member of her crew came out and gave her a basic black backup mic to continue the concert.
When She Was Haunted by Broken Instruments
After a particularly intense rain show in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Swift’s piano spooked both her and the audience when it began playing random haunting notes on its own.
“Here’s what happened. So, it rained a lot last night — like a monsoon. To be exact, it rained for three and a half hours straight, and it just kept getting more and more rain,” Swift explained while seated at the piano during the surprise songs set. “Literally, it was like a water park under the stage. You have no idea.”
When the instrument began playing unprompted, Swift asked the crowd, “Did you hear that? Do you hear the piano?” Before pointing out that she wasn’t playing the notes herself.
Eventually, the pop star decided to switch up the plan. “OK, I’m just gonna do another song on guitar. That’s insane,” she said.
When She Wore a Dress She Couldn’t Put On
Swapping outfits for every era during a three-and-a-half-hour concert is tough — and Swift is not immune to a wardrobe malfunction. Her surprise song dress, in particular, has caused her trouble multiple times as she has struggled to figure out how to put the sleeves on correctly.
“Just pretend you don’t see that,” she told the crowd in Nashville when she realized she had her garb on wrong. “We’re changing clothes in the dark, you know? You’re not going to get it right every time.”
Other dresses — like the one during her Folklore set — have gotten stuck to different parts of the stage. When she performed “Willow” in Philadelphia, she ended up trapping herself in her forest green cloak, completely covering up her face.
When She Forgot the Lyrics to Some of Her Iconic Songs
While much of Swift’s Eras Tour setlist remains the same for every date, part of the concert includes two acoustic surprise songs. To ensure fans got the best experience, Swift made a rule that she could repeat a surprise song only if she messed up the lyrics — which happened more than once.
When on stage with producer Aaron Dessner in Santa Clara, California, to sing “Right Where You Left Me” off her Evermore album, Swift flubbed the tricky bridge lyrics despite having rehearsed the song for weeks.
“I knew it! It was too good to be true,” after messing up a line. She sang the wrong lyrics again when she tried a second time, but she pushed through the mistake without pausing.
While Swifties weren’t all that surprised at some of the forgotten words, Swift shocked them when she messed up while singing her popular ballad “Last Kiss” off her 2010 album Speak Now in Kansas City not once, but twice.
“Oh my God, the words. We have this rule on this tour where if I mess up a song that I have to play it again some other time on the tour so that I can avenge myself,” she told the crowd after the first mistake. “I got too excited, I got too excited. Will you allow me the honor of starting over?”
She then repeated the error a second time around. “Oh my God! No, those are the right lyrics,” she wailed. “I swear that I will not mess this up again! Oh my God! This one, I love this one. Why am I doing this to this song?!”
