Taylor Swift fans in Las Vegas who couldn’t wait until Friday night (March 24) to learn all the details of The Eras Tour might have read up on the setlist, stage production and fashion from last weekend’s opening concerts in Glendale, Ariz. But even the most well-researched Swifties were still in for surprises at the first of her two-night stand at Sin City’s Allegiant Stadium, as Billboard witnessed from the crowd.
Of course, those fans already knew they were in for two songs that weren’t on the previous two setlists, after Swift performed “Mirrorball” and “Tim McGraw” during night 1’s acoustic set and “State of Grace” and “This Is Me Trying” on night 2. The Vegas crowd was in for a double-barreled treat, as she went back to her self-titled debut album for “Our Song” (by request of debut opening act Beabadoobee) — Swift’s only track from the 2006 project for the night — and then paid tribute to Lana Del Rey’s Friday-released album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by playing her LDR collab “Snow on the Beach” from November’s Midnights for the first time.
That last one came with a disclaimer. “I’m going to talk about something, but I just have to tell you first of all: I’m going to talk about another artist, but that artist is not here, OK?” Swift warned the 60,000-person crowd. “I’m not going to bring somebody out. You’re stuck with me. We don’t have guests at this show, OK?”
So what was different from opening weekend at the first Las Vegas Eras Tour stop? Read below for five brand-new moments from Friday night’s concert.
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Love for Lana Del Rey
Did You Know that Lana Del Rey’s ninth album came out on Friday? Thanks to Swift, her army of fans is now well aware.
“Lana Del Rey put out a new album,” Swift announced to the audience during her acoustic set. “It’s called Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Guys, it’s so good. You probably already know that, but it’s just extraordinary. I just think she’s the best that we have. I think we need to make it a priority as a group to stream, buy, support this album and this artist.”
The release-day promo led in to Swift live-debuting their new collab. “She knows I’m obsessed with her, and she was kind enough to make a song with me on Midnights called ‘Snow on the Beach’ because she’s a generous king. She did that for me, and I’ll never forget how nice she’s been to me. It’s so cool when you have favorite artists and they turn out to be so nice to you. I wanted to just do some promo for her, and also, in honor of this brilliant album that she just put out, I wanted to play ‘Snow on the Beach.’”
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‘Our Song’ Is Her Song
To kick off the acoustic set, Swift took a request straight from one of her warm-up acts.
“I do get ideas from places,” she said of how she’s choosing each night’s surprise songs. “I actually saw an interview that Beabadoobee did — who is our amazing, brilliant opening act tonight — and they were saying, ‘Oh, you’re going on The Eras Tour. What song might you want to hear?’ And she was like, ‘I grew up listening to songs on her first album.’ And she named a specific song. So I figured, you know what? For her first show with us, I’ll play the specific song that she said she would want to hear. So this is a song I wrote for my ninth-grade talent show. It’s called ‘Our Song.’”
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A New Opening Act
Speaking of Beabadoobee, after Paramore helped kick off the two Glendale concerts, the Filipino-British singer/songwriter stepped in and joined the tour for her very first date. Playing an eight-song set — including her Alternative Airplay hits “Care,” “The Perfect Pair” and “Talk” — Beabadoobee was joined before the show by “ABCDEFU” singer GAYLE, who returned for her second weekend as an opening act.
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A ‘Powerful’ Milestone
Before performing her Lover single “The Man,” Swift took a moment to share a pretty big milestone she set at Friday night’s concert. “You’re being so supportive, and you’re making me feel so powerful,” she said while flexing her bicep. “You’re making me feel like… I’m the first woman to ever headline Allegiant Stadium,” she announced to wild cheers. “But I won’t be the last.
“What I’m trying to say, is you’re making me feel like I’m The Man.”
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New ‘Folklore’ Fashion
Most of the night’s fashion stayed consistent to the weekend 1 outfits, with one exception: When Swift emerged for the Folklore segment of the night, she wore a pink dress with flowing sleeves in place of night 1’s mauve and night 2’s cream. See the latest look below:
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Las Vegas Night 1 Full Setlist
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
Cruel Summer
The Man
You Need to Calm Down
Lover
The Archer
Fearless
You Belong With Me
Love Story
‘Tis the Damn Season
Willow
Marjorie
Champagne Problems
Tolerate It
…Ready for It?
Delicate
Don’t Blame Me
Look What You Made Me Do
Enchanted
22
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
I Knew You Were Trouble
All Too Well (10-Minute Version)
Invisible String
Betty
The Last Great American Dynasty
August
Illicit Affairs
My Tears Ricochet
Cardigan
Style
Blank Space
Shake It Off
Wildest Dreams
Bad Blood
Our Song (acoustic)
Snow on the Beach (acoustic)
Lavender Haze
Anti-Hero
Midnight Rain
Vigilante Shit
Bejeweled
Mastermind
Karma
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