During the “Eras Tour,” Taylor Swift handles stage malfunctions like a pro.
Taylor Swift sang “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” while expertly handling a broken stage prop.
A minor stage malfunction doesn’t Taylor Swift.
On October 27, the “Lavender Haze” singer skillfully navigated a broken stage prop during her third night of “The Eras Tour” in New Orleans.
Everything was going according to plan as Swift started her performance of “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” from her “Tortured Poets Department” album by standing on a tiny, reflective platform that usually floats remotely around the stage.
The tiny stage was meant to start slowly advancing toward Swift’s backup dancers during the song’s opening chorus, when she stomped her foot to “But what if it did.” Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce was not present at a Kansas City Chiefs football game in Las Vegas. Rather, the elevated surface—dubbed the “Roomba” by fans—remained in situ.
However, the 34-year-old, who is accustomed to handling a stage malfunction, didn’t falter. She just continued to sing and got down the platform to stand in the middle of the circle of dancers waiting for her in the concert footage. The vocalist of “Anti-Hero” then made his way to the top of the lengthy runway that the platform typically travels down.
Swift saw that her backing dancers had pushed the shattered stage piece in her direction while she was singing the line, “That I’m fearsome and I’m wretched and I’m wrong,” and she moved to sit on it, not missing a word.
The singer of “Fortnight” got up and strutted the catwalk after it became apparent that the stage would not move down the runway. She made deliberate stops to plant her feet and dance to the music.
Swift and Kelce have become close friends with her backup dancers, who also handled the malfunction expertly, joining Swift at the top of the runway to carry on the scripted dance.
Swift ignored the empty floor as she made her way back to her previous seat on stage when the song came to a finish. The platform is visible lowering beneath the stage.