The Era of Logistics (Taylor’s Version)

As Taylor Swift conquers the planet with her Eras Tour, a team of hard working (& well compensated) logistics pros are haulin’ Swiftie swag.

Music folklore romanticizes the image of the traveling troubadour, hitch-hiking from town to town armed only with a leather jacket and an acoustic guitar. This is not that.

When Taylor Swift arrives in your city, you feel it! What else would you expect from the pop star juggernaut who lists ‘crashing Ticketmaster’ and ‘becoming the most popular attraction in the NFL’ among her recent accomplishments?

As her elaborate ‘Eras Tour’ rolls on, rivalling the GDP of some small nations, there’s a lot of cargo that comes along for the ride. This necessitates a massive logistical effort. It might be Taylor’s world, but there’s a fleet of logistical professionals moving that world from city to city. Let’s take a look at the logistics of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

What Travels with Taylor?

The Eras Tour is so named because it actually consists of ten-distinct sets, one for each of Ms. Swift’s albums.

“It’s almost like a different Broadway musical for each song,” says Dave Brooks, Billboard’s Senior Director of Live Music and Touring.1

So what, exactly, is travelling with Taylor?

An incomplete list: three illuminated stages, one of which features a catwalk nearly as long as a football field, a giant curved widescreen video screen, massive LED screens, a hydraulic platform, speakers, lights, props, instruments, a mossy cabin, a life-sized dollhouse, pyrotechnics and laser lights galore, illuminated bicycles, and a forest. And lots of people.

How Do They Get the Eras Tour Set from City to City? 

Much like Taylor’s lyrics, love-life, etc., the logistical details of the Eras Tour is prone to rumour, speculation, and conflicting reports. (50 semi trucks? 80? 90?)

According to the New York Post, the cargo arrives at the stadium ‘weeks’ ahead of time, so that construction can begin.1 It makes sense: there are cabins to be pieced together, stages and screens to erect, trap doors to be installed, and so on. The tour then holds 2-3 concerts in each venue, before moving on to the next.

Commercial Truck Trader reports that there are not one, but two Taylor Swift tours, which allows ‘Stage A’ to be utilized in one city, while ‘Stage B’ is being assembled in another.2

If Taylor’s not receiving enough attention on her own, the trucks themselves serve as marketing, supposedly choosing high traffic routes in order to maximize exposure.3

Taylor’s Tip: $100K for Each Truck Driver

A nice surprise was in store for Taylor’s truckers prior to the July 29 show in Santa Clara, California. That’s the night she awarded each of them a $100,000 bonus.4 That’s anything but a Cruel Summer, so we assume that if there ever was any Bad Blood amongst her road warriors, they’ve been able to Shake It Off.

Mike Scherkenbach, who runs Shomotion, the concert transportation company servicing the tour, called the money “life changing”, reporting that it allowed some of the recipients to make down payments on homes.4

Breaker, Breaker, I’m Haulin’ Swiftie Swag

One truck driver who must feel particularly popular is the one who pilots the merchandise truck. While most touring acts are content to sell merchandise to concert-goers in the venue itself, such an arrangement is simply not Tay Tay-sized. Instead, a merchandise truck sets up shop days ahead of time, allowing even those who couldn’t afford a ticket to take home a piece of Taylor, if they’re inclined to endure the line-ups, which reportedly stretch up to 11 hours.2

One has to wonder whether Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux, who filed an “official grievance” with the House of Commons when Taylor’s original itinerary had her skipping Canada,5 will show up in Toronto in November to grab some Swift swag. Perhaps if members of Canada’s parliament began trading friendship bracelets like the Swifties do, decorum would improve in the house.

Tailoring Taylor

It might be tempting to think of logistics as something that happens prior to the concert but, in fact, they only intensify during the show itself. In addition to executing the many audio, visual, and mechanical maneuvers that combine to make a production of this magnitude, there’s outfitting the tour’s most precious cargo: T. Swizzle herself. The star typically dons a dozen outfits during a concert, often with little time to change. As Dan George, a tour manager not affiliated with Swift, explains to the New York Post, it’s a little more complicated than changing into your pajamas after a long day’s work.

“All costumes are typically modified in some way that’s going to make it really easy to get in and out of,” says George. “A dress that would typically have buttons, maybe they add a zipper on it instead. Or the performer might need to have a pouch for a battery pack in a  costume. There are little customizations that make things easier.”1

At least boyfriend Travis Kelce only has to put on one uniform when he suits up for the KC Chiefs every Sunday.

All of these elements combine to make the Eras Tour one of the biggest logistical feats in the history of concert touring. While the production effort is estimated to cost over $100 million,1 we think the bottom line will be just fine.

If the box office gate at the live shows isn’t enough, consider that the accompanying concert film was the number one box office draw when it hit theatres for its opening weekend of Oct 13-15.6 We can only assume getting the movie from city to city was a comparatively simpler logistical task.

Cited Sources

1 Arnold, Chuck. “Rocket Sleds, Stunts and a  $100m Budget: Inside Taylor Swift’s ‘unbelievable’ Eras Tour.” New York Post, March 27, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/inside-taylor-swifts-unbelievable-eras-tour/

 2 Taylor Swift’s eras tour: How the superstar transports her stage, Merch … Accessed October 18, 2023. https://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/blog/2023/06/14/taylor-swifts-eras-tour-how-the-superstar-transports-her-stage-merch-truck-more/

3 Beyond the glitz and glamour: Exploring the logistics … – linkedin. Accessed October 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-glitz-glamour-exploring-logistics-challenges-eras-somen-jagtap

4 Aniftos, Rania. “Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Truck Company Owner Speaks out about ‘life-Changing’ Bonuses.” Billboard, August 3, 2023. https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-eras-tour-truck-company-owner-bonuses-1235384480/

5 Taylor Swift snubbing Canada on tour Sparks mp’s ‘official grievance … Accessed October 18, 2023. https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/taylor-swift-canada-mp-grievance

6 McClintock, Pamela. “Taylor Swift Box Office: Lessons Learned from ‘eras Tour’ Rollout Stumbles.” The Hollywood Reporter, October 18, 2023. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/taylor-swift-eras-tour-box-office-lessons-mistakes-1235619851/