One ofTaylor Swift’s best live performances was, unfortunately, not a part of her record-breaking Eras Tour. From “Cruel Summer” to “champagne problems,” Swift had a lot oficonic moments at her Eras Tour. However, her previous tours were also impressive and had several stand-out moments. For example, on her 2011Speak NowTour, Swift flew above the crowd on a balcony for the final song, “Love Story.”
On her1989Tour, she brought out a surprise guest at almost every show, duetting with stars like Mick Jagger, Lorde, Avril Lavigne, and The Weeknd. It’s obvious that the pop star was putting a lot of thought into her live shows long before she embarked on the ambitious Eras Tour. As iconic as the show was, there’s one moment from a previous tour that I wish she would have included.
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It Was One Of Swift’s Best Of The Tour
Unfortunately, Taylor Swift’sreputationtrack “I Did Something Bad” didn’t make the cut for her Eras Tour setlist. It would have made thereputationportion of the show even more iconic, because theReputationStadium Tour performance was so great. As Swift often does,she switched the style of the song up from its original recording. It was only the second song of the night, coming right after “…Ready For It,” so Swift was still in villain mode. In her black sparkly leotard, Swift slowed down the song’s intro, allowing herself to emphasize every lyric.
However, the best part came when all the music stopped, Swift and her female dancers and backup singers lined up “Formation” style, and sang “If a man talks sh**, then I owe him nothing.” This lyric meant a lot when Swift initially wrote the song about the2016 Kanye West dramaand all the other media men who went after her. However,it was especially powerful on herReputationStadium Tour. Less than a year before the tour kicked off, Swift had gone to trial over a 2013 sexual assault and won her case against the man who assaulted her.
The performance only got better from there, especially once Swift put another new twist on the song’s bridge. Extending the lyric “They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one,“Swift’s backup dancers held her up in the air as if she were a witch being burned at the stake. Swift then fell back after the bridge before coming back to the stage to finish her choreography. The pop star then ended the song, killing off all her male dancers.
Not only did it go well with the performance, but it also seemingly mocked all the gossip throughout the years about Swift using men for songwriting material before tossing them to the side. The “I Did Something Bad Performance” was a brilliant way to bring the song to life and one of the most memorable moments of the tour. In fact, it was so well-loved by fans thatSwift decided to recreate it at the 2018 American Music Awards, allowing even those who didn’t attend the tour to enjoy the performance.
It Would Have Made The Reputation Set Even More Iconic
For the Eras Tour, Swift included “…Ready For It,” “Delicate,” “Don’t Blame Me,” and “Look What You Made Me Do” in thereputationset. Unfortunately, “I Did Something Bad” didn’t make the cut, but it would have been the perfect addition to the show. Since theReputationStadium Tour, Swift had her masters sold to Scooter Braun, and while Swift recently bought all her work back, during the Eras Tour, she was still on her rerecording journey. Swift has been open about her disdain for Braun as well as her former record label president, Scott Borchetta.
The song would have fit in perfectly on the Eras Tour.
“I Did Something Bad” would have been a great song to represent how she felt towards those men and also how they now view her. “If a man talks sh*t then I owe him nothing,” is pretty self-explanatory, but Swift’s decision to rerecord all her music was pretty bad for Braun, who lost a lot of money when fans started listening to Swift’s new recordings instead. Luckily, the song did appear on the Eras Tour setlist whenSwift performed it as a surprise song.The pop star sang thereputationtrack in August 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London.
At the time, it was the onlyreputationtrack she hadn’t performed yet, so it felt like an Easter egg thatReputation (Taylor’s Version)was on its way. However,Swift has now made it clear that the album was never finished, and she never had a clear date of when she was going to release it. Regardless, the song would have fit in perfectly on the Eras Tour, and it’s a shameTaylor Swiftnever added it to the setlist.
