Taylor Swift’s Latest Concert Had A Major Plot Twist — And It Wasn’t The Album Announcement

On Wednesday, the first leg of Taylor Swift’s massive Eras Tour finally drew to a close after 53 performances in the United States. At her final concert in Los Angeles, Swift had a big surprise for her audience — and the audience had a big surprise for her.

During the portion of the show where Swift normally plays two surprise songs that aren’t on her normal setlist, she gestured back to the screens of the stadium, where an announcement appeared: “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” will be out on October 27. The re-recorded version of Swift’s Grammy-winning 2014 album will feature five new vault tracks, plus revamped versions of the album’s original 16 songs.

On social media, Swift shared her thoughts on the upcoming album, along with its official cover art.

“To be perfectly honest, this is my most favorite re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane,” she wrote. “I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”

(Fun fact: this new cover is the first of Swift’s albums to show the artist smiling. Goodbye, sad girl era!)

For hardcore Swifties, this announcement was no surprise. Easter eggs in previous music videos (like a conspicuous traffic sign in “I Can See You”) have been pointing toward “1989” being Swift’s next re-record. Not only was the August 9 concert the last show in the first leg of Swift’s Eras Tour, but the date — 8/9 — seemed like too good an opportunity to announce the album for Swift to pass up.

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But the concert had one other surprise in store — not on stage, but in the audience. Up in the stands, supermodel Karlie Kloss was watching the show. 

Given Kloss’s history with Swift, this came as a shock to the fandom. The two were inseparable in the early 2010s, even appearing together on the cover of Vogue, and rumors swirled that the two were in a secret relationship. (Swift’s song “Wonderland” from “1989” is heavily speculated to be about Kloss.)

But by the time Swift’s 2017 album “Reputation” came out, the two had seemingly suffered a falling out, with their once very public friendship now never mentioned by either woman. The exact details of what happened between them are fuzzy, but fans believe that Kloss’s ongoing connection to Scooter Braun — the music executive who took ownership of Swift’s first six albums and created the need for the re-recordings in the first place — may have created the rift.

Nevertheless, Kloss showed up at the Eras Tour, not in the VIP tent like most celebrities who attend the concert, but up in the stands with the rest of Swift’s fans. Naturally, the Internet had plenty to say.

Did Swift know Kloss would be in attendance? The world may never know — but no matter what, we will be streaming. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is out on October 27.