Taylor Swift Brings Out Aaron Dessner for ‘The Great War’ and ‘Mad Woman’ at Tampa Bay Shows
Taylor Swift brought out her frequent collaborator and the National member Aaron Dessner for the live debut of “The Great War” Friday night at The Era Tour’s second show at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium.
Dessner was spotted in attendance by fans at the previous night’s show on Thursday, and while he didn’t take the stage that night, he joined Swift Friday to play the Midnights: 3am Edition track during the acoustic “Surprise Songs” portion of the setlist.
“Everybody’s watching the greatest performer on Earth do the greatest show of all time,” Dessner told the crowd after being introduced by Swift, who joked that “The Great War” “took on a new meaning” when the song was used to describe the battle fans endured trying to buy tickets for The Eras Tour.
Following “The Great War,” Swift served up the live debut of another Midnights track, “You’re on Your Own, Kid”:
On Thursday night, the “Surprise Songs” section harkened by to Speak Now with a performance of that album’s title track. Earlier in the Eras Tour, the ever-changing segment has also featured a duet with Marcus Mumford and a tribute to Lana Del Rey.
Swift closed out her three-night stand in Tampa Bay Saturday night, and once again brought out Dessner onstage, this time on piano for a rendition of Folklore’s “Mad Woman”:
This story was updated Sunday, April 16 with Swift and Dessner’s Saturday night performance.