Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour took over Raymond Jones Stadium in Tampa, Florida from Thursday, April 13, to Saturday, April 15, and Swift shared the (very humid) spotlight with Aaron Dessner for two of those nights.
Dessner was spotted in attendance on April 13, but he first joined Swift on stage for the April 14 show to perform “The Great War,” a Midnights (3am Edition) track, during the mystery song portion of the set. (Swift has vowed to play two different songs at each of her shows throughout the tour without repeating any.)
🎤| Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner performing "The Great War" pic.twitter.com/iVv39rE8q3
— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) April 15, 2023
Dessner reappeared at the same point in the set on April 15 — this time, sitting at the piano with Swift for “Mad Woman” from their Grammy-winning 2020 album Folklore.
Mad Woman, Tonight! #TampaTSTheErasTour #TSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/LqB44sqYXT
— The Eras Tour (@TSTheErasTour) April 16, 2023
Taylor’s facial expressions during ‘mad woman’ as the first surprise song for Tampa Night 3 🥹 #TStheErasTour pic.twitter.com/f9CTpnYUEb
— Taylor Swift Updates (@SwiftNYC) April 16, 2023
.@TaylorSwift13 performed "mad woman" with @Aaron_Dessner and "Mean" as the surprise songs during night three in Tampa: https://t.co/N8ac5y9zS7pic.twitter.com/fFKl3GTxlH
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) April 16, 2023
“Still buzzing from those 3 shows in Tampa!!!” Swift wrote to Instagram and Twitter. “Thank you for the unforgettably epic crowds and to @aarondessner for coming out to play twice with me, we’ve been dreaming about that for so long!! So grateful for the memories we’re making on this tour.”
Dessner also posted to Instagram, “Playing the Great War [sic] for the first time in Tampa….Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine getting to play a song for 80,000 people on acoustic guitar with @taylorswift eternally grateful for all the music we have made and your friendship.”
Dessner added for good measure, “The #TSTheErasTour is the greatest show I’ve ever seen!!!!!”
Swift has looked to be in good spirits despite her reported breakup from Joe Alwyn, the British actor she’d been dating for roughly six years. Entertainment Tonight broke the news on April 8.