“OK, so, wanna hear a boring story? I have a wireless ear pack...”: Taylor Swift explains the perils of having both wireless in-ear and guitar packs attached to your clothing

Taylor Swift Eras Tour
(Image credit: Thomas Niedermueller/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

Technical glitches during the acoustic sections of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tours shows have been frequent. So much so that some fans have speculated that, in some cases, they might actually be intentional. In Warsaw, though, it wasn’t her piano that let her down - it was her in-ear monitoring setup.

As Swift was preparing to start singing and playing her acoustic guitar, she broke off to speak to her crew. “Sorry, I’m just wondering if there’s anything that you guys can do about the static in my ears,” said Swift. “It just got really bad it’s, like, very awful.”

Addressing the crowd, Swift explained that “I just wanted this to sound good for you guys so I’m going to have somebody come out and change my pack really quick,” before appearing to respond to something that was said to her in her earpiece.

“Oh, I can fix this,” she said. “Yeah, I got it - it’s fixed.”

It turns out that, in this case, it wasn’t faulty equipment that was to blame, but its positioning. As she adjusted her clothing, Swift asked the audience: “OK, so wanna hear a boring story? I have a wireless ear pack on my clothing and I have a guitar pack for my wireless guitar and they cannot touch. Which I just was today years old that I learned, so now I know how to fix that in the future.”

As do all of us: the next time you’re playing a sold-out stadium (or local pub gig) and you get static in your ears, make sure your wireless packs aren’t touching.

Ever the pro, Swift went on to successfully perform her acoustic ‘surprise songs’, which included a mash-up of Mirrorball (Folklore) and Clara Bow (The Tortured Poets Department) on guitar and a blend of Suburban Legends (1989 - Taylor’s Version) and New Year’s Day (Reputation) on piano.

@1989vinyl

♬ original sound - Molly
Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.