Taylor Swift Fires Up Academy Gala With Four Songs in Her First Band Performance Since the Eras Tour

Taylor Swift got some of the old gang back together for her first full-band performance since the Eras Tour, delivering a four-song set to a black-tie audience Saturday night at the Academy Museum 6th Annual Gala.

Conan O’Brien introduced her by saying, “It’s an insane, unprecedented honor to introduce a cherished member of our little ‘Toy Story 5‘ family. She’s John, Paul, George and Ringo all in one.”

As an indicator of just how long she’s been off any kind of regular performance circuit, the gala-capping show included Swift’s first-ever live rendering of “The Fate of Ophelia,” the smash hit single she released just over a year ago, on Oct. 3, 2025. The song is expected to be a leading contender for record of the year and other categories at the 2027 Grammys, for which Recording Academy voters just received their first ballots.

As expected, she also sang her contender for the 2027 Oscars, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the Pixar film “Toy Story 5.” It wasn’t her first live performance ever of that song — she did it at the Grammy Museum and at a private Ross House FYC showcase — but it was her first time singing it live with a full band, and not as part of a mash-up. Besides its Oscar eligibility, the song is also in contention at the Grammys, entered in the song of the year category as well as film soundtrack and country divisions.

For the remaining two slots in her set, Swift dug farther back into the past, covering both her cynical and romantic bases, opening with “Blank Space” and ending with “Love Story.”

Wearing a Ralph Lauren gown for her performance, Swift invited the formally clad gathering to dance along with her set, saying, “Dancing is absolutely allowed. It’s not mandatory, but it’s more fun.”

Her backing crew had some singers and players who would be familiar to Swifties, but also some differences in the lineup, which was stripped down in some regards and packed out in others, namely with a horn section. She was joined by two sax players — not a regular staple of her touring outfit — as well as four singers and a guitarist, bassist, keyboard player and drummer.

Among the regular band members participating was Paul Sidoti, who wrote on Instagram, “Great to be playing music with my onstage partner of 19 years for the first time since The Eras Tour at a little party last night in Hollywood.”

Swift posed for photos with attendees including “Toy Story 5” voice actors Joan Cusack and Conan O’Brian and celebs like Cara Delevingne, Sabrina Carpenter, Eli Roth, Charlize Theron, Colman Domingo, John Carpenter, Hannah Waddingham, Dakota and Elle Fanning.