How The Eras Tour’s Livestream Queen Perfected Her Craft

If you’ve been on TikTok at all in the past year, you’ve likely seen plenty of grainy, blurry livestreams of Taylor Swift strumming her guitar as part of the Eras Tour acoustic set. Chances are, the account behind the video belonged to Tess Bohne, aka @tessdear, the tour’s very own livestream queen.

The 33-year-old went to Night 2 of the Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, making the trip from her home in Utah. Soon after, she discovered the magic of livestreams, and it wasn’t long until she learned how to run them herself. With more than 530,000 followers on TikTok, Bohne’s account has become a go-to for Swifties hoping to watch the Eras Tour in real time. One of her followers summed it up: “You’re really the swiftie mvp.”

Bohne’s page is known as a one-stop shop for anyone hoping to watch the Eras Tour live — she does the work of finding fans who are at the concert IRL, then she consolidates their livestreams as best she can to broadcast for her followers. But Bohne’s system wasn’t always so seamless.

“It’s been a learn-as-I-go thing,” she tells Elite Daily. She started out with two iPads and a computer, each playing a different livestream. “If one went down, I’d take the iPad and switch it out.” She added sticky notes to each device, crediting the creator who was currently streaming.

Things have changed as her following has grown. “Now, I’m on a computer and do a screen capture of the livestream, so my account is showing exactly what the livestream is showing,” Bohne explains. On show nights, she syncs up the clearest video with the best audio and adds in a countdown clock to the surprise songs.

Here, Bohne shares the behind-the-scenes details of livestreaming the Eras Tour for thousands of Swifties, her favorite surprise songs, and her plans for after the tour wraps up.

Elite Daily: How did you get started livestreaming?

Tess Bohne: The weekend after I went to the concert, I remember hearing that people in Vegas were going to be livestreaming the show. I watched it on YouTube, and I was just as excited watching that as I was at the concert.

I was like, “Wait, you’re not supposed to want to watch the concert again.” I always make fun of my husband and his family for re-watching old sports games. You know what’s going to happen. You know exactly how this plays out. Why are you watching this again? So I felt a little bit hypocritical doing it, but I loved it.

ED: What specifically drew you in?

TB: I didn’t know that there were surprise songs. I just thought she picked two acoustic songs and played them for every single show.

Once I learned the songs would change for every performance, I was invested. But I kept running into the same issue: I would watch the livestream and then it would stop right before the surprise songs or have bad service or swampy audio.

ED: How did you prevent those technical issues from happening with your livestreams?

TB: At first, I had my phone on a little tripod. I also had two iPads and my laptop — all with different streams running. I had them ready to go, so if one went down, I’d take the iPad and switch it out. I called it the “iPad shuffle.” Then, I’d write the username of whoever was streaming on a sticky note and put it on the screen.

ED: When did you start showing yourself on camera more?

TB: I don’t remember exactly which show it was, but there was a rain delay. I kept the live going, but I went in front of the camera to give people updates. It felt natural, and people were saying “Oh, I love your outfit” and “Oh, you’re such a good reporter.” Selfishly, I was thinking, “OK, maybe I can be in front of the camera for part of this.”

Afterward, my husband helped me make it more official, clean, and professional. That’s when I started going on a few minutes before the show started to talk about potential surprise songs. Then, after the concert, I started doing a postshow recap. People liked feeling like they were watching with a friend.

ED: There’s obviously a lot of work that goes into this behind the scenes. How do you find the fans at each show who will be streaming it?

TB: At first, I would get some streams through @tstourtips on Instagram and @ErasTourLive on Twitter. People would reach out to them to say they were going live. So I would have them ready to go for the show, but 90% of the time the accounts that I had prepared for didn’t end up going live.

On TikTok, you can search certain keywords. So, I started searching for more lives on my iPad while my stream was going on my computer. Sometimes, people would help me out in the chat section, saying who was going live.

Now that I’ve done around 65 shows, it’s a little bit more established. I have a website and a Google Doc where people can tell me if they are intending to stream.

ED: For people who sign up that way, do you talk to them about the stream beforehand?

TB: I make sure to let people know that we’ve seen this concert lots of times. This is your concert. You make yourself a priority. Only stream if it is going to enhance your experience. I don’t want anyone ever feeling like they’re obligated to give us part of their experience.

ED: How do you choose which fan livestream to broadcast on your page?

TB: Well, sometimes there’s only one account livestreaming. There have been times when there’s a fan streaming outside the stadium and that’s the only live we can find. So I’m like, “This is what we have. It’s good enough.”

Other times, we have multiple to choose from. Then, I’ll try to match the best visual with the best audio because we’ve had floor views before but next to a screamer. I love a screamer because that means they’re having such a fun time, but there are times when you can’t hear Taylor. So I might switch that audio out for one where you can hear her more clearly.

ED: Oh, that’s so high-tech.

TB: It’s been a learning process. In the beginning, I obviously wasn’t doing that, but I’m always wondering how I can make it better.

My husband actually suggested that I add little clocks on my screen that count down until the acoustic set, because people kept asking “How long until surprise songs?”

Afterward, I have a little scrolling bar that says what the surprise songs were, so people don’t have to ask.

There were times when I was going to bed at 5 p.m. to wake up at 11:30 p.m. to start streaming at midnight to wrap up at 5 a.m.

ED: Does it still feel fun while you’re doing it, or does it feel more like a job now?

TB: There are times when it feels like a job, but I've found ways to make it more fun. I have a few backup accounts in case TikTok bans me during a show, and I went live on my backup during one of the South America shows.

Now, I go live on my backup for every show — I call it “The Break Room.” There, people can see what I’m doing behind the scenes. We’re reacting to the surprise songs together and discussing the show.

That’s made it a lot more fun, especially during the last leg of the tour when Taylor was performing in the middle of the night my time. There were times when I was going to bed at 5 p.m. to wake up at 11:30 p.m. to start streaming at midnight to wrap up at 5 a.m. When I feel like I’m going to fall asleep, it’s essential to have people to talk to and keep it more entertaining.

ED: How many viewers do you get, on average, for a livestream?

TB: It depends on the show. On Nov. 26, we were all thinking she might announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version). At one point, I think there were 328,000 people on my stream at the same time. TikTok shows you your numbers at the end. You’ll see “You had 2 million viewers throughout the stream.” But that was the highest number of people watching at once.

ED: Are there certain points in the concert when everyone is tuning in?

TB: The numbers always peak during surprise songs. It’s most surprising when it’s an Australian show, where the time difference is huge, and I would still have 150,000 people watching during surprise songs.

ED: Speaking of surprise songs, what has been your personal favorite combo?

TB: The last night in Sydney, she did mash-ups of “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” and “Ivy” and “Forever & Always” and “Maroon.” I was just crying.

ED: Is that your favorite show that you've livestreamed, or do you have another?

TB: No, my favorite was the 11/11 show. Travis [Kelce] was there, and it was the first time we got “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs.” The streams were easy, no tech issues, we had fantastic views, and it was just exciting all around.

When Travis is there, you feel Taylor's energy change — in the same way that Travis tends to play better when Taylor’s there. You could feel that through the stream.

The thought of being shut down scares me.

ED: Has anyone from Taylor’s team or the Eras Tour noticed the livestreams or reached out?

TB: No. I almost see it as no interaction is better than the alternative. I feel like I would’ve been shut down by now if they really didn’t like it, but it’s almost as if they turned their heads.

The thought of being shut down scares me. I’ve been afraid of it every single day because doing this has given me a lot. I’ve found out a lot about myself. I found people who appreciate me.

ED: What’s your plan for when the tour wraps up?

TB: I’m trying to figure out what that’s going to look like. I hate feeling like what I’m doing here is piggybacking off of Taylor’s success, but that’s exactly what it is right now.

I still want to do something that I’m good at, but I like being in front of the camera. I also thrive during the stressful times — when a stream is down and I’m quickly pulling up another one. I don’t know if I want to do something in production or if I want to try to be an on-screen reporter somehow.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.