LONDON — Welcome to the live blog for the Eras Tour in London!
Taylor Swift returns to the stage for the final stop on the European leg of the Eras Tour after a suspected terror plot was thwarted in Vienna. Security measures are tight at Wembley Stadium. Fans with floor tickets were not allowed to camp overnight in the hopes of getting a spot closer to the stage, and Swifties can no longer "Taylor-gate" outside of the stadium if they don't have tickets.
As the Taylor Swift reporter for the USA TODAY Network, I’ll be your host for the evening keeping you updated on all the happenings from inside Wembley Stadium. Since taking the Taylor Swift reporter job in November, I’ve watched the show 69 times in person or on grainy livestreams (equivalent to 230 hours or nine and a half days). Follow along for updates as we go on a little adventure spanning 18 years of music.
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For a complete list of every surprise song and mashup, click here.
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She was tame, she was gentle. But now Swift is on the Roomba-esque machine. The maddening and shiny contraption allows her to belt high notes while chasing her dancers.
During the last few shows in Germany and Warsaw, Poland, Swift added a shriek after the second-to-last line, "So who's afraid of little old me?" She did it again in London on Thursday.
A cool effect that always gets fans excited is the final filtered shot on the back screen where Swift looks like a dead-eyed glowing soul. She always tilts her head to the side. She told Post Malone in her "Fortnight" behind-the-scenes video, "Nothing says crazy like a slight tilt to the head."
When Swift performed "Blank Space," one of her most famous songs and one of Travis Kelce's favorites, the crowd played its part. Between lines of the bridge, stadiums shout the names of their city while Swift sings, "Boys only want love if it's torture." This ritual started during Swift's stint in Sydney, Australia, because of the 1989 World Tour movie shot there in 2015. During the song, Swift grabbed an iron golf club and struck a metal pole sticking out of the stage: boom, boom. She paused and did it again: boom, boom. But this time sang "Syd-ney." You can read more about the chant here.
The lightning in the stadium sounded and Swift sauntered to meet her dancers dressed in green cloaks at the back of the stage. Holding glass, light-up orbs they recited the "Willow" chant. This is when fans blow up balloons and use cell phone lights to make them glow.
The Wembley Stadium listed balloons as one of the items not allowed inside, but a few hundred fans made orbs anyway.
In Amsterdam, three Swifties started the "Willow" trend. You can check out their story here.
When she pulled her inner ears out after "Champagne Problems," the audience lost it. She smiled and clutched her hands to her chest.
“If any of us — me, the dancers or the band — have a bad day again, we are going to replay that little memory in our minds,” she said to the crowd.
After finishing "Cardigan," Swift addressed the crowd.
"I just have to be honest with you guys now that I’ve calmed down a little bit," she said. "The first time I saw this crowd when I came out from backstage ... my whole mind went blank."
She described the feeling as a "love system overload."
"I can't believe that 92,000 people are being this loving and caring and generous to us all at once," she said. "It's just wonderful what you do for us. ... All of us are going to miss it so much when we don't get to do it anymore. Feelings and emotions that I didn’t think about before talking about in front of 92,000 people."
On Thursday, Swift wore the following:
Swift’s dancers exit the stage following “I Knew You Were Trouble” as Swift slings her guitar over her shoulder and heads to center stage alone. The Eras Tour's guitar hangs in anticipation of playing Swift's heartbreaking ballad from the “Red” era.
If not for the rerecording of her fourth era, Swifties may have never heard “All Too Well (10-Minute Version).” The singer stated in an interview that the original song had been edited down to five minutes. Fans implored her to release the lengthier version and she did as a vault song to “Red (Taylor’s Version).” The song skyrocketed on the charts, unseating “American Pie” by Don McLean as the longest No. 1 hit in Billboard’s Hot 100 chart history.
“We were lucky enough to play Wembley stadium back in June, were any of you there?” she asked Thursday to get a loud cheer response. “Thanks for coming back, you guys.”She asks if anyone is new. An even louder roar erupts.
Swift has performed the 10 minute and 13 second song 127 times. In total, that’s 1,298 minutes or 22 hours. At the end, white confetti will fall to the ground to represent snow referenced in the heartbreak anthem.
A fan-favorite for livestreamers is to log on and see what dancer Kameron Saunders is going to say during the bridge of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."
When Swift performed 53 shows across America, he said “Like Ever” as a response to Swift saying, “So he calls me up and he’s like, ‘I still love you,' and I mean this is exhausting, like we are never getting back together.” But for her international shows he mixed up the expression catering it to the culture and language of each international city.
On Thursday in London, Saunders said, “Are you mad?”
For a complete list of Saunders' sayings, click here.
Taylor Swift emerged for her “Red” era in her "A Lot Going On at the Moment" shirt. Swift has six custom-made shirts including: “We are never getting back together like ever,” “Who’s Taylor Swift anyway? Ew,” “This is not Taylor’s Version,” “I bet you think about me” and “I knew U were trouble.”
Different than her other tours, there are no meet-and-greets or secret fan rooms, so the closest a mere mortal can get to the superstar is being the one chosen as the “22" hat recipient. Swift’s team makes the selection moments before the concert begins and usually invites that person to the VIP tent area. At the conclusion of the “Fearless” era, her team will bring the lucky fan down to the end of the catwalk.
Swift autographs the brim of the black fedora designed by milliner Gladys Tamez.
“I’ve been like so, so humble and so grateful to do this,” Tamez said in April, “because I’ve worked with her team for a long time and then to have this moment, I was excited.”
Tonight Swift has chosen the 127th member of the exclusive "22" fedora club.
To learn more about how "22" hat recipients are chosen, click here.
Actor Idris Elba attended Thursday's show. It's only appropriate since he iconically introduced "London Boy" on the "Lover" album. Before the beat drops he says, "We can go drivin' in, on my scooter / Uh, you know, just 'round London."
During Swift's June residency at Wembley, an abundance of A listers attended including Prince William and two of his children, Sir Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Hugh Grant, Cate Blanchett, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, Kylie Kelce and Swift's parents Scott and Andrea.
"What an absolute honor and what a delight and a thrill it is to say these words to you: London, welcome to the Eras Tour!" Swift told Wembley Stadium. “I stand here on this stage knowing that I’m about to play the first show of the last stop of the European leg of the Eras Tour, and the way that you’ve chosen to welcome us, 92,000 of you and screaming the words. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.”
Swift thanked her opening acts, starting with Sofia Isella.
“It’s crazy to me that it’s coming to an end,” Swift says of touring Europe with her opening act Paramore.
Oh hi! Taylor Swift returns to the stage to perform her “Lover set.” This is the singer’s first appearance since her team canceled three shows in Vienna because of a thwarted terrorist plot. She glimmers in her blue and pink bodysuit.
The 34-year-old has five “Lover” bodysuit variations: tangerine, gold and blue, purple, pink, and blue and pink.
“Well fancy meeting you here at Wembley Stadium," she says, pointing to the restricted view section and tracing the arena. The 92,000 fans let out an ear-shattering roar.“OK well that was amazing. I’m really feeling like immediately that has gone to my head. You’ve got me feeling really, really powerful," she says as she puts on a silver jacket before singing "The Man."
The backdrop screen to the Eras Tour just shifted to a countdown clock starting at 2:24. Leslie Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” fills the stadium.
When the tour first started in March of 2023, fans were surprised Swift began her set with “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” but the opener makes sense due to the lines “it’s been a long time coming” and “it’s you and me, that’s my whole world." Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Swift had to cancel her Loverfest stadium show in 2021 and hadn’t toured since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018.
After her first football stadium concert series and before the start of the Eras Tour, she released four new eras: “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore” and “Midnights.” For the Eras Tour, she combined her 10 eras into a three-plus-hour show.
When Swift released “The Tortured Poets Department” in April — under the veil of secrecy — she and her dancers flew a little over a week early to Paris to rehearse an updated show. The crowd lost it when they saw the new version on May 9.
If you’re following along, here is the order of the eras in the overture:
The Ice Spice beat dropped. Swifties are trained to run back from the bathroom or concession stands as soon as they hear "In Ha Mood" begin playing. It means Taylor Swift will appear in about 10 minutes.
The dancers and band will make their way to the stage. Taylor Swift is hidden in a “cleaning cart” at the end of the cast walking up the ramp. Her cart is being pushed by production workers who will stop the cart right before a set of stairs that take Swift to the main platform.
“Applause” by Lady Gaga will play next. As the song blares across an anxious and excited audience, dancers will put pink and ombre parachute flaps on their backs and line up behind the main stage door.
The crowd eagerly awaited the start of the show as the "Bejeweled" behind-the-scenes video played indicating Swift was about to embark on a three-plus-hour show era-by-era. Here is her 46-song setlist:
“Oh yeah London! It’s good to be back with you," Hayley Williams boomed into the mic. "Oh how we’ve missed you. We can never get enough London. Ever!”“It’s an honor and a privilege to be here. Never in our entire world did we ever think we’d play at Wembley Stadium so thank you for making this possible.”Their set list included:
The rousing opening act energized Wembley as Williams lay on the ground in the center spotlight and belted the end of “Ain’t It Fun.” London was overcast, with the open-roofed arena sitting at 73 degrees. The floor was packed with every inch covered by Swifties and the rest of the stadium filled to 60%. Swift will take the stage in about 30 minutes.
Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro have been the opening act for Taylor Swift on the European leg of the Eras Tour. The trio have dazzled for 43 shows across Europe. They will wrap their involvement on Tuesday and make their way back to Nashville, Tennessee, where they're based.
Right before leaving for Paris in May, Paramore was dubbed the Global Ambassadors for Record Store Day, a title Swift held in 2022. They surprised fans at Grimey's record store in Nashville.
Swift's final opening act for the remaining North America shows will be Gracie Abrams.
It's not likely Swift's boyfriend will be at the shows in England. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has his final training camp practice on Thursday before the Chiefs' preseason home game on Saturday against the Detroit Lions. Although Swift could make the following preseason home game on Aug. 22 as the Chiefs take on the Chicago Bears.
Who could forget Travis Kelce breaking the internet the last time Swift performed in Wembley by appearing on stage to carry her after her symbolic crash to the ground from "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived." He attempted to revive her alongside backup dancers Jan Ravnik and Kameron Saunders so she could sing, "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart."
“This is the most insane view I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” opening act Sofia Isella told Wembley Stadium.
Her set list included:
Isella played six songs in her 25-minute set.
Similar to inviting three artists to open before Paramore in June, Swift has invited five singers to share the stage in Wembley Stadium. Up first is Sofia Isella, a 19-year-old classically trained violinist, songwriter, producer and singer. The rising star was born in Beverly Hills, California, but lives in Australia.
When Swift let the cat out of the bag on Aug. 5, Isella shared a message on Instagram: "Someone I’ve never met has changed my life even more than she already has just through her writing alone. Your fearlessness in continuing to push yourself and win again and again is the most joyful thing to watch, Taylor. Thank you."
The acts that will open the rest of the Wembley dates are:
It's official. Wembley Stadium has just opened the doors to allow VIP guests into the arena. The general admission sections will open in about thirty minutes. Thousands of Swifties are pouring in.
Amy Willow of Brighton, United Kingdom, rode up on the overnight train with her two best friends hoping to get in line for Thursday night's Eras Tour show. The early morning wake up call landing her at Wembley Stadium at 4 a.m. was a good call. She ended up being first in line.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, there's going to be like a queue of a hundred people,'" she says four hours before general admission doors open. "Crickets, literal crickets. There was no one here. It was amazing."
The stadium that seats 89,000 fans told anyone without an Eras Tour ticket not to come. Additional ticket checks have been added around the stadium and fans will need to show proof of passes before entering the general vicinity.
Wembley Stadium's website also implemented stricter security measures including no overnight camping and no "Taylor-gating," where devoted fans without tickets congregate outside of a stadium to listen to the live concert and engage in dancing and friendship bracelet trading. The stadium is not allowing anyone to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympics Steps at the front. Non-ticketholders will be "moved on."
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