Yahoo News What to expect at Taylor Swift's UK Eras Tour shows
Taylor Swift's highly-anticipated Eras Tour has finally touched down in the UK. The American megastar is playing 15 dates across Scotland, Wales and England this June and August.
The run kicks off with three nights at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Friday June 7, Saturday June 8 and Sunday June 9. Sadly Taylor isn't stopping off in Manchester, but she is playing shows at up the road at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium.
Other stops include one night at Cardiff's Principality Stadium and eight shows at Wembley Stadium in London across late June and mid-August. The tour's three-and-a-half hour set - which features 45 songs, stunning visuals and glitzy outfits - celebrates Taylor's 20-year career so far. It honours 10 of her studio albums - from her second release Fearless to the recently unveiled The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD).
READ MORE: Where Taylor Swift fans can get the most reasonably priced UK Eras tour resale tickets
Rock band Paramore are the support act for the UK shows, with more special guests joining Taylor for the London runs. The Shake It Off singer, 34, began the world tour last year with a run of shows in the Americas and Asia, before heading to Australia in early 2024. The European leg got underway in Paris, France on May 9.
Fans had to be quick to secure Eras Tour tickets - and needed to preregister for both the presale and general sales, with tickets getting snapped up fast.
After months of absorbing TikTok clips from shows around the world, and even seeing The Eras Tour concert film in cinema, it's time for UK Swifties to experience the phenomenon live for themselves.
With the help of Wales Online, here's what to expect for the UK Eras Tour shows...
Friendship bracelets
It all started from a fairly innocuous lyric in a song on the Midnights album: You're On Your Own, Kid. In a song about growing up and dealing with the harsh realities of the big wide world, she sings: "Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned / Everything you lose is a step you take / So make the friendship bracelets / Take the moment and taste it / You've got no reason to be afraid."
Almost overnight the 'friendship bracelets' line took on a life of its own. Swifties started making multicoloured bracelets spelling the names of their favourite albums, songs and lyrics - then started swapping them at concerts.
This trend, born from a seemingly minor lyric, even had a role in sparking the relationship between Taylor and her now-boyfriend Travis Kelce. On his podcast, after going to one of her Kansas City concerts, he admitted he made a friendship bracelet to give her but didn't manage to meet her on the night.
Huge merch queues hours before the concert
In basically every city Taylor has been to, the area around the stadium hosting her concert has been extremely busy from very early in the morning. That's because her tour merch is sought-after and some pieces sell out on each date - so people make sure to get there as early as they can.
Celeb-spotting in the VIP area
Taylor Swift is an extremely well-connected woman with some very well-known friends. Even before you get into those who have joined her on stage (including American trio HAIM and Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford) the list of Eras Tour attendees is an impressive one and everyone will be keeping an eye out on any additions to it. Travis Kelce fans will no doubt be hoping for another cameo.
Emma Stone was spotted in the crowd in Glendale, Shania Twain in Las Vegas and Selena Gomez in Arlington so it's very possible a big name could show up at any of the UK shows. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively - long-time friends of Taylor's - were seen at the recent Madrid concert with their kids. While it would be somewhat surprising to see them again so soon, some people have wondered whether Reynolds might show some affection to Wales - a place he's come to love since taking over at Wrexham AFC - and drop by in Cardiff.
The 22 hat
A pivotal moment of Taylor's mammoth, almost four-hour set is when she gives her 22 hat to a young fan. During the Red era of her show, Taylor wears the black fedora, from designer Gladys Tamez, as she performs 22.
It's a nod to the music which sees her sport the hat for most of the video, as well as the memorable black and white shirt with the text: 'Not a lot going on at the moment.' The tradition of giving the hat away originated during the US leg of her tour at one of her shows in Glenfield, Arizona.
Some reports suggest that the fan is chosen at random by Taylor's team - including her mum Andrea. But others suggest Taylor chooses people she knows personally ahead of time.
Previously, she's given the 22 hat to people she knows - for example, Selena Gomez's nine-year-old sister Gracie and Bianka Bryant, the daughter of late basketball player Kobe. She tends to give the hat to younger fans, but she hasn't completely excluded adult Swifties.
One fan's night - and possibly life - will be made each night at The Eras Tour!
Surprise songs
If you didn't already have enough homework memorising every word of the 45-song-strong setlist then get ready for this - two of the songs are different every night and some of them are very deep cuts from Taylor's back catalogue. She'll usually play one surprise song on the piano and one on the guitar, but things have been changed up a bit recently.
More and more they have been mashups, some of them featuring songs from very early in the Taylor Swift discography - and tracks from the 31-song Tortured Poets Department double album have featured heavily since its release.
Many fans will be hoping to hear their favourite song - especially those who found Taylor's music through her debut album, which doesn't feature in the main set, or her third album, Speak Now, which in recent months has had just one song featured.
References to 'eras' and outfits based on them
It's the Eras Tour for a reason; in lieu of tours for the Lover, Folklore or Evermore albums (released before and during lockdown), Taylor set off on a 'greatest hits' tour and has since added two new albums to her repertoire in Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. Here's a rough guide to the different eras and how they'll be represented...
Taylor Swift AKA Debut: This self-titled album was released when Taylor was still 16 and chasing stardom as a country artist. Expect cowboy hats and boots, blue and turquoise colours and wavy hairdos.
Fearless: Her sophomore album and source of some of her biggest hits to date in Love Story and You Belong With Me. Expect cheerleader outfits, yellow and gold, fringed dresses and the Junior Jewels t-shirt from the latter song's music video.
Speak Now: An album with pop-punk influences and wall-to-wall bangers. Expect lots and lots of purple.
Red: Arguably Swift's first true step into mainstream pop. Expect the colour red (obviously) and some extremely Millennial outfits (stripes, brimmed hats and slogan tees).
1989: Shake it Off, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams - this album catapulted Taylor to new heights. Expect beach chic, steely blue, denim and sunglasses.
Reputation: An album hitting out at the media and other celebs' actions with a dark, reptilian aesthetic. Expect snakes, black clothes, sequins and cloaks.
Lover: Originally planned to tour outdoors in summer, 2021, this album had a bright, sunny vibe. Expect hazy pink and purple, bright sequinned dresses and bodysuits, rainbow patterns
Folklore and Evermore: Two sides of the same coin, these quieter folk-y albums were released in lockdown. Expect fabrics, plaid, greys and beiges, cardigans and plaited hair.
Midnights: The first post-lockdown album was back to synth-influenced pop, but the aesthetic was a bit less defined. Expect blues and purples and anything that looks like you'd be wearing it at midnight.
The Tortured Poets Department: Her most recent album and a dissection of breakups, ill-advised flings and starting over again. Expect people dressed like writers and poets, white dresses and cursive writing.
Chants and signals to learn
Every great concert includes a bit of audience participation, and there are some moments in Taylor Swift's show when the fans make their voices heard - and Taylor has acknowledged them on a number of occasions.
TikTok will be your friend in learning these; there's the chorus of "1, 2, 3, let's go, b****" between the intro and first verse of Delicate, fans filling in with Kendrick Lamar's "you forgive you forget but you never let it go" refrain in Bad Blood and the singing of the alternate "Taylor you'll be fine" in the second pre-chorus of Anti-Hero - and "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs" replacing "the guy on the screen," in reference to Taylor's relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce.
