Liverpool came alive for Taylor Swift, now one big change is needed

As ever, Liverpool rose to the occasion.

Taylor Swift - the world's biggest star - brought her Eras tour to Anfield and the city came alive. Since 'Swifties' began to arrive in Liverpool on Wednesday, you've not been able to move for pink cowboy hats.

People have come to Liverpool in their droves for the concerts but few other cities have embraced Taylor in the way we have. The city, dubbed 'Taylor Town' for the past few days. has been decked out for her and her legions of fans.

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Whether that has been the Taylor Trail artwork installations or businesses going all out to join the hype, Liverpool simply doesn't do things by halves. We saw that last year with Eurovision and earlier this month when Cunard brought its newest ship Queen Anne for her naming ceremony - a day of free celebrations that ended with a firework spectacular. Nobody does it better than us.

That said, this city knows it is a coup to host Taylor. It is of particular enjoyment that we beat Manchester to be the only Northern English city to stage the Eras tour.

Taylor noticed it herself, telling the crowd on night one: "Hello Liverpool, you have just gone and made me feel absolutely incredible."

She added: "I'm not going to lie. That went straight to my head. I mean you just made me feel really, really powerful." As the ECHO's five-star review attests, it was quite the opening show, aided by a famous Anfield atmosphere.

Outdoor gigs at the stadium in L4 have become a fixture in recent years. Taylor's hat-trick of shows were preceded by sell-out performances from The Rolling Stones, Eagles, Pink, Bon Jovi and Elton John.

Liverpool's storied ground is not the only show in town, however. Whether it's the Pier Head, Sefton Park, Anfield or Everton's soon-to-be new home at Bramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool is stocked with great venues for summer events.

But they are weather dependent - and for the football grounds - there are precious few weeks between Premier League seasons when they can be used for live music.

That strength in depth is simply not there when it comes to winter. The M&S Bank Arena has been a fine addition to Liverpool's waterfront and has played host to many major events since it opened as the ECHO Arena in 2008.

It is an attractive building in a great setting, but there is a feeling that it is constrained by its 11,000 capacity, which can affect its ability to bring in the world's biggest stars. Too often these days, arena tours call by Manchester and don't make the journey down the M62.

Looking at Manchester, the city's new 23,500-capacity arena Co-op Live has had a start to life which has been far from straightforward. The litany of errors and delays have made the new arena a near-constant punchline and have ruined plenty of people's nights out.

That said, look at its schedule of events and it is littered with huge acts. Legends like Stevie Nicks will grace its stage in the coming months, as well as a number of current stars - namely Billie Eilish, Charlie XCX, Megan Thee Stallion and Travis Scott - with many playing multiple nights.

The Co-op is Europe's largest indoor arena and once its significant teething problems are dealt with (and yes, that could take a while), Manchester will have an arena that can compete with any on the planet. There is also the existing AO Arena, which holds 21,000 people and still attracts huge stars. It is not a bad position for Manchester to be in.

But more so than anywhere else, Liverpool thrives when it can host a big event. A larger arena feels like a no-brainer - the city is ripe with brownfield sites that such a venue could be built on and allow us to host parties of such scale all of the time.

Liverpool bills itself as a music city - that has to mean it can attract the biggest stars on the planet all year round. It must be bold and ambitious to do so.

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