I went to see Taylor Swift twice in Edinburgh and am now a convert to the Swiftie fandom

Taylor Swift's return to Scotland has been a highly anticipated one since her tickets for three nights at BT Murrayfield in Edinburgh went on sale months ago.

The Eras Tour is a trip down memory lane for fans of any age and length of support, with songs from her earliest albums all the way to her latest release - The Tortured Poets Department.

Tickets were hot off the press at the time of their release and I was extremely lucky to secure a spot on both night one and two of the show in Edinburgh.

The thing is, I had begun listening to Taylor Swift quite late on in her glittering career so I spent some time listening to her earlier releases and quizzing myself up on all the lingo and adlibs during the concert. No amount of preparing would have me ready, however, for what was in store for me on a cloudy night in June when I spent a night with Swift and her insane fandom.

Paramore warming up the masses

My first surprise was that Taylor had managed to secure what was arguably one of the biggest female-lead rock bands from the 2000s to early 2010s, Paramore. Hayley Williams, the frontwoman of the popular ensemble, was quick to show her gratitude for the Tennessee-born singer-songwriter for bringing them along on the tour and allowing them to play their hit tunes to tens of thousands of people each night.

With hit songs like Decode, Misery Business and Aint It Fun?, Paramore took the job of entertaining the crowd pre-headliner and hit it out the park both nights. I was a teenage fan of Paramore myself, so this band that was a formative part of my childhood being the support act definitely had me in awe.

Both nights Paramore hit the stage at 6pm and warmed up the crowd just right for the main woman herself to come on just over an hour later, at around 7:15pm.

It's been a long time coming...

As the countdown began for Taylor's arrival on the stage, the crowd erupted into a cacophony of screams and cheers. Dancers entered the stage with yards of pastel pink and orange fabric fluttering out from behind them and up into a petal like formation.

They gathered into the middle and almost as if by magic - or an entrance under the stage - Taylor was onstage and belting out 2019 hit Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.

Fans were barely given time to breathe before she launched into Cruel Summer - an older hit that has had some resurgence thanks to TikTok - and then empowered every person in the place with anthem, The Man.

She concluded a whirlwind of nonstop hits with You Need to Calm Down before greeting the near 73,000-strong audience and congratulating them on breaking the attendance record at Murrayfield.

Night one held the record for all of 24 hours before night two, on June 8, smashed it once again - and she announced on Sunday night that the record has been broken once again by the Swifties gracing the grounds of BT Murrayfield Stadium in their thousands.

Taylor then slowed it down to perform romantic ballad, Lover, as dancers in beautiful ballgowns floated around her in beat with the tune. Fans grabbed onto their partners, friends and family and swayed along to the loving lyrics.

This was when I realised I was in for a treat as we were barely five songs into the set, still had nine Eras to get through - and I was already crying!

Taking it back to the start

The Fearless set was up next as OG fans of the American singer were overjoyed to hear songs from her earlier days being played in 2024. This album was first released in 2008, then was remastered and rereleased in 2021 to allow Taylor to gain ownership over her own music - with the album initially releasing under Big Machine Records.

Love Story was a clear standout for the crowd with every person in the place screaming the Romeo and Juliet-inspired lyrics word for word.

The Red album came quickly after and Swift enjoyed yet another costume change to celebrate this era. During the song 22, the singer enjoyed a wonderful moment with a young fan where she handed over her black bowler hat and gave the young girl a moment in her life that she would never forget.

Heartbroken fans lit up their minds with the break-up anthem We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and classic tune I Knew You Were Trouble - all from the rereleased Red album.

We remembered it All Too Well

Then it was time for the moment I was waiting for - Taylor asked her fans if they had "10 minutes to spare" to belt along to the cult classic, All Too Well. There are two versions of this song, the shorter five-minute one and the lengthy 10-minute option that fans had been pestering her to release for years.

This song is so ingrained into Swiftie culture that there's even a short film out, starring Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink, that tells the tale of this song in a poetic and heartbreaking fashion.

After losing my voice to this iconic song, Enchanted soon followed with yet another beautiful outfit change. We were given half a second to breath before the iconic era to end all eras began - the Reputation set.

Don't get mad, get even

The snake slithered its way across the screen and Taylor arrived back on the stage in a sexy red and black jumpsuit with glittery snakes embroidered across it.

Ready For It...? kickstarted the Reputation era and I was in heaven, as this was the first album that made me fall in love with Taylor's music. Delicate followed soon after and this sweet love song was accompanied with Swift 'cracking' the floor of the stage with every chorus beat.

I boogied my way into Don't Blame Me and was transported straight to a heaven beyond my wildest dreams with the bridge of this song.

And to cap off the Reputation era, Look What You Made Me Do merged in and fans were in their best villain arc singing along to this tune.

Champagne problems

Taylor headed off stage for yet another costume change as we headed from villainy to a cosy campfire vibe with the Folklore and Evermore albums to follow.

Five Folklore songs - Cardigan, Betty, August, Illicit Affairs and My Tears Ricochet - and just three Evermore songs - Champagne Problems, Marjorie and Willow - were included in this section of the setlist and I was a little sad that we didn't get to see more from this era of Taylor's music.

The vibe of the albums that Taylor wrote during the Covid pandemic were likened to the "Scottish wilderness" by the songwriter herself on stage, so it would have been lovely for the two albums to see more airtime in their metaphorical birthplace.

However, we still had over 20 songs and three eras of music to get through so it makes sense that there was a set time for each album to have its time in the sun.

We never go out of Style

The 1989 era soon followed and fans sang along to Style, Blank Space and Shake It Off, with every person in the place - young and old - giving their best dance moves to these tunes.

Wildest Dreams followed and this was another one of Taylor's older songs that saw a renaissance thanks to TikTok - with a trend of singing directly into the camera like a music video going viral across the platform.

A shortened version of Bad Blood followed this and fire erupted across the stadium as the pyrotechnics took us all by surprise - and gave a little warmth to those in the windier parts of the venue.

Who's afraid of little old me?

And then, it was finally time for Taylor's newest album - The Tortured Poets Department. While I have to say it was a meaty record to get through in a mere month before the concert, it was a great set to see live.

A mix of But Daddy I Love Him and So High School were joined with a new white dress - and some black gloves on night two to avoid a painful hand cramp that the singer experienced on night one.

My favourite song of this era was by far Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? as Taylor swanned around the stage on a moving platform as the crowd screamed along to the new hit.

Down Bad, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart followed soon after and we were onto the part everyone was waiting for - the surprise acoustic set.

Surprise, surprise

One thing that any Taylor Swift fan, new or old, should know is that the singer will take time in the set to revive some of her older tracks to play on the guitar and piano. It is one of the most highly-anticipated parts of her setlist and the Edinburgh crowd waited with baited breath to hear what she was going to play.

And I certainly was not disappointed with her choices for night one and two - Would've, Could've, Should've was the first choice from her Midnights album, which I had a soft spot for since its release in 2022.

I Know Places was also intermingled with this song on the guitar, before she headed over to the piano and revived 'Tis the Damn Season from her Evermore album - something the crowd were delighted to hear. Daylight was also mixed in on the piano session as fans across the stadium belted out the words to songs they didn't even expect to hear.

However, I have to say that night two's surprise songs definitely had the larger cheer of the three dates, as she debuted Crazier - which was released a whopping 15 years ago for the Hannah Montana movie. Taylor also debuted The Bolter live on guitar, alongside Reputation song Getaway Car and All of the Girls You Loved Before on piano.

Meet me at Midnight

We had finally entered the last section of the Eras tour - the Midnight special. Taylor kicked off the end of the show in yet another new outfit playing Lavender Haze, with clouds floating around the stage.

Anti-Hero was up next as everyone in the audience, "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me" with Midnight Rain following soon after.

The chairs came out for Vigilante S*** and Swift showed off her more provocative side with a sultry chair dance and sound that is more accustomed to the Reputation era - and I loved every second of it.

Bejeweled followed after and the whole stadium lit up in a glittering fashion thanks to the light-up bracelets we were handed on the way in that sparkled during various parts of the show.

Mastermind was second to last on the set list, and by this point, Taylor had performed for over three hours with 44 songs on her list. This was by far the most impressive feat I have seen by a performer, as the singer didn't falter once on any dance, note or beat.

Finally, we all exclaimed that Karma is in fact all of our boyfriends and the show ended in a crescendo of fireworks, flashing lights and bright colours.

Final thoughts

I was blown away by the sheer amount of effort and time put into this stadium show by all of the dancers, band members, crew and Taylor herself. It takes a whole lot of energy to prepare and perform this show - one of my friends even alluded it to "running a marathon every single night".

All I have to say is I entered the Eras tour as a casual fan and listener - and I have left it a fully fledged Swiftie who is ready to head back to any one of her shows in Scotland at any time.

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