Taylor Swift – Wembley Stadium, London; August 15th, 2024
A year ago, after not getting any tickets, I had thought I would never see Taylor swift twice, let alone seeing her twice and yet, I was lucky enough to see her again in London. It was a beautiful experience, high on emotion and full of happiness.
On the day I traveled to the UK for Beautiful Days festival in Exeter, I found myself standing in line in Brussels, waiting for the Eurostar. Around me, were lots of Swifties, Since Taylor Swift played her second set of shows in London that week. Some time earlier, I had received a “you are off the waiting list” – email with a ticket link, but there were no good seats avaialble so I had decided against it. However, that day, I saw someone in front of me looking at their Ticketmaster app and there were clearly tickets available all over the stadium. I didn’t even know what day it was or if they were really looking at Taylor Swift tickets, but once we had boarded the train I checked and there were front of stage (!) tickets for that very night. I bought one without hesitation, hoping I would not lose my network connection while I was doing it. Then I booked a hostel in London for the night and a train to Exeter for the next morning.
I was in no way prepared for the concert or a night at a hostel, but none of that mattered. I was here and I’d figure out the rest. On the way to wembley Stadium the tube station got cleared for some reason and I found myself sharing an uber with a few other fans, going to the train station and taking the train to Wembley. Once there, I lost them, but it was OK. Took a toilet break, entered the stadium and found a nice spot near the end of the catwalk. Wow.
Before I had really settled in, the lovely Sofia Isella was on stage. I had never heard of her, but I gathered she is an up and coming artist and I can only say she was brilliant. I loved her set.
Setlist
Hot Gum
Cacao and Cocaine
Everybody Supports Women
Unattractive
Sex Concept
I Looked The Future in the Eyes, It’s Mine
Next up were Paramore and I still could not believe I got to see the full stage this time, plus some closer looks when they came out all the way to the end of the catwalk. How cool was that. Everyone around me was super excited and dressed up for the show. I saw some cool shirts and beautiful dressed on the way in. Anyway, Paramore killed it and delivered a great set.
Setlist
Hard Times (Extended intro; with snippet of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”)
Burning Down the House (Talking Heads cover)
Still Into You
Forgiveness
Caught in the Middle
The Only Exception
Misery Business
Ain’t It Fun
This Is Why
When the countdown clock appeared on the screens, much sooner than I had expected, people got even more excited. So many happy, giddy girls and women around me all waiting for the one moment when the clock reached zero and erupting into cheers. It felt like one big sisterhood and I let myself be swept up in all the emotions.
The music started and Taylor appeared from below the catwalk, singing ‘Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince’. Everyone around me was singing along as loudly as they could – it was pure bliss. With ‘Cruel Summer’ it got even better and I realized a knew more of the words this time. Still not the bridge though. 😉 At times the Swifties were singing so loudly, I could not even hear Taylor, but it was all part of the game and I loved it.
She told us how great it was to play for 92.000 people, then put on a silver glittery jacket and added “what I’m trying to say is you make me feel like a man”. The song was awesome and I liked how all the singers were sitting at desks on different levels of the stage, as she walked among hem, higher and higher until she had reached the top level and sat on the desk with her feet up on the railing. 😀
‘You need to calm down’ followed and she was out on the catwalk again. The people around me really knew every word and I just went with the flow, singing along as best as I could and hardly ever standing still. Talyor welcomed us to the eras tour, thanked us for coming and payed tribute to her opening acts, asking us to cheer for Sophia Isella. Then she mentioned how good it was to travel with her friend Hayley Williams from Paramore and we cheered for them too. ‘Lover’ was beautiful. <3
She disappeared off the stage and when she came out again through a door at the back of the stage, we had reached the Fearless era. The song was awesome and she leaned down playing to people right at the front, then forming a heart with her hands to which we all responded with the same gesture. 🙂 During ‘You belong with me’ people were jumping and dancing. We got a great guitar solo too. ‘Love Story’ was so much fun. Not only did she come to the very front of the catwalk with three of the dancers, the guitarists and bass player, but I also could sing along at least party. At the end she walked back to the diamond at the center of the catwalk and disappeared below.
We got the Red intro from tape, while some of the dancers where rolling great big boxes around stage. Taylor reappeared, wearing a T-Shirt that said “A lot going on at the moment” and of course the hat, singing 22. There were some shenanigans going on like a dancer popping out of one of the boxes and one riding piggyback on another’s back. Of course all the dancers had changed outfits too. Towards the end of the song, they all came to the front of the catwalk, where a young girl was already waiting. Taylor hugged her, then placed the hat on her head and she looked so happy.
‘We are never getting back together’ was lots of fun and this time Kam Saunder’s line was “Are you mad?” 😀 I really enjoyed the choreography and the outfits just as much as the songs. It was such a perfect show overall. I loved ‘I knew you were trouble’ too. It was accompanied by steam blowing upwards from the catwalk. Such a powerful song. Then, Taylor stood on stage alone with her guitar and asked how we liked the Red era so far, then said she had one more song for us f we had like ten minutes. It was ‘All too well’ of course and it was perfect. All the lights on our wrists were glowing as confetti rained sown on us and we san along as one. “Fuck the patriarchy” we yelled together and I felt safe, like being surrounded by friends. <3
The Speak now intro came from tape and soon Taylor sang ‘Enchanted’, wearing a lovely, flowing dress, surrounded by dancers. Then backstage again for another costume change. Were we ‘ready for it?’ – hell yeah. I loved the red and black outfits and the snakes projected on the catwalk and screens – so fucking cool! Reputation is one of the albums I don’t own yet, but I sure like those songs. For ‘Delicate’ all the dancers had left and she was alone on the diamond – very cool. Then the guitarists joined her for ‘Don’t blame me’, all up on the raising elements of the stage. 🙂 This era ended with ‘Look what you made me do’ and all the dancers in glass cages they were stared at, turned around and sung to. Only in the end they were freed.
For folklore/ evermore trees grew out of the stage and there was a wooden cabin at the center. Taylor sat on the roof, singing ‘Cardigan’, then got up and walked into the cabin. She told us how powerful it was to see the London crowd for the first time and how it was the best feeling in the world to share her music with 92.000 people. She spoke about changing her approach to writing for the folklore album, telling stories of other people, being a narrator instead of the main character. ‘Betty’ was fantastic, with her sitting amongst the band on teh stairs of the cabin.
Before ‘champagne problems’ she talked about the pandemic times and how she had written all those songs without knowing if she’d ever play them live and how great it felt to be able to play them for us now. she sat down at a grand piano that looked like it was overgrown with moss and played beautifully. ‘August’ was lovely and I have to mention again just how much I loved her outfits. She was dancing around during the song, hen, fo ‘Illicit affairs’ knelt on the stage and we got to see some cool black and white projections in the main screen. Everything fit together perfectly. During ‘My Tears ricochet’ she walked up the catwalk, followed by her dancers, a light green spot, while everyone else was dressed in long black ropes. It all sounded so good too.
For ‘Marjorie’ everyone switched on their phone lights and since it was getting dark already it looked beautiful. The screen showed a beautiful forest, into which she seemed to walk in the end. For ‘Willow’ she returned with a log black robe, surrounded by dancers carrying lights/ glowing balls. Thus ended one of my favorite eras.
The show continues with ‘Style’ and ‘Blank Space’. during the latter the dancers were driving around the catwalk with bicycles that were lit up. The and Taylor also had glow in the dark golf clubs they were swinging around. With every song there was so much going on I’m sure I missed a lot. It was a great show. Shake it off was great fun and still of the few songs I could sing along to. For ‘Wildest Dreams’ the stage was lit up beautifully and during ‘Bad Blood’ there was fire – real flames shooting up from stage ad lots of them on the screens too – blending together perfectly. I remembered that back in Amsterdam I could feel the heat.
Once again, she disappeared into the catwalk and we got a tape intro to the next era, The Tortured Poets Department. Taylor came back in a gorgeous white dress, with text printed all over it and black glitter gloves, standing on the diamond and all the dancers, now also dressed in white, walked out to her. She sang ‘But Daddy I love him’/ So High School’ walking onto the platform and as it raised, the dancers were bowing down to her until she joined them again and they all danced together – in the end they did that sitting down on the platform’s edge. It all looked great.
*Whose afraid of little old me?’ was perfect. She stood on a platform that moved across the stage while singing it. She sat down for ‘Down Bad’ while the platform continued moving and the song slowly morphed into ‘Fortnight’. Now all the screens turned into black and white and one huge bed frame was rolled out onto the catwalk. On the bed were a desk with two typewriters and two chairs where Taylor and one of the dancers sat down, while the bed was being turned around and later dipped down on one side so she stood at the upper and and the dancer at the lower end, trying to get up to her side. Once there, he was ignored, “slipped away” and once he was off the bed, she walked to the lower end and stretched her hand out for him, but he remained out of reach. The them of not reaching each other continued and in the end they both stood on top of stairs, across from each other, but too far apart to touch. Nice!
‘The smallest Man who ever lived’ had all the dancers walk behind her while beating small drums and sinking too the floor at the end of the song one by one. soon they recovered and Taylor proclaimed ‘I can do it with a broken heart’, surrounded by danvers in suits and top hats, while her golden coat glittered. They followed her out on the catwalk and lifted her up, carrying her on their hands. Everything about this era looked beautiful.
It was time for the surprise songs and when Taylor stood at the front of the catwalk with her guitar, I never thought I was going to see what happened just a few minutes later. She talked about how she never did the same songs twice and she would judge how well she was doing, based on our participation. So if we either cheered very loudly or sang very loudly it was good. She started with ‘Everything has changed’ and everyone was singing. Then she stopped, noting that she had the feeling she wasn’t really doing it justice and something was definitely missing. She then called Ed Sheeran on stage to join her. Now My friends know I do not like his music, so I never thought I’d see him life, but this was absolutely fantastic. It was a mashup of course, so we got to hear parts of ‘End Game’ and ‘Thinking out loud’ too. They sounded wonderful together. When it was over they hugged and she said he is one of his best friends in the world. What a great surprise indeed. For the piano surprise songs she was alone again, playing a mashup of ‘King of my Heart’ and ‘The Alchemy’. It was amazing!
The Midnights era started with ‘Lavender Haze’ and the dancers rolling out huge lavender clouds on wheels. They stopped on the diamond and Taylor joined them there. ‘Anti Hero’ followed and was aided with scenes from the video on the screens – Taylor towering over the city. Meanwhile, the real one was on the main stage, dancing amongst the band and waving to the audience on the sides. For ‘Midnight Rain’ all the dancers had umbrellas and all the screens showed rain. 🙂 ‘Vigilante Shit’ was very sexy, the dance involving chairs – you can imagine the rest. ‘Bejeweled’ was lots of fun with the dancers showing some great moves. During ‘Mastermind’ the entire catwalk looked like a chessboard and had another fantastic choreography – the whole show was wonderfully choreographed. It all ended with ‘Karma’ with everyone dressed up in rainbow colors, loads of confetti and Taylor thanking her band, her dancers and us. What a phenomenal show that was. I was so happy i got to see it again!
Setlist
– Lover
Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince (shortened)
Cruel Summer (extended outro)
The Man (spoken intro)
You Need to Calm Down (shortened)
Lover (spoken intro; extended outro)
– Fearless
Fearless (shortened)
You Belong With Me
Love Story
– Red
Tape: Red – Intro (contains elements of “State of Grace”, “Holy Ground” and “Red”)
22
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Kam Saunders: “Are you mad?”)
I Knew You Were Trouble (shortened)
All Too Well (10 Minute Version; spoken intro)
– Speak Now
Tape: Speak Now – Intro (contains elements of “Castles Crumbling”)
Enchanted (shortened)
– Reputation
…Ready for It?
Delicate
Don’t Blame Me (shortened)
Look What You Made Me Do (extended outro)
– folklore / evermore
cardigan (shortened)
betty (spoken intro; shortened)
champagne problems (spoken intro)
august
illicit affairs (shortened)
my tears ricochet
marjorie (shortened)
willow(extended)
– 1989
Style (shortened)
Blank Space
Shake It Off
Wildest Dreams (shortened)
Bad Blood (shortened)
– THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT
Tape: Female Rage: The Musical (contains elements of “MBOBHFT”, “WAOLOM”, “loml”, “So Long, London” and “BDILH”)
But Daddy I Love Him / So High School
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (shortened)
Down Bad (shortened; with “Fortnight” outro)
Fortnight
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (shortened)
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (extended intro)
-Surprise Songs
Everything Has Changed / End Game / Thinking Out Loud (with Ed Sheeran) (spoken intro; mashup on guitar)
King of My Heart / The Alchemy (mashup on piano)
– Midnights
Lavender Haze
Anti‐Hero
Midnight Rain
Vigilante Shit
Bejeweled
Mastermind
Karma (“guy on the Chiefs” lyric; extended outro)