gigs & glitter.

Entirely unsure where to begin with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The talented singer/songwriter/ general superwoman brought her worldwide-sell-out tour through Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium last weekend and not only set off earthquake radars across the city, but broke the record for the most attended concert in Scottish history on night one, then again on night two and AGAIN on night three – and it honestly comes as no surprise!

After being lucky enough to secure tickets to all three dates, I was asked to share my thoughts with you about her third Edinburgh show, but to be honest, each night felt like such a different experience that I want to give you a whole weekend run through; so buckle up!

On Friday morning it felt like waking up on Christmas Day. After dousing myself in glitter, doing my first live hit of the day on BBC Radio Scotland & making our way to Glasgow Queen Street Station in the sparkliest of outfits at 9am, we were finally on our way to The Eras Tour. It had in fact, been a long time coming.

One thing I will say about the Murrayfield shows is that they were very well organised. Joining our queues each day was easy and well thought out – but with 73,000 shimmering Swifties descending each day, it would need to be!
Once in the queue, time flew by. I had enough signal to do another couple of on air chats from the queue and made a few friends to interview too – everyone was so lovely – trading bracelets and glitter and snacks with each other until it was time for doors. After seeing so much hype online about the tour, I honestly had to pinch myself walking into the stadium – fully in denial it was actually my turn and I was At The Eras Tour.

Paramore being the support for the European leg of the Eras Tour was a dream come true, and as my favourite band took to the stage for the first time that weekend I finally started to realise that it was real. Miss Hayley Williams was stood right in front of me, and soon after Taylor would be in that spot too. I couldn’t believe my luck at how close we were to the stage.

Paramore, as always, smashed their set out of the park – playing through hits from their 20 year discography, which slightly changed each night. The ‘secret songs’ as they’ve become known, were quite obviously tailored for the Paramore fans in the crowd – Night 1 got That’s What You Get and Decode, N2 got Forgiveness and Told You So & N3 got Forgiveness and Brick By Boring Brick. Throughout their 9 song, 45 minute set every night, it was clear that the Nashville founded, powerhouse of a band were an incredible choice for rallying an already ecstatic crowd into an almighty frenzy.

A short half hour set change later and Lady Gaga’s Applause was blasting through the stadium – a sure fire sign that Ms Swift was waiting in the wings, Ready For It.

The clock countdown starts.
The clock countdown hits 00:13 and the place erupts – Taylor’s lucky number 13 (also glitter gel penned onto the hands of fans left, right and centre) – and then…
The clock hits 00:00.
The (now infamous) giant petals manned by dancers appear on stage and the anticipation is almost too much. They fold in on each other, and as if by magic, when they bloom – Taylor Swift appears in the middle of the stage, grinning like a cheshire cat – “IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING…”

Taking us through her hits and favourites from her discography, our journey through the Eras starts with 2019’s ‘Lover Album,’ with tracks Miss Americana, Cruel Summer, The Man, You Need to Calm Down, and Lover. For each separate night, Taylor has a different outfit for this era; a glistening bodysuit made up of sparkling gems – all varied colours of purples and pinks and blues to match the pastels of the album cover. She has every single audience member captivated from the first note.

Moving into the Fearless Era (a personal favourite), she re-emerges in an equally as glittery, fringed bodysuit this time. Hearing the song ‘Fearless’ live was an entire life changing experience, and released an amount of serotonin that can only be described as ethereal.

Jumping from 2008 to 2012’s Red album, the highly sought after ’22 Hat’ was gifted to three super cute kids across the three nights – every single one bringing a tear to our eyes over how completely in awe they were to be getting a hug and gift from Taylor at the end of her catwalk stage. During ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together,’ dancer Kam Saunders inserts a phrase personalised to the city they’re performing in – luckily enough Scotland have plenty of options that could replace the original ‘like ever’ – “Nae Chance!” was his offering for N1, “Ya Wee Radge” on N2 and “Bolt Ya Rocket” on N3 – all went down an absolute storm with the crowd!

Taylor Swift moves through her 18 year career catalogue with a sense of grace and ownership; her performance of Enchanted from 2010’s Speak Now album put true meaning to the word Enchanting and the Reputation (2017) set was nothing short of jaw dropping. Viral fan chants of ‘Take Us to Church, Taylor!!’ during Don’t Blame Me and ‘1, 2, 3 Let’s Go Bitch!’ at the start of Delicate echoed around the stadium unrehearsed – making it clear that fans have been watching videos and live streams of the tour at it’s 94 previous stops, in anticipation of it’s arrival in Scotland.

The Folklore/Evermore section of the set was entirely beautiful and as much as some tracks from the original setlist had been removed to fit in a whole new era later on, it felt like an entire separate gig experience – which I was hopeful for. With these two albums being released during the pandemic, it was unknown whether or not we’d ever get to hear these songs live; something Taylor touched on during her speech before Champagne Problems. Stepping out in three variations of a beautiful flowy dress (forest green, cerise pink and cream) each night, Taylor took us all on an adventure into her (Scottish) woodland to live in the folklore cabin for a whole eight tracks from the two albums.

Bouncing straight back from the forest we were catapulted into the high energy 1989 (2014) set for five of her bigger hits from the album. Glittering colourful mini skirt and crop top combos each night had everyone transfixed on the energetic queen of pop era, and the surprise flames around the stadium during Bad Blood had us all checking our eyebrows were still in tact – although I feel like everyone was grateful for the blasts of heat at that time in the evening!!

In April of this year, Taylor released her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ At the time there was a lot of speculation over whether or not it would be included in the already very infamous Eras Tour Set, but of course, the hardest working woman in the industry had somehow used her down time in between the American and European tour legs to incorporate it into an already jam-packed setlist, and wow, we’re so glad she did.
Six tracks from the thirty one track double release (does this woman ever sleep?) were included in the set & Taylor had two costume changes for them. Seeing the space ship ‘beaming her up’ during Down Bad and the So High School dance routine in real life (and not on a grainy video) was wonderful and as much as I was anticipating the next part of the set, I never wanted it to end.

Secret Songs/Acoustic Set
I’ve quite literally never had the level of anxiousness/excitement at a gig before as when Taylor Swift appears in a new outfit, beside a piano and an acoustic guitar with a smile on her face.

For each night, there’s a part of the set that the songs change. Taylor chooses songs that she thinks fans would want to hear & plays them acoustically, on her own. Recently she’s been doing mash ups of multiple songs – so, instead of two surprises, we got four every night (entirely unsure how my heart coped but we made it through)!
Night 1: On guitar we had a mash up of Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve and I Know Places.
The first can be found on the bonus, 3am version, of the Midnights album and the latter on 1989. Two songs that I absolutely adore and had resigned myself to never getting to experience live (Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve was my most played song on spotify last year!), but I guess that’s the magic of the secret songs and why they’re included in the set. Hilariously, Taylor was introduced to summer in Scotland when she had to pause halfway through to revive her frozen ‘claw hand’ – an exchange with the audience that made the set feel even more personal (we noticed she had fancy new gloves on for the Tortured Poets set beforehand for the next two nights, lesson learned!).

It’s a lottery and I feel like Edinburgh definitely hit the jackpot on this tour. When Taylor moved to the piano for the second mash up, I didn’t think it could get any better, but the mastermind hit us with Tis The Damn Season (another of my very favourites), from Evermore and Daylight from Lover. The squeals of disbelief and excitement could be heard from every direction and Swift’s sly smile showed she knew she’d made the right choices.

Night 2: Entirely convinced that it couldn’t get any better than the first night, we were proved completely wrong. Taylor’s guitar offering for night two was a simply mesmerising mash up of The Bolter (a bonus track from TTPD) and Getaway Car (reputation); this combination resulted in tears from the get go, as after the Reputation Stadium Tour we’d resided ourselves to never hearing Getaway Car live again (who’s be lucky enough to get to witness that more than once in a lifetime??). The piano songs took us out further; All of the Girls You Loved Before (a bonus track, released last year from Lover) was the first, and just as we were recovering, Taylor announced that she’d ‘never played this song live before’ (what do you mean we were about to witness Swiftie History?) and began intertwining Crazier (officially unreleased, but from the Hannah Montana Movie soundtrack) into the song. I honestly don’t think I’ve heard cheers and screams like it before in my life.

Night 3: After already being completely spoiled with our secret songs from the night before we couldn’t quite believe it when, as she was picking up her guitar, Taylor announced that again we were getting another song she’d never played live before! It’s Nice To Have A Friend from Lover was combined beautifully with Evermore’s Dorothea. Leaving no time for processing, Swift jumped over to her piano to lead us into further states of shock with a mashup of Haunted from Speak Now and fan favourite Exile from Folklore – a combination of dreams for many in the crowd and watching events unfold online. Afterwards, when we left the stadium and got phone signal back I was met with an influx of messages of disbelief and ‘I’m so jealous’ texts that we had witnessed such a moment with our own eyes and ears.

Giving no time for any sort of recovery after her surprise songs each night, Taylor reappears almost instantly after diving under the stage in yet another new outfit combination for the final Era of the evening. Midnights. It’s the most fun filled, sparkly, glittery, fireworks fuelled section of the show and makes it entirely impossible to not be having the absolute time of your life. The shift from acoustic to literal party is an energy shift like no other and is just further proof that there is nothing that Swift can’t do.

To witness the Eras tour from three completely different areas of the stadium is something I know I’m beyond privileged to experience but I genuinely got something new and different out of each night. It’s true what they say – there’s really ‘no bad seat’ at the Eras Tour. For night 1, we were General Admission – stood a few rows back from the barrier in the middle of the T at the end of the stage, night 2 we had seats in block S13 – front and centre facing the stage, and night 3 we had Front Right Pit standing tickets, and again, were a few rows from the barrier. Taylor moves around the massive stage SO much, and even if you can’t see her with your own eyes at any point, there’s always a dancer or band member in front of you, and also the biggest screen I’ve seen in my life for you to watch too. One thing I will say is that I was nervous to see one of my favourite artists in such a huge venue, but for such a massive production, Taylor does manage to make the show personable and feel intimate at times. She seemed genuinely excited to be in Edinburgh and couldn’t be more complimentary throughout; even when the inevitable rain shower started on the third night, she was visibly impressed at how quickly an entire stadium did a simultaneous costume change – as ponchos and rain jackets were pulled from bags and over heads.

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is absolutely enchanting and Swift is undeniably the most talented performer of our generation. If you can get your hands on a ticket for an upcoming show, I urge you to experience it for yourself, words do not do it justice.
13/10.

“and I’d do it over and over and over again if I could…”