The pop star debuted her ballad, "So Long, London", in the acoustic section of the show at Wembley Stadium.
"I wish I could have toured Europe more. This is a dream crowd." - Taylor Swift
As they say, it's Taylor Swift's world, and we are just living in it. The American singer-songwriter recently wrapped up the European leg of her Eras Tour, leaving her hundreds of thousands of fans in awe. She ended it with an extraordinary show at Wembley Stadium (London) on Tuesday, becoming "the first solo artist to ever play Wembley eight times in a single tour". During the show, she debuted some songs along with a music video and brought out surprise guests such as Florence Welch and Jack Antonoff.
Swift's "The Eras Tour" has emerged as a cultural phenomenon like no other. The pop star kicked off the tour on March 17, 2023, and made it to Europe on May 9 this year. She went on to perform in several European countries (including France, Sweden, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy, and Switzerland) before wrapping it up on August 20. Next, she will return to the United States in October.
(Credit: taylorswift)
Well, it's now safe to say that the Eras Tour is beyond anything that we have seen so far in the music industry. Especially in Europe, it reached unprecedented heights, setting a whole new benchmark. Having said that, let's discuss why it was immensely special!
Swiftonomics is a new term that refers to the economic boosts that happen due to Taylor Swift's shows. According to a report, 120,000 Swifties from 130 countries traveled to Stockholm in May, where they spent half a billion Swedish kronor (USD 46 million). Carl Bergkvist, the chief economist at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, revealed that the hotels in that region "saw a price hike of approximately 295 percent". Hotels in Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Cardiff among other cities were all sold out. Barclays Bank revealed in a statement that the tour boosted the UK economy by almost £1 billion (USD 1.3 billion). The two concerts in Madrid reportedly added 25 million euros ($27.6 million) to the Spanish capital's economy.
(Credit: taylorswift)
Notably, The Eras has emerged as the highest-grossing music tour of all time, becoming the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue.
The pop star has described her Eras Tour as “the most exhausting, all-encompassing, but most joyful, most rewarding, most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life.”
Well, it's the same rewarding for fans as well, and their excitement is evident in every show. Seismologists across the European continent recorded high seismic waves during the concerts - thanks to the Swifties. The concerts in Lisbon (in May) triggered seismic activities across four miles all around the stadium. The British Geological Survey recorded the "most significant seismic activity" in Edinburgh during Swift's performances of songs like "Ready for It?", "Cruel Summer", and "Champagne Problems". During the songs "Love Story" and "Shake It Off", ground seismic waves equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 0.8 (Richter scale) were recorded at Wembley Stadium.
(Credit: taylorswift)
Tay-gating is just another example of the unbelievable craze that Taylor Swift enjoys among her fans. The term refers to the practice of Swifties gathering outside stadiums without tickets and enjoying her concerts. Fans not only listen to the songs from outside, but also sing, dance, and tie friendship bracelets to each other. For instance, in Madrid, an estimated 50,000 people enjoyed the show from a nearby hillside.
(Credit: dailypista)
After thousands of Swifties gathered outside the stadium in Munich, several venues decided to ban tay-gating in order to avoid chaos. The Wembley Stadium issued a statement: "To support the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium."
