Taylor Swift wowed fans with twelve outfit changes as she kicked off the UK leg of her sell-out Eras tour in Edinburgh on Friday evening.
The superstar, 34, showcased an array of sequinned ensembles at Murrayfield Stadium – some of which led fans to believe she is set to announce a re-recorded version of 2017’s Reputation.
To date she has released 10 studio albums since 2006, and four re-recordings, which is part of her mission to completely own her own music.
Taking to the stage Taylor wore a bejewelled bodysuit complete with fishnet tights and her signature red lipstick.
She later changed into a white T-shirt which read ‘This Is Not Taylor’s Version’ while singing 22 – a possible nod at a new recording of a previous album.
Playing a catalogue of hits from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) and classics – Taylor had the crowd in a frenzy.
To the delight of the capacity crowd in the Scottish capital, she also performed some fan-favourite hits, such as 22.
The track will be a highlight of the show for some lucky fans – and for very good reason.
It’s the heartwarming moment Taylor gives one person in the crowd her coveted fedora hat – an Eras tour staple.
Taylor wears the black fedora, from designer Gladys Tamez, while performing the track.
It’s a nod to the music video which sees her sport the hat for most of the clip, as well as the memorable black and white shirt with the text: ‘Not a lot going on at the moment.’
The tradition of giving the hat away originated during the US leg of her tour at a show in Glenfield, Arizona.
Some reports suggest that the fan is chosen at random by Taylor’s team – including her mum Andrea. But others suggest Taylor chooses people she knows personally ahead of time.
Opening the show she addressed the crowd saying: ‘What a way to welcome a lass to Scotland’ as she appeared in a sparkling blue and gold bodysuit.
Other outfit changes included a glittering red dress for We’ll Never Ever Get Back Together and a flowing lavender gown to sing Enchanted.
Fearless saw her change into a black and silver tasseled mini dress which she stayed in to perform Look What You Made Me Do.
Fans have predicted certain outfits, such as her ‘This Is Not Taylor’s Version’ T-shirt and sequinned black dresses could be a hint at Reputation (Taylor’s Version).
The original recordings of her first six albums were owned by a record label, which is often the case for most musical artists. They were eventually sold to a private equity firm, that Swift publicly opposed, according to WCNC.
After 1989 (Taylor’s Version) dropped last year, Swift has two albums left to re-record: her debut self-titled album and Reputation, before completely owning all of her music.
Prior to the concert, Swifties reacted with glee when the singer touched down in Edinburgh on Friday afternoon.
The American megastar arrived at lunchtime and was shrouded by umbrellas before being whisked away in a blacked-out vehicle accompanied by a police escort.
The attempt to stay out of the view is reminiscent of a similar trick Taylor played when she arrived to Los Angeles airport in February before supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl.
One fan told MailOnline Taylor is rumoured to be staying at the popular Balmoral Hotel and has apparently booked out two entire floors after offering an entire wedding party £10,000 to move, they claimed.
While Taylor had no troubles when it comes to having somewhere to stay for the night, her fans had a tougher task to find accommodation in Edinburgh as hotels were quickly booked up despite tripling their rates during the megastar’s three-night residency.
Incredibly, some locals came to the rescue – with one man listing his property on Airbnb for £585 per night.
It comes after Matty Healy revealed that he was ‘completely blindsided’ by ex Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department after the singer targeted him in some tracks on the record-breaking 11th studio album.
The 1975 frontman, 35, and the Grammy winner briefly dated last year from April until their split only a few months later in June – and the songstress seemingly took aim at Healy in songs such as Fortnight and Guilty As Sin.
A close friend of the British-born performer opened up to Us Weekly in an article published on Thursday to reveal that Matty still has ‘mixed feelings’ regarding Swift’s LP – which dropped on April 19.
‘He loves the attention it’s brought to him, [but] he also thinks it’s hilarious because at no time [were they] ever serious.’
The source further expressed that the ‘lyrical content’ had also left the Somebody Else performer ‘completely blindsided.’
In one of the tracks titled, Loml, Taylor references to marriage as well as children, with some lyrics including: ‘You s**t-talked me under the table, talking rings and talking cradles.’
She also sang, ‘You and I go from one kiss to getting married/Still alive, killing time at the cemetery/Never quite buried/In your suit and tie, in the nick of time.’
The insider explained to Us Weekly, ‘For her to be saying things about baby carriages …and living together – he says it had never even come up. He’s taking it in his stride.’
In the song, Fortnight – which featured Post Malone – Taylor also appeared to target her brief fling with Matty.
The pair were first linked in April 2023 – the same month it was confirmed that Swift and ex Joe Alwyn had split.
Throughout the month of May, the two were spotted together in NYC holding hands and also stopped by a recording studio together. He also attended a few of her Eras Tour concerts in both Nashville and Philadelphia.
However, by early June, Matty and Taylor ended their romance, with a source telling People at the time, ‘She had fun with him, but it was always casual. They are no longer romantically involved.’
‘They were never boyfriend-girlfriend or exclusive and were always just having fun. There is no drama, and who knows what could happen again. It was a good time and ran its course.’
Excitement for Taylor’s opening UK date had been brewing for hours on end, with ticket holders queueing since the early hours of Friday morning in an attempt to grab the best possible spot.
It was not just fans who had been waiting in anticipation for Taylor arrival – with a former Paralympian seen in the queue.
Ellie Simmonds was spotted wearing a T-shirt with the words I Love Taylor written across it.
The British Paralympian swimmer was spotted with a film crew speaking to fans who have been waiting for hours in line.
Swifties had begun waiting in chilly temperatures of just seven degrees outside Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium from 3am.
Fans then covered their sparkling outfits with waterproof coats and some even resorted to wearing plastic bags over their shoes to stay dry.
Staunch fans had pitched up tents to make an impromptu camp outside the home of Scottish rugby overnight.
At least 12 tents were set up close to the stadium gates as fans travelled from all over the country to be among the first in line to see the Anti-Hero star.
Other Swifties packed out hotels in Edinburgh’s historic centre having jetted in from the far corners of the globe as the pop queen kicks off the British leg of her Eras tour in Edinburgh tonight, Saturday and Sunday before heading to Liverpool, Cardiff and Wembley.
On Friday morning the first few hardy souls began gathering in Roseburn Park to wait for the entrance gates to open at 3pm.
Taylor was also heralded with a ‘Scottish welcome’ by The Reel Time Band, an 11-piece band made up of eight highland bagpipers and three drummers, who performed her song Love Story on the steps outside the venue, while wearing ‘era-fied’ kilts.
Roddy Deans, pipe major of The Reel Time Band, said: ‘Taylor’s tunes translate surprisingly well to traditional Scottish instruments.
‘We’re all huge music fans, so we’re delighted to help welcome Taylor to Scotland in the best way we know how.
‘It’s been a lot of fun recreating Love Story on the bagpipes and putting this ensemble together.’
It took the band 32 hours of rehearsal to practise their take on Taylor’s song, and they have played for people across the world, including the royal family.
Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Edinburgh review: Singer is at the peak of her powers as she kicks off her first UK show in spectacular style, writes ADRIAN THRILLS
Welcomed by a multi-coloured sea of sequins, stetsons, glittery face-paint and cowgirl boots, Taylor Swift brought her record-breaking Eras tour to Britain in spectacular fashion on Friday.
Playing the first of 15 UK shows that will stretch out across the summer, the American megastar wowed the 72,990 Swifties, most of them female, who had gathered in a windy but sunny Edinburgh.
‘You’ve got me feeling so powerful,’ she told fans, shortly after emerging from below the stage, dressed in a spangly leotard.
The career-spanning, three-hours-plus epic that followed was divided into ten acts, or ‘eras’, with each act devoted to one of the Pennsylvania-born singer’s studio LPs.
I saw Taylor, 34, on 2014’s Red tour, the following year’s 1989 show, and 2018’s Reputation trek. This was bigger, better and bolder. Performed with a six-piece band, four backing singers, 16 dancers, three stages and an array of digital effects, it felt like a cross between a futuristic rock concert and a Broadway blockbuster. With bells on.
But Swift’s great trick is her knack of combining theatrical spectacle with substance. Her schooling in country music’s story-telling tradition has given her the skill to convey her emotions in vivid, relatable songs that connect with her fans.
She sang 47 of them here, and most were accompanied by word-perfect singalongs. Even a lyrical, ten-minute version of the ballad All Too Well, from a re-recording of 2012’s Red, got the singalong treatment.
The show opened under bright blue skies with 2019’s Lover album – its early slot a nod, perhaps, to the Lover Fest tour she had to cancel during the pandemic. The album’s waltz-time title track, strummed on a sky-blue guitar, was an early highlight.
We then zipped back to the country-pop of 2008’s Fearless (the eras weren’t showcased chronologically) before the decibel level went up a notch with the brash Red and its whip-smart pop hits. I Knew You Were Trouble would have raised the roof if Murrayfield had one.
The mood shifted with each act. For Reputation, one of Swift’s weaker albums, it was dark and peevish. Her two pandemic releases, Folklore and Evermore, were bundled together, as dusk fell, in a single ‘Folk-more’ act with a pastoral feel and, in Cardigan and Betty, two of her most finely-crafted character sketches. Champagne Problems, sung singer-songwriter style at the piano, was prefaced with lengthy lockdown reminiscences. ‘We never knew whether we’d ever get to do this concert thing again,’ she said.
By the time we reached the 1989 era, with its fun, feel-good hits Style, Blank Space and Shake It Off, the singalongs had become gleeful shout-alongs.
Swift’s two most recent LPs, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, featured late on, but even a setlist as tightly-planned as this one allowed some room for spontaneity, and an ‘unplugged’ section towards the end of the show saw Taylor solo on guitar and then piano sing spur of the moment songs, including ‘Tis The Damn Season and Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.
It’s easy to get lost in the Swiftiverse: the speculation surrounding the lyrics about her exes; the different colour codes for each album; the £1.5 billion this tour is expected to generate. But all the background noise fades the minute this brilliant performer hits the stage.
With two more Edinburgh gigs tonight and tomorrow, and further concerts in Liverpool, Cardiff and London, those lucky enough to have tickets will see a show both Era-spanning and era-defining. With Taylor at the peak of her powers, it’s the music event of the year.
