Taylor Swift pauses her European concerts
MADRID – The crowd packed the floor of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, standing shoulder to shoulder as they waited for Taylor Swift to take the stage. The sticky, hot air hung in the air in anticipation of the Eras tour as beads of sweat dripped down. The ventilation flaps at the top of the arena were open, but with no wind, it seemed a pointless invitation for the 30-degree weather to stay for the Spanish concert.
Stadium staff offered free cups of water to the 67,000 fans, but most people who were close enough to get a crystal-clear photo or video of Swift near her stage didn’t take them up on the offer. Fans had a drink just before entering the stadium and used the restroom for the last time. Once they were in place for the concert to begin, there was no turning back as the orange and purple parachute flaps revealed Miss Americana.
During the 20th song of the night, Swift called out to her fans for help. “Ayuda por favor” (help please), she said as she twirled around during “August” in the combined set of “Folklore”/”Evermore.” Shortly before, she also asked workers to fetch water during “Betty.”
In nearly every European city, fans in person and on live streams have heard Swift asking staff to help concertgoers. Swift has paused or interrupted her show at at least 14 of 31 concerts. Sometimes she speaks once. Sometimes she points at fans multiple times in a show. Twice she has said she will stop playing music until fans are helped. And when she calls it out but realizes help is on the way, Swift thanks the staff.
The different songs in which she asks for help vary, but the most common song is the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” Here are a few examples:
On the third night in Stockholm, before the acoustic part, Swift asked her fans if they held up lights to get their attention or if anyone needed help.
In Scotland on the first night, the singer noticed a fan in need of help and strummed her guitar until helpers arrived at the distressed fan’s location. This was the most notable interruption, with Swift singing, “I’m just going to keep playing until somebody notices her.” She made an announcement just before the acoustic set, before launching into her big, loud tone of “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.”
On her first night in London, she asked for support on “All Too Well,” “Betty,” and “Champagne Problems.”
In Dublin on the first night, she pointed out that a fan needed help and then thanked the staff while changing outfits and singing “Lavender Haze”.
On the second night in Amsterdam, she interrupted “All Too Well” three times, and each time her voice became more urgent.
On the second night in Switzerland, she said, “We need help back there please… we need help there… there,” before finishing the final chorus of “My Tears Ricochet.”
Why does Taylor Swift keep canceling shows?
Swift has asked for help at 45 percent of the shows on the European leg so far. In contrast, she had to call for one stop (out of 53) on her US tour last year when a security guard became too aggressive toward a fan during her hit “Bad Blood.”
There is an important reason for the calls: seating.
In Europe, the rugby and football stadiums hosting Swift’s monumental production have no allocated seating, and this is common practice in sold-out stadiums. The tickets may be cheaper, but the luxury of being able to leave your seat to go to the toilet or get something to eat is gone.
A similar arrangement with no seating occurred in the brutal temperatures in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last November. Temperatures soared above 100 degrees, prompting a heat warning. Fans reported having to leave their water bottles and umbrellas at the entrance. At the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, fans complained about access to water and the price of a $2 cup. In the crowd, Ana Clara Benevides Machado was taken to the hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest caused by heat exhaustion.
Swift did what she could during the three-hour-plus show, calling for help as fans chanted “Water, water, water…” At one point during “All Too Well,” the Eras Tour singer was seen grabbing a water bottle from a staff member on one side of the stage and walking to the other side to throw the bottle into the crowd.
“She has a lot of power,” Andrea Davis said shortly after Benevides’ death. Davis is president and CEO of the Resiliency Initiative, a global consulting firm that focuses on crisis management and risk mitigation planning. “During a concert, it shouldn’t be the artist’s responsibility to hand out water. But unfortunately, it is her job because she has a brand to protect and she really cares about her concertgoers.”
The managing director of event producer Time4Fun, Serafim Abreu, apologized in a video posted on social media: “We are aware that in addition to all the other measures we have taken, we could have taken some more alternatives, such as creating shaded areas outside the stadium, changing the time originally scheduled for the shows or putting more emphasis on allowing people to bring disposable water cups.”
Swift invited Benevides’ family to her final show in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Since then, access to water has been greatly improved at international shows, and Swift acts as a watchful sentinel, interrupting parts of her shows and calling out to fans when they need help. She is not afraid to speak into her microphone and has made interruptions in many of her performances. The interjections come between the lines of songs, sometimes replacing her lyrics.
Fans are the first to alert stadium staff, emergency responders, or Swift herself, waving cell phone flashlights. Because the ground is packed, emergency responders form a line and hold flares above their heads to weave through the crowd. If a fan needs to get out of the crowd, emergency responders may push back with the fan or escort them to the open barrier between the stage and the crowd.
Each stadium has a different approach to water supply. In Stockholm, there were tubs on the floor with multiple spouts for fans to fill their cups from. In Madrid, workers walked around with red water containers to fill cups. In Switzerland, workers handed out ice-cold water bottles and gold and silver emergency blankets. Huge fans blew mist over the crowd.
The calls for help come in all temperatures. Swift’s hand cramped in the icy wind in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the same city where she said she continued to play guitar and sing and speak, she said she could “do this all night long.”
Seven cities still have free seats
Swift will travel to Milan, Italy, for two shows on Saturday and Sunday, where temperatures will be between 27 and 30 degrees, with a 62 percent chance of rain on the first night. According to AccuWeather, the following six cities in Germany, Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom are forecast to have temperatures around 21 degrees.
Swift’s team did not respond to a request for comment on the constant interruptions at shows. Her last “open seating” Eras Tour appearance will be her five shows at Wembley Stadium in August.
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