Taylor Swift at Wembley: guest list, songs and what you might have missed as the Eras tour comes to London
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When Taylor Swift kicked off the long-awaited London leg of her Eras tour at Wembley Stadium on Friday night (June 21), her fans were eagerly awaiting what surprise songs she had chosen for the capital.
Although her 45-song setlist remains largely the same throughout the tour, Swift changes up the “Acoustic Section” of her set, which includes two surprise songs she selects from her back catalog.
Most of the time, these songs are chosen based on where she is performing that night. In May, for example, Swift performed her 2022 song “Paris” in the French capital. At her performance in London on Friday (June 21) on the first of eight nights, Swift also played a medley of “Hits Different,” “Death By A Thousand Cuts,” “Come Back Here,” “Maroon,” and, for the first time live, “The Black Dog.”
The latter is generally believed to be based on her brief affair with Matty Healy, the frontman of the British band The 1975, and contains references to a pub of the same name in Vauxhall, south London.
In London, the Eras tour is expected to generate a £300 million economic boost. The 14-time Grammy winner was greeted with a special performance of her 2014 hit “Shake It Off” during the Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace. At the same time, Transport for London redesigned the London Underground map in Swift’s style and the steps of Wembley Stadium were painted with a Swift mural and temporarily named “Swiftie Steps.”
As the Eras Tour continues with seven more shows in London (three in June and five in August in total), here’s everything you need to know, including all the VIP guests so far and the most up-to-date setlist.
The prominent guest list
Swift was in good company at the opening night of her London evening on June 21, with VIP guests including her NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce, Bridgerton Director Nicola Coughlan, Queer Eyeby Jonathan Van Ness and Cara Delevingne.
The Prince of Wales was also present. According to reports, the king had booked a private box to celebrate his 42nd birthday together with Prince George (10), Princess Charlotte (9) and Prince Louis (6). A video later appeared on TikTok showing the Prince of Wales dancing to “Shake It Off” from a box.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer took a photo of himself and his wife Victoria in the 88,000-strong crowd.
The three-and-a-half-hour setlist
Lover
- “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”
- “Cruel Summer”
- “The man
- “You have to calm down”
- “Lover”
Fearless
- “Fearless”
- “You belong to Me”
- “Love story”
Red
- “22”
- “We are never ever getting back together”
- “I knew you were trouble”
- “All Too Well (10-minute version)”
Speak Now
Call
- “… I am ready?”
- “Sensitive”
- “Don’t blame me”
- “Look what you made me do”
Folklore/More and more
- “Cardigan”
- “Betty”
- “Champagne problems”
- “August”
- “illegal affairs”
- “My tears bounce off”
- “Marjorie”
- “Pasture”
1989
- “Style”
- “Vacancy”
- “Shake off”
- “Wildest Dreams”
- “Bad blood”
The “Tortured Poets” section
- “But dad, I love him”
- “So High School”
- “Who’s afraid of me?”
- “Bad at the bottom”
- “Fourteen days”
- “The smallest person who ever lived”
- “I can do it with a broken heart”
midnight
- “Lavender haze”
- “Antihero”
- “Midnight Rain”
- “Victim-justice shit”
- “Jeweled”
- “Mastermind”
- “Karma”
Surprise songs (based on the first night in London)
- “The Black Dog”
- “Hits Different” (by Midnight)
- “Death by a thousand cuts” (from Lover)
- Maroon“/“Come back… be here” (From midnight And Red).
You can read The IndependentRead the five-star review of Swift’s first UK show in Edinburgh here.
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