London setlist and everything you need to know

London: Newbies will immediately suggest London Boy from Lover as the perfect choice—and of course it is, but it’s still highly unlikely that Swift would choose to sing an ode to her ex-boyfriend (Joe Alwyn) in his hometown. More likely are Come Back, Be Here (where she sings about how distance is tearing them apart while her lover is in the English capital while she’s in NYC), The Black Dog (inspired by the Vauxhall pub) or So Long, London (in which she admits that her split from Alwyn means a chapter of her life spent living in and falling in love with the city is coming to an end). Florida!!! could also mean she brings out London native Florence Welch, who features on the album track.

Fans were disappointed that she didn’t announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version) on the first night at Anfield in Liverpool – the 100th show – but now all signs point to her doing so on the first night at Wembley. After all, she wrote the album as an ode to Alwyn, and the city offered her a safe haven from the gaze of the US paparazzi during her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

As an outlier, Swift’s very first official single – Tim McGraw, which featured on her debut album – was released 17 years ago (on Tuesday the 18th) and she didn’t perform it in Cardiff. So, like her performance of the song on the very first Eras night in Arizona last year, could she perform the song at Wembley?

Another possibility is a special appearance by Gracie Abrams, the rising American singer-songwriter who has opened a number of Eras shows in the US. Abrams’ new album, The Secret of Us, is out on Friday 21 June – the first London date – and features a collaboration with Swift on “Us”. It’s the first time Swift has ever appeared on another artist’s album. Could they perform it together in London?

Taylor Swift’s set lasts three hours and 15 minutes, comparable to career-spanning performances by Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and The Cure.

The main show begins with the appearance of a ticking clock on stage, counting down from a total of two minutes, while songs by Lady Gaga (applause) and Lesley Gore (You Don’t Own Me) play in the background.

As the countdown reaches zero, dancers march onto the stage carrying giant, pastel-colored flags while their various albums are listed in the background (the crowd’s loudest scream comes when they say “My name is Taylor, and I was born in 1989!”). Then the fabric flags fall to the floor, rise, and reveal Swift below, centered, ready to be lifted onto a rising stage block to sing a short version of the opening track, “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” (from Lover), before launching straight into her biggest streaming hit, “Cruel Summer.”