I’ve learned from my eleven-year-old daughter and Swiftie that it’s a long morning of preparation with a family friend organising hair, make-up, clothes design and boots.
Decanting from a 31 bus the atmosphere is awash over Edinburgh, Taylor Swift has helped cultivate a friendly and respectful audience, I’m soon witness to fans exchanging bracelets and wondering what the secret song will be.
It’s a joy to see such dedication and this is a massive cultural shift from the hedonism of the 1990s. Paramore are cut from a similar cloth from Swift beginning with Hard Times and a blistering version of Burning Down The House by Talking Heads.
Not many support acts could claim the stage the way they do but Hayley Williams performing Still Into You in her red jump-suit is part super-hero/part alternative rock star who makes a tacit and genuine connection with the audience.
For a stadium gig, it’s a quick changeover, standing near the front barrier the wave of the realisation that these Swifties are about to see their queen over three and a half hours is all too much for some. Two women from Peterhead have even managed to perform a Jedi Mind Trick with security and enter the stadium without tickets.
Some dance, some scream, and others just stand in awe as the atmospheric synth and sweep of Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince kicks off the show. The Man has become a notable anthem of female empowerment, the elaborate stage sets such as recreating an office scene are almost surreal on the cool Edinburgh summer night.
It was back in 1983 that David Bowie made history playing here for the first time much to the chagrin of several Roseburn residents. Much like Bowie, Swift manages to connect with every single person in the stadium, there is an unfathomable authenticity, bravery and truth in the songwriting. She charms the Scottish audience stating her one regret about previous tours was not coming here enough.
It’s during the country-tinged Fearless set that her band really come alive, they look like they are having the time of their life from our vantage point at the barrier of the front-left of the stadium. Amos Heller gives some serious bass face shifting back and forth from keyboards at various points of the evening.
Her backing singers, the Starlights smile and wave at the girls from Peterhead. Most fans will agree that Red is one of the great Swift albums, red confetti falls as she leads her band out into the middle of the stadium for 22, an array of cowboy hats in the audience bob up and down in unison and the screams just get louder and louder by the time of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
The “You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me” line is simply one of the best pop hooks ever written that never fails to hit you in the guts. It’s topped off by dancer Kam Sanders bellowing “Ya wee radge” bringing some comical Edinburgh slang to the mix.
Swift’s voice soars during the end coda and we have our first contender for song of the night. The 10-minute version of All Too Well proved to be an emotional moment for some enraptured by the experience. The Folklore/Evermore section summons a sense of the songs written during lockdown before Champagne Problems, especially when Swift addresses the fears we all felt during the pandemic while reminding us how important imagination and creativity were in those days. During Betty, we are transported to a cabin in the woods for a folky singalong.
The LED wristbands dispensed on entry light up for the costume change to green. Hooded cloaks with crystal balls during Willow remains one of the most captivating set pieces amid swathes of dry ice. Fans walk in with bags of merchandise just before the 1989 part of the set. The album was introduced to this writer by Ryans Adams and his cover of the entire album back in 2015.
I bought the Swift album for my daughter so there are all kinds of personal resonances during the likes of Style, Shake It Off and Bad Blood. During Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me some skilful choreography and camera angles on the big screen make Swift appear to levitate, it’s topped off by possessed eyes at the end just as night begins to fall.
The Midnight section brought more set highlights, Swift appeared in front of us during one of her finest singles Anti-Hero, the electronic pulse and subtle flourishes of texture encouraged many to find their own space in the stadium for a last dance.
The big finish of Karma is soon turned into a confetti haze with screams louder than the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Fireworks soar into the night while Swift honours her gifted band and dancers. We file out when Taylor appears for one last wave at the front left of Murrayfield for a show that has made history as Scotland’s biggest ever.
This was a massive cultural and historic moment in the life of a city, it will live on for many generations to come.
