Fan frenzy as Taylor Swift’s Eras tour finally arrives in the UK with Edinburgh Murrayfield gig
Taylor Swift’s billion-dollar blockbuster Eras tour arrives in Edinburgh on Friday, amid a frenzy of fan excitement.
British and Irish fans have waited more than a year for the show to arrive, since she kicked off her marathon string of dates in Glendale, Arizona in March 2023.
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Hide AdSince then she has crossed the US, Asia and south America and made stops across Europe, often accompanied by her boyfriend, the NFL star Travis Kelce.
But the wait finally ends when she steps out onto the stage at Murrayfield Stadium on Friday, ahead of shows in Liverpool, Cardiff, London and Dublin.
She will then return to London in August.
The tour, which takes fans on a journey through the different musical stages of her career, has been a juggernaut and is predicted to provide a £997 million boost to the UK economy, according to a report.
Almost 1.2 million fans will spend an average of £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits and other costs to see the pop superstar at one of the 15 UK tour dates – more than 12 times the average cost of a night out, according to the Barclays Swiftonomics report.
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Hide AdEras tour tickets sparked a 15.8 per cent year-on-year increase in UK spending on entertainment when they were released last July.
The average amount spent on an Eras tour ticket is £206, although 14 per cent of fans, including those who bought VIP ticket packages with premium seating and exclusive merchandise, spent more than £400.
It has already grossed more than a billion dollars, the biggest haul for any act ever and has bagged a Guinness World Record.
The appetite for the tour has not been dimmed by the fact it is currently available to view on streaming service Disney+.
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Hide AdIt was during the six-night run at the So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles that the show was captured on camera by director Sam Wrench to make a concert film.
Swift flexed her considerable negotiating muscles by bypassing the traditional Hollywood studios and releasing the film directly to cinemas.
It is now available to stream for free for anyone with a Disney+ subscription.
However, UK and Irish fans will be treated to a significantly different show, after Swift overhauled her set list, staging and costumes following the release of her latest album The Tortured Poets Department.
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Hide AdShe has cut songs from the previous set list, including fan favourite Long Live, and added a string of tracks from the new record, including But Daddy I Love Him, Down Bad, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, which are widely interpreted to be about her rumoured romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
The level of frenzy over the tour has prompted a major bank to issue a warning over the risk of scams.
Lloyds Bank estimates more than £1 million could already have been lost in the UK to fraudsters pretending to offer tickets to Swift’s concerts and says more than 600 Lloyds Banking Group customers have already come forward to report being scammed.
The average amount lost by each victim was £332, though in some cases the loss was more than £1,000, Lloyds said.
Swift’s show in Edinburgh on Friday will feature support from US rock band Paramore and is due to kick of at 7.15pm.
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