Exclusive:'Many more' blockbuster concerts like Taylor Swift to come to Murrayfield, vows Scotland's biggest concert promoter

The home of Scottish rugby will host “many more” blockbuster concerts after hosting three record-breaking Taylor Swift shows at the weekend, the nation’s biggest concert promoter has predicted.

Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts, said Edinburgh was now in an “enviable position” for hosting major outdoor events due to the choice of venues on offer.

He praised the accessibility of Murrayfield from all parts of Scotland, the surrounding area's suitability for fans who want to queue hours before the concert starts, and the approach of its events team after nearly 220,000 ticket-holders flocked to see the opening shows on the UK leg of Ms Swift’s world tour.

Taylor Swift performs at Murrayfield Stadium on the opening night of the UK leg of her Eras Tour.

Mr Ellis highlighted the growing number of shows at Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, which DF has used for major outdoor events since 2022, and Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, which will host six outdoor concerts next month.

He said: “Murrayfield is the biggest stadium in Scotland for concerts and has good transport links, notwithstanding the need for plenty of late trains and the communication to fans of these, so it's always going to attract big shows.

“Murrayfield is a great stadium with a good team in place who understand concerts and the requirements of major international tours. [It] also benefits from having Roseburn Park adjacent as well as its back pitches which allows additional space to be available which can be really useful on shows such as Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and One Direction where a large number of fans arrive early and congregate.”

He added: “I'm sure Murrayfield will continue to host many more spectacular outdoor concerts in the future.”

Nearly 220,000 fans saw Taylor Swift perform at her three concerts at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

However he warned the city was being let down by recently-imposed curbs on events in Princes Street Gardens, which he warned had “killed off” its use for major concerts.

"Edinburgh is now in an enviable position of also having concerts at Edinburgh Castle Esplanade in July and the Royal Highland Centre, where for the last three years we have been producing a run of concerts of up to 27,000 capacity in August,” he said.

“It's just a shame that the onerous restrictions placed upon Princes Street Gardens have, for the foreseeable future at least, killed off that wonderful location in the heart of the capital as a major concert venue.”

DF, which stages the TRNSMT music festival on Glasgow Green, has started staging its Summer Sessions shows in the shadow of Stirling Castle after councillors decided to restrict the number of events at the Ross Bandstand arena.

However DF will return to the Royal Highland Centre in August for an all-day event featuring Ocean Colour Scene, The View, Embrace and Alabama 3.

The forthcoming season of Edinburgh Castle shows will feature Madness, JLS, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, The National, Paul Weller and Skipinnish.

Although Murrayfield has been hosting concerts since the 1980s, it has stepped up efforts to attract the biggest music since the pandemic, with Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen all performing last year.

The council agreed to raise the capacity of Swift’s Murrayfield shows from 67,000 to 73,000.

Council leader Cammy Day said the staging of the concerts had been “highly successful” and helped prove that Edinburgh was “the best city in the world.”