The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift might have been understating things when she called one of her surprise songs for night 2 in Liverpool, England, “a little bit unexpected.”
Making its Eras Tour debut on Friday night (June 14), Swift performed “This Is What You Came For” — the Billboard Hot 100 top five hit released by Calvin Harris and Rihanna in 2016, which Harris co-wrote with his then-girlfriend Swift — in a mash-up with Evermore‘s “gold rush” for the first of two surprise acoustic songs.

With a guitar slung over her cobalt-blue ombre maxi dress, Swift introduced the song by acknowledging that it might be an especially surprising surprise song. “Every single time that we have an acoustic set, I’m always trying to think of things that you might want to hear, maybe things that might be a little bit expected,” she told the Anfield Stadium crowd. “Let’s see how we did tonight.”

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While “This Is What You Came For” was making its Eras Tour debut, Swift has performed the song twice before: once in 2016 at her Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix concert in Austin, Texas, and once in 2017 at her Super Saturday Night concert in Houston, Texas, ahead of that year’s Super Bowl.

When the song was released in April 2016, it was credited as being co-written by Harris and an unknown songwriter named “Nils Sjöberg.” Following Harris and Swift’s breakup, TMZ reported in July of the same year that Sjöberg was actually a pen name for the pop singer/songwriter, and Harris confirmed her involvement on Twitter. In a 2020 Rolling Stone conversation with Paul McCartney, Swift explained her motivation for using the pen name.

“I think, when a pseudonym comes in is when you still have a love for making the work and you don’t want the work to become overshadowed by this thing that’s been built around you, based on what people know about you,” Swift said at the time. “And that’s when it’s really fun to create fake names and write under them. I wrote under the name Nils Sjöberg because those are two of the most popular names of Swedish males. I wrote this song called ‘This Is What You Came For’ that Rihanna ended up singing. And nobody knew for a while. I remembered always hearing that when Prince wrote ‘Manic Monday’ [for The Bangles], they didn’t reveal it for a couple of months.”

For her second acoustic song on Friday night, Swift performed a Midnights mash-up of “The Great War” and “You’re Losing Me” on piano.

Watch Swift perform “This Is What You Came For” in Liverpool:

Taylor Swift is celebrating her 100th Eras Tour show by confirming her final Eras Tour show.
At the first concert of a three-night stint in Liverpool, England, on Thursday (June 13), Swift let the crowd in on a secret: The seemingly endless Eras Tour has an official end.

“You know, this is actually the 100th show of the tour,” Swift says to wild cheers in fan video of the moment. “That blows my mind. That doesn’t feel like a real statistic to me, because this has definitely been the most exhausting, all-encompassing, but most joyful, most rewarding, most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life, this tour, these moments with you.

“You know, a lot of you were like, ‘Well, how are you going to celebrate the 100th show?’” Swift continued from the Anfield Stadium stage. “And for me, the celebration of the 100th show means this is the very first time I’ve ever acknowledged to myself and admitted that this tour is going to end in December. Like, that’s it.”

The Eras Tour kicked off at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium on March 17, 2023, and the final scheduled concert — which will be the 152nd show, if no new dates are added — is set for Dec. 8 at Vancouver, Canada’s BC Arena.

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“That feels so far away from now, but then again, it feels like we just played our first show on this tour because you have made this so fun for us that we wanted to do 100 shows, 150-something shows that we have on the whole tour,” Swift said. “This tour has really become my entire life. It’s taken over everything. I think I once had hobbies, but I don’t know what they were anymore because all I do when I’m not onstage is sit at home and try to think of clever acoustic song mash-ups and think about what you might want to hear. So when I’m not on the stage, I’m dreaming of being back on the stage with you guys.”

Swift finished her speech by thanking fans for making the effort to be with her as The Eras Tour “reaches triple digits of shows.”

After two more nights in Liverpool, Swift will continue to Cardiff, Wales, for one show, before putting on the first three concerts of an eventual eight nights at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Watch Swift’s full speech below:

Taylor Swift is anything but down bad after three successful Eras Tour shows in Scotland, shortly after which she thanked fans for showing up in record-breaking numbers in a heartfelt post on Instagram Monday (June 10). Sharing a slew of photos from her performances at Murrayfield Stadium, the pop star excitedly wrote, “Edinburgh!!! You truly […]

The fruits of Taylor Swift‘s work ethic are pretty much inescapable, from the chart dominance of her music to the attention her billion-dollar Eras Tour trek commands nearly every week. And in a new BBC story exploring the pop star’s success published Friday (June 7), Lana Del Rey offered her thoughts on how her friend […]

Taylor Swift is screaming “long live” all the magic she made with her fans at her two Eras Tour shows in Madrid this week. One day after wrapping up her two-night stay at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the pop star gushed about the time she spent with her Spanish Swifties on Instagram Friday (May 31). “I […]

The real-life namesakes of Taylor Swift‘s Folklore characters were in attendance at the Wednesday (May 29) Eras Tour show in Madrid, with Blake Lively bringing along her daughters — James, Inez and Betty — to see the pop star’s first of two performances at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.   Fan cameras captured the actress interacting with concertgoers […]

Taylor Swift is adding extra support acts for her upcoming Eras Tour dates in London.
The pop superstar will be performing a total of eight shows at Wembley Stadium this summer as part of her blockbuster world tour. The first three concerts take place from June 21-23 and the remaining five are scheduled for Aug. 15-17 and Aug. 19-20.

On Sunday (May 27), Swift announced that three additional artists will be opening for her alongside Paramore on the June dates. Joining the lineup are Mette (June 21), Griff (June 22) and Benson Boone (June 23).

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“I just found out Fortnight is #1 on the UK airplay chart!!!! You guys are amazing and I can’t wait to see you so soon! Thought this might be a fun time to announce the first group of opening acts I’ll be adding to the London shows, going on before Paramore,” Swift wrote in her Instagram Story. “I chose artists whose music I love listening to, and I can’t wait for them to add an extra jolt of excitement to our shows at Wembley Stadium in June.”

The “Cruel Summer” singer added, “Mette, Griff, and Benson Boone, welcome to The Eras Tour!!”

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The three artists excitedly responded to the news on their respective social media accounts.

“TAYLOR SWIFT HAS INVITED ME ON THE ERAS TOUR!!!!!! 8 yr old me who had fearless on repeat wouldn’t believe this,” Griff wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “So unbelievably grateful to Taylor for all the love she’s shown me and my music. See you at Wembley on June 22nd”.

Mette added on X, “It’s a new ERA for ya girl… Opening the ‘Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour’ on June 21st at Wembley Stadium in London. Thank you @taylorswift13 – Never been so excited in my entire life!!! #TSTheErasTour.”

Boone reposted Swift’s announcement on his Instagram Story, writing, “@taylorswift so excited to be a part of the show thank you for having me,” alongside a face with tears and red heart emojis.

Swift is currently in the middle of the European leg of her global Eras Tour, on which she recently premiered the brand-new Tortured Poets miniset at her Paris shows. In addition to “Fortnight,” the updated setlist features “Down Bad,” “So High School,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”  

The 14-time Grammy winner wrapped shows in Lisbon over the weekend and will spend the rest of the summer traveling through Europe before returning to the U.S. and Canada for a second North American leg this fall. 

So long, Liverpool. Ahead of Taylor Swift‘s upcoming Eras Tour shows, the English city is now known as “Taylor Town.”
The city is currently in the process of unveiling a temporary makeover to prepare for the pop star’s three performances slated for June 13-15 at Anfield Stadium, starting with the tailored — or should we say, Tay-lored — name change. Plus, local creatives are designing 11 individual art installations inspired by each of Swift’s studio albums to form a “Taylor Town Trail,” including a playable moss-covered grand piano representing Evermore, a “red room” encapsulating Red and a Fearless mural based on the singer’s lucky number, 13.

Banners spelling out “Taylor” have also already gone up across the front of St. George’s Hall in the center of town, as captured in photos from local Swifties.

“One of the biggest stars on the planet is coming to the birthplace of pop,” reads a notice on the Liverpool City Council website. “And to mark this musical moment for the ages, there are plans in place to give Swifties a proper scouse welcome.”

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The city is also planning a series of ticketed craft workshops — aka Liverpool Loves Taylor (Craft Version) — where fans can make origami pieces that will be added to one of the 11 main art installations. Participants will also be able to work on homemade Swif-tee shirts, collages and cupcakes inspired by the “Anti-Hero” singer.

The University of Liverpool is getting involved, too, by hosting a free “Tay Day” symposium for academics, students and fans to “unpack the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift,” according to the city council’s notice. “The event will include critical karaoke sessions, where researchers perform their findings to some of Taylor’s biggest hits and a series of interactive talks on subjects including her song lyrics, her award-winning albums and her place in feminism and the LGBTQ+ community.”

Liverpool is just the latest Eras Tour locale to go all out ahead of Swift’s arrival. For instance, Glendale, Ariz., temporarily changed its name to “Swift City” in lieu of the 14-time Grammy winner’s kickoff show there in spring 2023, while Rio de Janeiro projected the image of a Taylor-themed T-shirt onto its iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in November.

Take a peek at Liverpool’s Swiftie celebrations below.

Liverpool to transform into Taylor Town this June 😍👇Of course Liverpool will celebrate the arrival of Taylor Swift this summer. The Taylor Town Trail will be the centrepiece with 11 art installations, each inspired by a different Taylor Swift Era. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/d30WgJBnrP— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) May 21, 2024