CELEBRITY
During her Friday, May 24, concert in Lisbon, Portugal, Swift, 34, was at her piano performing “Champagne Problems” and noticed a fan struggling in the crowd, per social media footage. Swift called out to security for them to assist the fan.
“Ajuda por favor. Help them please,” she said while pointing in the distressed concertgoer’s direction. No details about what happened to the fan have been shared.
Before the show began, there was reportedly a delay getting fans into the Estadio da Luz stadium. The show was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. but started late. According to the social media page, @tswifterastour, the stadium was around “60 to 70 percent filled” by the time Paramore took the stage. (The band started playing nearly an hour later than scheduled, according to USA Today.)
The fan account also claimed that some people were experiencing issues with security, with some staff allowing water bottles and power banks into the stage area while others were not. (According to an informational packet released ahead of the concert, the venue made a last-minute change in their policy to permit fans to bring in a plastic water bottle.)
The social media page also noted that water cups were given out and there are refill stations on the floor. Fans are also allowed to request water. This is Swift’s first time performing in Portugal. At the start of Friday’s concert, she gave her Portuguese fans a sweet shoutout. “This is my first time getting to come to Portugal, and this is how you welcome us,” she said to the crowd. “When I first walked out in the show and I looked out and saw the crowd, you took my breath away.
My heart was beating so fast. You just made me feel so loved. Thank you so much.” Swift has a second show in Lisbon on Saturday, May 25. After Portugal, she will jet off to Madrid as she continues the European leg of her Eras Tour for the rest of the summer. Since Swift began the Eras Tour last year, the singer and her team have made efforts to ensure fans’ safety.
In May 2023, Swift also famously called out a security guard at her Philadelphia concert while she was in the middle of singing “Bad Blood.” The safety professional and a concertgoer were seemingly having a disagreement and Swift stepped in to de-escalate. “She wasn’t doing anything,” Swift defended the fan in between lyrics. “Hey stop!” While Swift was performing in Stockholm, Sweden, the singer learned that her concertgoers came up with a signal to alert her when they needed assistance.
When you guys are holding a bunch of flashlights up in a group does that mean people need help? Say yes if it means [that],” Swift asked the crowd which they confirmed it was. “OK, if I see that again I’m gonna try to put it out.” Although Swift has done her best to protect her fans, one Brazilian concertgoer, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, died before the pop star’s show in Rio de Janeiro late last year.
Her official cause of death was heat exhaustion, caused by the record temperatures across the country. During the show, Swift also struggled with the heat and made sure to keep her fans safe. “There’s people that need water,” Swift told security guards per social media footage, pausing her performance of “Champagne Problems” after noticing a homemade sign with the request. “Whoever is in charge of giving them that, make sure that happens.”