Taylor Swift review: Debut Eras gig delights fans as star proves herself truly world class

Taylor Swift mania hit fever pitch on Friday night as the US superstar played her first British concert in six years. More than 70,000 fans, many of whom had queued for days and forked out thousands, packed Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium hours before the performance.

They lined the stage in pink cowboy hats, sequinned jackets and outfits emblazoned with lyrics. And when Taylor, 34, finally took to the stage for the latest leg of her Eras Tour the excitement surging around the venue exploded.

The US pop icon was on electric form as she launched into opener Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince from 2019 album Lover. And her juggernaut of a set, which lasted for more than four hours, never lost its energy. Taylor shifted effortlessly from one album to the next, just as easy in breezy pop – Cruel Summer, You Need To Calm Down – as in emotional break-up ballads and the razor sharp lyrics of Reputation.

The folksy charm of 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore brought another sea change, before the nostalgia fix of debut album 1989 with Shake it Off and Style. Taylor, who last performed in the UK on her 2018 Reputation Tour, has to date sold more than 180 million records. Each fan last night was estimated to have spent at least £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits and merchandise. And it was a marker of Taylor’s impact that just a few notes of each track sparked deafening roars of recognition – and often tears. The epic show, which began in Phoenix, Arizona last March, has acquired seven additions along the way courtesy of ninth album, The Tortured Poets Department.

And new tracks Fortnight, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart and The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived went down a storm despite being released just a few months ago. As the night drew to a close, the final spotlight was given to concept album Midnights. Few superstars would even attempt a performance of this magnitude. Taylor, who shrugged off a minor technical glitch early on, proved herself truly world class.