“Congratulations. Wow. Man, that’s amazing. Thank you for doing that at my concert. That’s a big moment. Huge.”
The billionaire singer-songwriter took to the stage in a blue and silver sequined bodysuit ahead of several costume changes aligned to her different eras over the course of a setlist that largely stuck to the revamped order for her European shows.
She told the crowd she had not been able to play in Scotland for almost a decade and was “wondering what [it was] going to be like”, but was pulled aside ahead of going on stage and told: “We’ve checked this 20 times and this is the most highly attended stadium show in Scottish history.”
She added: “Thank you, Edinburgh, for welcoming a lass to your city.”
She said she wished she had brought all her tours to Scotland, adding she had been made to feel “so welcome”.
She added: “The volume of singing. The dancing. You guys are performing on another level. I can’t stop looking at the crowd. Like, I’m captivated.”
Wearing a sequined T-shirt bearing the slogan “This is not Taylor’s version” when performing her hit 22, she passed her black fedora to a young fan who was similarly dressed.
Taylor Swift thanked her fans for making the gig "the most highly attended stadium show in Scottish history". Photo / Getty Images
She again praised Scotland during the Evermore and Folklore section of the concert, saying as she began writing shortly after lockdown, her life was “so much TV, so much white wine, covered in cat hair” that she “escaped into” an “imaginary world, which I now realise is just based on videos I’ve seen online of Scotland”.
Swift changed into a blue gown for the acoustic section of the concert, playing the surprise songs Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve and ‘Tis the Damn Season.
During the former, she called for help for fans who had got into trouble in the crowd and then had to stop playing guitar temporarily due to a cramp, saying her hand had “formed a claw”.
She thanked the crowd after performing what she said was the “most chaotic” version of the song.
The crowd of nearly 73,000 attended the first of three nights at the stadium in Edinburgh before dates in Liverpool, Cardiff, London and Dublin.
