I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan. I’ve been proudly in her top 0.01 percent of listeners on Spotify for years, and can probably sing most of her oeuvre from memory.
But despite this, I was unable to get tickets to see her perform in London this summer. Tickets for the pop sensation’s upcoming Eras Tour concerts are being flogged for over £500 on resale sites, with some even reaching £1,000. Although there are cheaper options, I have still been priced out. So, as a way to nurse my broken heart, I decided the next best thing might be a night with Taylor wall to wall.
Club night ‘Swiftogeddon’ takes place every month at various venues in London, as well as other venues across the country. Tickets start from £12.68 at Troxy, in east London, and Clapham Grand, in south London, rising to around £20 per ticket if you get them closer to the event itself.
The doors open at 9pm but last entry is 11pm, our tickets warned, so my friend Fiona and I got excited and made our way to the Troxy in Limehouse. The first thing that struck us both was the variety and color of everyone’s clothing.
As soon as we walked into the venue, it was easy to tell who was heading to the Taylor Swift night, from the number of sequins and cowboy hats. And when we walked in, with Bad Blood playing at full volume, we knew it was going to be a great night right away.
Troxy is designed with a large floor area which was packed with people when we arrived, and with more space when you enter the main room, where there are two bars and a wardrobe. We decided to make our way into the crowds and found it easy to find a space to dance and sing to Taylor, without it feeling too crowded at any point.
It was a euphoric experience from start to finish. Taylor’s songs, played at full volume with the bass cranked up, are impossible not to sing along to, even if you’re just a casual fan.
The music was led by two DJs who took turns running the decks or coming out and hyping up the dancers, with a huge screen behind playing Taylor’s music videos – though not the same as the songs being played at the same time, which was a bit of a pain for a while.
And if you think they only played Taylor’s greatest hits and upbeat party tunes, think again. At midnight, the DJs presented the next 10 songs as some of the most important songs ever written.
This set of songs started with Cold As You, then White Horse, before I played Dear John, that’s where I clocked what was happening – have you worked out the theme yet? They then played all 10 minutes of All Two Well (10 Minute Version), which you never thought would work in a club setting, but brought the house down.
Taylor’s quieter, more acoustic songs were also played throughout the night, including Exile (ft. Bon Iver) and August, and we all had as much fun singing along as we did to I Knew You Were Trouble and New Romantics.
I had planned to leave shortly after midnight, given that I had been on a week of 06 shifts and had a long weekend ahead of me. But every song played just kept us on the dance floor singing along until we completely lost our voices.
Finally we managed to drag ourselves away at 1.30am – three hours after we had arrived. We left beaming and on adrenaline, with big smiles and already planning when to go back. You can Book tickets for Swiftogeddon here.
You can look for resale tickets for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on Viagogo and Vivid Seats. Websites such as Viagogo and Vivid Seats allow fans to purchase resale tickets from other fans. However, it is important to note that many event organizers say that tickets should not resold after first purchase and will not apply to admission to gigs.
Fans attending live events with tickets purchased through resale websites are advised to double check the ticket terms and conditions at the point of sale – such as Ticketmaster or Live Nation – to ensure a smooth live event experience. Tickets may be invalidated if they are found to have been purchased second-hand. As a result, fans buy at their own risk. Having said that, viagogo also commented: “viagogo is a regulated marketplace where fans are guaranteed.”
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