Taylor Swift brought out musical guests, debuted the surprise song Londoners have been waiting to hear and premiered a brand new music video during her final Eras Tour show in London as she thanked her “best” fans. Taylor sang So Long London for the first time, telling the crowd: “London you’re the best… this is something special”, before going on to talk about performing at Shepherd’s Bush Empire when she was just 17.
The phenom, 34, performed the last of her last five nights at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday (August 20), marking the final date of the European leg of her tour. She told the 92,000 fans: “This is the best. I’ve never had such a good time. Never had an audience so generous.”
She ended her show – the 131st of the Eras tour – by telling the appreciative crowd: “London, I can’t think of a more generous gift you’ve given me and my band. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” Her parting words: “Thank you so much for these phenomenal memories we will keep for the rest of our lives.”
The billion-dollar tour takes fans through her back catalogue, including hits from albums 1989, Red, Midnights and her latest 11th studio album – The Tortured Poets Department. A surprise came when Swift debuted a new music video for I Can Do It With A Broken Heart from the latest album. It features backstage footage of the singer during the tour.
The nearly four-minute video features Swift’s backup dancers and tour crew, along with behind-the-scenes footage of her traveling the stage between sets. Meanwhile, another surprise came when Swift took to the piano to perform the song So Long, London live for the first time.
It’s the fifth song on her latest album – the slot reserved for the most meaningful track on each of her albums – and is believed to contain references to her ex-boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn. The new album also includes a song Swift wrote with British group Florence + The Machine titled Florida!!!
Frontwoman Florence Welch, 37, surprised Swift fans by arriving on stage to perform the track accompanied by an impressive light show. The singers, who both sported white dresses, have been friends for years with Welch previously revealing she had sought relationship advice from Swift.
Among those in the audience were the Haim sisters, as well as Oscar-nominated British actress Emily Blunt and her husband, The Office star John Krasinski — who appeared to have brought their two daughters to the show. It comes days after Ed Sheeran also surprised fans by making a surprise appearance.
The American hitmaker performed a verse of Everything Has Changed, which features Sheeran, before bringing out the Suffolk singer to rapturous applause from the crowd. They mixed the song with End Game, which they also collaborated on, and 33-year-old Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, which marked the beginning of her “surprise songs”.
Security outside Wembley had been heightened during Swift’s recent string of London dates after three of her shows in Austria were canceled due to an alleged terror plot. In July, Swift paid tribute to the victims of the Southport attack in which three young girls were killed in a mass shooting at a holiday club themed around the singer.
Pop superstar Swift has nine dates remaining on her Eras tour, which will take place in Canada from November 14, with her final show on December 8. The final show in London also marked the final opening act for American rock band Paramore, with singer Gracie Abrams taking over for the final nine opening slots of the tour.
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