Life is a composition of endings, that’s why it’s so important to take care of them. The last words, the last kiss. The last time he walked away from you and got lost in the night: the last image. And, always, the last song.Music spices up any ending for the better. That’s why I can’t think of anyone who masters the art of putting a better ending than Taylor Swift.
The end of an era is approaching, never better said. The American singer will end her Eras Tour in November. Years will pass and the memory of this tour that she has been immersed in since 2023 will remain intact. Thinking about it makes your hair stand on end. The high makes your body go numb. The howls erupt like spasms, the tingling is overwhelming. The countdown to today’s concert has also been the countdown to the end of this unparalleled experience that Taylor Swift brought to our continent when she landed in Paris last May.
A week ago, we flipped a coin. No one knew for sure if The Eras Tour would have its well-deserved end. The cancellation of his three concerts in Vienna due to the risk of a terrorist attack and the stabbing of three girls who were dancing to his songs in a dance class in the English capital involved 92,000 people (multiplied by five: the performances he had pending) in a whirlwind of doubts. Would he cancel the end of his tour? Would he leave without saying goodbye?
Any concerns were put to rest when the singer took to the stage last Thursday. London’s Metropolitan Police assured that they would work to ensure that the venue’s security was in compliance with the relevant measures, and that is what happened.no sense of danger, no notable incidents. Tonight, for the third time, he has put on a show that lives up to the 152 performances he has already performed.
“I love London and I know how difficult it is for this city to offer you an afternoon with good weather in August,” said the singer, laughing as she presented her already iconic album compilation, a journey that brings together anecdotes and stories, an extensive compendium of songs that narrate a life: hers. And perhaps everyone else’s too.
Taylor Swift sings the words we should have said, but never did. Some say that when you make a decision, you have to go all out with it. So, if that pernicious reserve is the law, the lyrics of this songwriter, producer and singer are a bandage and a balm.
“You don’t sing, you scream,” Taylor said, aware that her lyrics take your breath away. Listening to them and singing them. The singer made London the setting for some of her love stories. And perhaps that’s why her London audience is one of the most loyal and devoted.
Songs with ritual
Everyone has been involved in an Olympic synchronicity. They chanted the bridges of the songs (the verse that precedes the last chorus) like chants, like prayers or, perhaps, invocations. Each song had its own ritual: a response to the lyrics, clapping at a given moment or hearts. ‘Cruel Summer’, ‘You Belong With Me’, ‘All Too Well’, ‘Betty’, ‘Champagne Problems’, ‘Bad Blood’… Each person knew what they had to do and when they had to do it. Incredible.
But what can I tell you that you haven’t already read or heard? Almost 20 years of career, 11 studio albums, impeccable shifts between genres… She recovered her music from the clutches of Scooter Braun and was baptized as the most influential person on the planet. All this at just 34 years old. And now, to top it off, five consecutive sell-outs at Wembley Stadium.
The artist embodies that tagline that is so much ours, which, if it did not exist, would have to be invented.One more and we’re leaving”But of course, you never leave. So what was initially presented as a two-day tour finale in England’s capital has evolved into a festival swiftie spectacular. For five nights, Wembley has become a real city of euphoria, a roller coaster where everything fits: joy, nostalgia, affliction, adrenaline, hysteria and the most exacerbated fanaticism. From the human traffic jam that momentarily blocked the exit of an underground flooded with glitter, to the colossal parking lot converted into a merchandising store, passing through the stunning procession that headed down the street towards the stadium, the Swiftie fever has invaded everything. We expected nothing less.
No surprises
The contagion was inevitable. The effusiveness has vibrated in each voice during the more than three hours of concert. Older and younger people have shaken hands, hugged each other and even shed tears. The reasons do not matter. The leaps between the artist’s eras were Time jumps for the audienceAnd hugs. That was the four-minute standing ovation in London halfway through the concert. A hug for an extremely emotional Taylor Swift in front of a stadium that was collapsing as her name resounded. What a sight (and what a sound). There are only two nights, two performances, two more concerts left on our side of the world. It won’t be long before we see anything like it.
There were no surprises, despite some prayers to see stars like Ed Sheeran, who accompanied the American on stage last Thursday, spice up the songs in the acoustic part of the concert. Instead, some people closed their eyes, as if trying to breathe the words, to fix the moment in their memory. Wembley has been taken over by activists for the cause swiftie, which is none other than love. Because he who has never sung about love in any of its forms does not know what life is about.
In the middle of his long farewell, Taylor Swift has crowned herself queen of the industry. Nothing new: the tour had already become the most important in the history of music, but it never hurts to remember it. The way in which The Eras Tour closes the European cycle makes one thing clear: it is very important to know how to leave places. To say goodbye well, without wanting anything or leaving anything pending. And, of course, she knows how.