Taylor Swift finally graces Dublin with her highly anticipated Eras tour, stunning an eager audience with her vividly costumed dancers and shimmery jumpsuit catching the evening light. The Aviva Stadium becomes the latest stop for her globally renowned tour that kicked off in Arizona last year with a show-stopping blend of her greatest hits, now causing a thrilling stir of emotional ardour among Dublin fans.
Swift steals the show amidst the dusky Dublin sky, emerging on a dazzling walkway just past 7.15pm and delighting her audience with her mellow lament, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. Though a melancholic piece, it ignites a beam of joy among the 50,000 fans who managed to secure tickets for the first of the triad of sell-out concerts in the Dublin Stadium – a crowd that also numbered celebrities, including jet-setting Ryan Tubridy, among its ranks.
In 2024, Swift stands tall, reminiscent of the days of major pop icons such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna, capturing her audience with an electrifying three-hour performance in Dublin 4, an event so grand it’s almost outweighs comprehension. The city centre morphs into Swiftville, with a sea of admirers evident from the break of day, while the 3Arena, which she headlined in 2015, stands as a merchandise hub, bustling with her followers eager to sport their fan attire.
Swift shares a notable relationship with Ireland, debuting in Dublin in March 2011 with the Speak Now tour and delivering a mere 13 songs – a stark contrast to her recent marathon set of around 45 songs in Aviva. Rumours suggest that she resided in a refurbished two-century-old coach-house near Ranelagh, Dublin, in 2021. Furthermore, she embraced a beloved Irish custom by entering a GAA club lotto draw during her 2018 Christmas stay at Glin Castle in Limerick.
The top honour in the Swiftie Irish Power Rankings falls to Wicklow, which was mentioned in Sweet Nothing from Midnights, a 2022 release. Swift will revisit that album later in the concert, but the performance starts by celebrating the diverse stages of her journey, digging into her 2019 offering, Lover.
With a brief greeting, “Oh hi”, she opens with Cruel Summer, her dreamlike work that radiates in the growing dusk. From there, a delve into her 17-year songwriting career follows, transitioning from the teenage nervousness of You Belong With Me and Love Story from Fearless, to her pinnacle creation, Red, culminating in the raw passion of I Knew You Were Trouble and All Too Well- an impressive 10-minute lament.
“You may well know, but no one does it quite like you,” Swift commends the Dublin audience early in the set, seemingly charmed by the blooms U2 sent to her accommodation. “It’s clear from the audience that we’ve got potential award-winners out there. From the stage, we can all tell this is going to be an epic evening. Backstage, the energy was already palpable.”
And the flattery continues. Swift returns to stroke the audience’s ego when she segues into her folk-inspired lockdown albums, Folklore and Evermore.
“The storytelling abilities of the Irish are second to none; the Irish folklore is unparalleled… Maybe that’s why the accents are the best by a mile,” shares Swift, before launching into one of the concert’s highlights, a forcefully subdued rendition of Champagne Problems.
When night falls, she switches gears and heads to her newest work, The Tortured Poets Department. Written in the wake of her breakup from long-time beau, Joe Alwyn, this portion of the performance has gained the nickname “Female Rage: The Musical” – although the tone in Down Bad and Fortnight shows a hint more sorrow than wrath. Immediately after, Swift delights the crowd with a “surprise song” segment, where she brings out an unexpected choice, State of Grace from Red. The night comes to a close with a final twirl through the standout tracks of Midnights.
Each song is seamlessly paired with an equally spectacular production when one hit trails another. The walkway that juts into the audience is a vortex of hues. There’s playful dancing and weaving, with one dancer boldly exclaims “póg mo thóin!” at the climax of ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’.
But Swift herself arguably outshines any special effect. She showcases a diverse array of looks, morphing from a prom queen to a vibrant pop superstar, and in the ‘Evermore’ section, she personifies a Brothers Grimm prog-rock forest nymph. Notably, for the part of the night dedicated to 1989, she fully embraces her persona with a three-piece ensemble inspired by the Irish flag.
These multiple wardrobe switches offer Swift a respite, but they also give her fans a chance to recover. They fill nearly the entire concert with their standing ovations, high-pitched cheering, swooning and relentless selfie-taking. The wave of fandom is staggering to witness, intoxicating to experience first-hand, and serves as compelling evidence of Swift’s rare, era-defining artistry.