Reflections of an Ageing Gig Goer! 4

Taylor Swift, Paramore and Holly Humberstone Wembley Stadium London August 16 2024

WOW!

OK, that doesn’t quite work as a gig review (!), but there was only one word for last night and that was it. By 5 O clock I was part of a 92,000 crowd at the Eras Tour, up in the nosebleed seats, 14 months after getting tickets and looking forward to the longest concert performance I have ever seen. A total of 61 songs across over four hours of music presented by three artists. So, let’s dive in with the first act.

Holly Humberstone

Holly Humberstone came highly recommended by my daughter who had seen her in concert before, and it didn’t take long to find out why. Her first song was The Walls are Way Too Thin, a reflection on moving away from home for the first time and finding yourself completely isolated even in a house with other people around. It’s a really well crafted song that resonated with me when I thought back to my own days moving from rented room to rented room. Falling Asleep at the Wheel and London is Lonely both deal with relationships. The first one is about the tension as you navigate that difficult time once the flush of first love has faded and the second is about the difficulties of a relationship when you are in two different places. Both songs hit upon universal truths about those early days which combine the certainty that the other person is ‘the one’ with the worry that it won’t work out. Down Swinging is a defiant song about dealing with depression, accepting that it is there but refusing to let it define you. Ghost Me contains a lyric that definitely struck a chord with me, ‘And where the hell did our childhood go?/ It freaks me out how fast we grow’. Sitting there with my daughter, whose musical taste I largely share despite the difference in our ages, I wondered how she can possibly be turning 24 this year! I am just really pleased that we can still go to concerts like this together even if I occasionally embarrass her! The final song of the six song set was Scarlett, about a one sided relationship her childhood friend endured. It contains a great one liner that made me grin, ‘We go together like bad British weather’! As an introduction to Holly Humberstone, this set was perfect. It showcased her excellent voice, great way with words and her genuine love of performing. She clearly couldn’t believe her good fortune at being asked to support Taylor Swift and she seemed to be pinching herself at times. I can see the common thread between these two singer songwriters who wear their hearts on their sleeves and are not afraid to expose their weakest moments alongside their strongest ones. Taylor mentioned Holly in her set saying that she often listened to her music and that was why she asked her to start the evening’s entertainment. All I can say is what a great choice it was. Wembley was about half full when she was playing, but those of us who were there thoroughly enjoyed her set, and those who arrived late definitely missed out. I will now dive deeper into Holly Humberstone’s music and look forward to hearing much more from her.

Paramore

Paramore were a group who all my children enjoyed listening to as they were growing up, but I never really ‘got them’ at the time. I know from many years of concert going, however, that you never really know an artist, or their songs, until you see them perform live. As a result I decided to start from scratch when listening to them. Well, Hard Times, their first song, featured elements of Heart of Glass which immediately made me listen up and Burning Down the House, their second, was a riotously good cover version. Within two songs I realised that live they were an excellent band while Hayley Williams in particular was an absolute revelation. What a frontwoman she is. Her voice is simply brilliant live with a massive range, real power and a versatility that allows her to move between funk, rock and metal with consummate ease. She reflected on how the opportunity to play on the same bill as Taylor Swift, despite the two being friends from their teenage years, was something she could never have imagined being able to do in the past when there was a clear barrier between rock and pop. Williams also acknowledged that there would be a large number of Taylor Swift fans who had never listened to Paramore and that she was looking forward to trying to reach a new audience. It was a really interesting approach, because she could easily have just focused on the fans, of whom there were a large number in the rapidly filling stadium, but instead she successfully reached the whole audience. The guitar work was great throughout, but on Forgiveness it was absolutely awesome and I completely bought into Paramore from then on. I did recognise The Only Exception, which Williams introduced as a very rare romantic song. I remember quite liking it at the time, but live it was amazing with her voice giving depth and power to it in a way that lifted the song beyond its studio version. Then after that, as a reset to their more familiar style, it was on to instructions as to how to release your inner rocker by use of the horns! Misery Business and Ain’t it Fun gave the audience a blast of pure rock and roll, before This is Why brought the set to an end with fans old and new wanting more. I’m really glad I got the chance to see them live and to reassess them after all these years. It’s one of the delights of gig going that I can still open myself to new acts and changed perceptions. Well, Paramore, you convinced me that I have been wrong about you all these years and I salute you with my horns!

Taylor Swift

The concert was unlike any other I have been to not just because of its sheer size. A full house of Swifties gave Wembley a carnival atmosphere with slogan t-shirts, cowboy hats, glitter and friendship bracelets very much in evidence. Friendship bracelets were being exchanged as concert goers walked up Wembley Way, and when they arrived in the stadium, creating a sense of an extended family. At every concert there is, of course, the anticipation before the main act comes on. Taylor Swift cleverly managed that in a way I haven’t seen before with a countdown on the huge screen starting with two minutes to go. As soon as the clock came up the already electric atmosphere went up a few notches. When the countdown hit zero the noise was amazing and many of the audience were already on their feet.

The first era was Lover, an album I reviewed for Subba Cultcha when it first came out and my first real introduction to her music. Looking at that review five years later I was already someone who enjoyed her music, but I was totally converted by the time that album finished. Cruel Summer had the crowd around me singing the lyrics, and The Man with its defiant chorus sent the volume up still further. The final track from this era was the title track with one of my favourite lyrics ‘We could leave the Christmas lights up till January’. The use of effects was very clever with the staging reflecting the clouds and colours of the album, but Taylor herself was the centre of everyone’s attention. In terms of her ability to control an audience with a look, a gesture or a facial expression she is without doubt the best I have seen. The connection with her fans felt personal in a way that was totally at odds with the massive crowd. You could tell that to pretty much everyone in the stadium she was their hero, their icon and their spokeswoman. It was a level of connection that only the greatest artists have, and be in no doubt she is one of the greatest artists the music industry has seen.

Her second era was Fearless, an early career album that demonstrates the way that her song writing abilities were in evidence right from the start. The title track set up a trio of songs that continues with You Belong With Me, one of my favourite tracks from her entire career. She was still a teenager when she wrote this track so the story of the girl who isn’t noticed by the boy she knows inside out! The lyrics are beautifully observant and the lines ‘Cause she wears short skirts, I wear t shirts/ She’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers’ just sums up senior school for so many. How times change! Love Story finished off three songs that truly stand the test of time. The Red era starts with the song 22, during which Taylor always gives her hat to a young fan along with a hug and a quick chat. It’s a lovely moment not just for the lucky young person but for the whole crowd as it just sums up her relationship with her fans. The one-two punch of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble had the entire stadium singing along with the defiant lyrics before Taylor announced that she would do more song from the album if we had ten minutes to spare! It was of course the introduction to All Too Well in its full 10 minute version and the crowd went absolutely wild. It is the break up song par excellence and it gave the crowd the chance to scream ‘F*** the Patriarchy’ as one! It is a moment of catharsis that shows how she can turn a few words into a rallying cry for her fans.

On the train going to the concert I sat next to a teenager carefully drawing a snake onto her arm ready for the Reputation era. I really loved the effects for this section with the massive stage being turned into a snake matching the fiery snake outfit that Taylor was wearing. It was a moment of pure theatre as the songs matched the drama of the staging and everyone was definitely ‘Ready for it’! Reputation is the album Swifties are eagerly awaiting an announcement for as the choice for the next Taylor Version. I wonder if it’s going to be announced on the last night of the tour? The final song of a quartet of massive tunes was Look What You Made Me Do with its killer chorus. It’s time I paid tribute to the dancers who made the songs take flight with their energy, joy and incredible choreography. They were absolutely integral to the whole staging and they matched the brilliance of the songs in every respect. I reflected as I watched these first three eras that I had never seen anything this theatrical since the very first Pet Shop Boys tour MCMLXXIX which set the bar for that kind of spectacle. In imagination it was the equal of Eras, but Eras had the advantage of a massive stadium that showed that spectacle to awesome effect.

Folklore and Evermore were her pandemic albums which, she reflected, she never knew if she was going to play live. They were a vital stepping stone for Taylor as an artist where she moved from a chronicler of her own life to a storyteller of other lives. The eight tracks from these more reflective albums gave the audience a chance to take a break from the standing and the dancing that most of us had been doing since the very start. The set was gorgeous with a moss covered piano that initially, to me at least, seemed to be part of the organic effect of the stage until she sat down at it for Champagne Problems. At the end of that track she received a standing ovation that went on and on, building in intensity throughout. It went on for at least five minutes and got louder and more ecstatic and she took her earplugs out to soak it up in what was a genuinely emotional moment for artist and crowd.

For the 1989 era the wristbands we had been given at the start of the concert came into their own with the entire stadium lighting up the now dark night. It was absolutely spectacular and a fitting backdrop to, arguably, her most critically acclaimed album. The highlight for me was Shake It Off which got the full singalong treatment after the break the crowd were given during Folklore and Evermore. Taylor herself is in possession of seemingly endless amounts of energy, which is just as well in a show that stretches over 3 hours and 46 songs. She never looked tired, her dancing was as full of energy at the end as it was at the beginning and the voice was just as amazing for Song 46 as it was for Song 1. The preparation she did involving running on a treadmill for three hours while singing all 46 songs paid dividends as she proved to have stamina to burn. It goes almost without saying what a great performer Taylor Swift is, but that performance night after night on a tour like this is the result of massive amounts of preparation rivalling the athletes we saw in Paris over the past few weeks.

The Tortured Poets Department has had a mixed reception since its release, but you wouldn’t guess that from Friday night. For her adoring fans Taylor can do no wrong, and when you hear these songs live it really gives you much more of a sense of their power. I think that even the fans who were uncertain about the album were totally caught up by the staging and the fact that they did not seem to pale compared to what had come before. The seven songs were carefully chosen, brilliantly performed, and here I must mention the band’s role in this era. They were fantastic throughout the three hours, but the backing for this section in particular really helped those songs fly off the album and arrive fully formed and more impressive on the night.

The Surprise Songs are always a closely guarded secret and a subject of fan speculation. The Lover album was the era that started the show but one song that hadn’t been played for five years made its long awaited reappearance to a huge roar of delight. Taylor introduced it with a reflection on one of her favourite cities and ended by saying ‘I love the English’ which could only mean London Boy, a song I really enjoyed when I first heard it and enjoyed even more surrounded by the crowd in Wembley Stadium. I don’t think that Taylor Swift gets enough credit for her guitar playing. She is top class on the acoustic guitar and here it added a layer of richness to a fan favourite. The second Surprise Song was actually two for the price of one as Taylor mashed up Dear John from the Speak Now era, which is only represented by Enchanted on this leg of the tour, with Sad, Beautiful, Tragic from Red. These songs were beautifully played on the piano. I thought we were really fortunate with the choice of surprise songs.

The final seven songs of the night were from the Midnights era which was released to a very positive reception in 2022. The spectacular effects on the stage lifted a set of songs that on the face of it could seem like a slightly low key finish to the night. However, with Taylor Swift nothing is low key! Bejeweled saw the stage literally covered in jewels courtesy of the special effects while the wristbands pulsed to magical effect. Karma was the final song bringing to an end 3 hours and 15 minutes of magic.

I have never, and will never, see another concert to equal this one. The dancers and the band were incredible but it was the love and affection flowing from the stage to the seats, even those near the very top of Wembley Stadium, and back again that made it so special. There were young girls at their first concert who will remember this for the rest of their lives, teenagers and those around the age of 22 who were transported to a place of love and joy and finally older gig goers like me who were reminded of the power of live music and spectacle all over again. What a night, and as I said at the start ‘WOW’!

All Photographs by the writer.