Opening acts take stage at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour: Follow live updates from London

Welcome to the live blog for the Eras Tour in London!

Taylor Swift returns to the stage for the final stop on the European leg of the Eras Tour after a suspected terror plot was thwarted in Vienna. Security measures are tight at Wembley Stadium. Fans with floor tickets were not allowed to camp overnight in the hopes of getting a spot closer to the stage, and Swifties can no longer “Taylor-gate” outside of the stadium if they don’t have tickets.

As the Taylor Swift reporter for the USA TODAY Network, I’ll be your host for the evening keeping you updated on all the happenings from inside Wembley Stadium. Since taking the Taylor Swift reporter job in November, I’ve watched the show 69 times in person or on grainy livestreams (equivalent to 230 hours or nine and a half days). Follow along for updates as we go on a little adventure spanning 18 years of music.

Paramore set list
“Oh yeah London! It’s good to be back with you,” Hayley Williams boomed into the mic. “Oh how we’ve missed you. We can never get enough London. Ever!”“It’s an honor and a privilege to be here. Never in our entire world did we ever think we’d play at Wembley Stadium so thank you for making this possible.”Their set list included:

“Hard Times” mashup with Blondie’s “Heart of Glᴀss”
“Burning Down the House”
“Still Into You”

‘Ain’t it fun’ that Paramore is here?
Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro have been the opening act for Taylor Swift on the European leg of the Eras Tour. The trio have dazzled for 43 shows across Europe. They will wrap their involvement on Tuesday and make their way back to Nashville, Tennessee, where they’re based.

Right before leaving for Paris in May, Paramore was dubbed the Global Ambᴀssadors for Record Store Day, a тιтle Swift held in 2022. They surprised fans at Grimey’s record store in Nashville.

Swift’s final opening act for the remaining North America shows will be Gracie Abrams.

Is Travis Kelce coming back to Eras Tour?
It’s not likely Swift’s boyfriend will be at the shows in England. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has his final training camp practice on Thursday before the Chiefs’ preseason home game on Saturday against the Detroit Lions. Although Swift could make the following preseason home game on Aug. 22 as the Chiefs take on the Chicago Bears.

Who could forget Travis Kelce breaking the internet the last time Swift performed in Wembley by appearing on stage to carry her after her symbolic crash to the ground from “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” He attempted to revive her alongside backup dancers Jan Ravnik and Kameron Saunders so she could sing, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”

Sofia Isella set list
“This is the most insane view I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” opening act Sofia Isella told Wembley Stadium.

Her set list included:

“Hot Gum”
“Cacao and Cocaine”
“Everybody Supports Women”
“Unattractive”
“I Looked the Future in the Eyes, It’s Mine”

Isella played six songs in her 25-minute set.

Sofia Isella takes the stage
Similar to inviting three artists to open before Paramore in June, Swift has invited five singers to share the stage in Wembley Stadium. Up first is Sofia Isella, a 19-year-old classically trained violinist, songwriter, producer and singer. The rising star was born in Beverly Hills, California, but lives in Australia.

When Swift let the cat out of the bag on Aug. 5, Isella shared a message on Instagram: “Someone I’ve never met has changed my life even more than she already has just through her writing alone. Your fearlessness in continuing to push yourself and win again and again is the most joyful thing to watch, Taylor. Thank you.”

The acts that will open the rest of the Wembley dates are:

Friday: Holly Humberstone
Saturday: Suki Waterhouse
Monday: Maisie Peters
Tuesday: Raye

Doors are open
It’s official. Wembley Stadium has just opened the doors to allow VIP guests into the arena. The general admission sections will open in about thirty minutes. Thousands of Swifties are pouring in.

Lining up at 4 a.m.
Amy Willow of Brighton, United Kingdom, rode up on the overnight train with her two best friends hoping to get in line for Thursday night’s Eras Tour show. The early morning wake up call landing her at Wembley Stadium at 4 a.m. was a good call. She ended up being first in line.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s going to be like a queue of a hundred people,'” she says four hours before general admission doors open. “Crickets, literal crickets. There was no one here. It was amazing.”

Wembley Stadium tells fans without a ticket: Don’t come
The stadium that seats 89,000 fans told anyone without an Eras Tour ticket not to come. Additional ticket checks have been added around the stadium and fans will need to show proof of pᴀsses before entering the general vicinity.

Wembley Stadium’s website also implemented stricter security measures including no overnight camping and no “Taylor-gating,” where devoted fans without tickets congregate outside of a stadium to listen to the live concert and engage in dancing and friendship bracelet trading. The stadium is not allowing anyone to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympics Steps at the front. Non-ticketholders will be “moved on.”