Six things we learned from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Dublin

From Swift saying Ireland is the home of Folklore to a delightful acoustic set of surprise songs, here’s what you need to know from the gigs on Friday and Saturday

Taylor loves being in Ireland

Shortly before her first show, Taylor Swift shared a picture of some flowers sent to her by U2 and gushed about “already feeling that Irish hospitality”. If you thought that was merely a throwaway comment, she spoke at length during Friday night’s show about her love of Ireland and her Irish fans.

“I haven’t played a show in Dublin in over five years,” she said.

“And I know you know this, but nobody does it like you. We’re a couple of songs into this very long show, and I’m already seeing people in the audience who should be getting awards for their performance. Not only do you know the words, you’re screaming them!”

The following night, she keeps telling us there’s nowhere else she’d rather be than a sold out stadium in Dublin on a Saturday night.

We got plenty of Irish nods

Taylor Swift wearing a costume during the Dublin leg of the Eras Tour that nods to the Irish flag
Taylor Swift wearing a costume during the Dublin leg of the Eras Tour that nods to the Irish flag
There were plenty of Irish references through the first night, first with the cúpla focal during ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ when “póg mo thoin” was inserted into the lyrics by dancer Kameron Saunders, who has been tweaking it with a phrase native to each city they are in. On night two, he tweaks it by proclaiming: “The neck of ye!”

We were also treated to a nice ‘haon, dó, trí, ceathair’ countdown in ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ and later Swift changed into a green and orange sequin ensemble for her 1989 era, offering a particular nod to Ireland with this look.

Paramore too got in on the grá, with singer Hayley Williams sporting a Cranberries tee on stage on Friday and a Sinéad O’Connor one on Saturday.

Offically the home of Folklore

Taylor Swift in the Lovers Era. Picture: Chani Anderson
Taylor Swift in the Lovers Era. Picture: Chani Anderson
While in her Folklore era on Friday, Swift again started praising Ireland (she really, really likes us), this time paying tribute to our rich history of storytelling.

“Irish people are such great storytellers. The folklore from Ireland is unmatched,” she said.

“I think it might be 50/50. 50% they’re great storytellers and 50% they just have the best accents.

“My Irish friends, they just start talking and they could just be telling the most boring story”, she went on, ” but I am just like..”

She expands on the theme on Saturday: “I just think that all the themes in folklore, how I imagined the album world looking — Ireland, storytelling, lots of different characters. You guys have that on lock too, that’s very Irish, the storytelling.

“When I was making the album, it was two days into the pandemic that I started writing folklore, and I wasn’t in Ireland, so I had to create an album where the imaginary world that I pretended to go every single day when I was writing it, gotta be honest, it kinda seemed like Ireland.

“So we’re back where we belong. Conceptually, folklore, we can all agree, just belongs with you guys.”

The volume of fans

Almost every Eras Tour survival guide says it is the loudest show you will ever go to, and that’s probably not an exaggeration. One moment in particular stood out at the Dublin shows for the rising noise levels when the crowd reached deafening levels.

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‘Champagne Problems’ from her evermore album is a beloved track for fans and afterwards, the two-minute-long applause became ear-splitting. Chants of ‘Taylor, Taylor’ and ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’ were added and as Swift because to look astonished by the reaction, the noise levels somehow went up a scale. It’s one of the loudest crowds we’ve ever heard.

You didn’t need to be an expert lip-reader either to know Taylor, who removed her earpiece to fully embrace the moment, turned to her band and asked them: “Are you guys hearing this too? Wow!” All that to say, if your ears are sensitive to noise, it might be worth popping some earplugs into your bag to filter the cacophony of cheers on Sunday.

No Reputation (Taylor’s version) announced — so far

Taylor Swift taking an extended pause between songs to soak up the love from her adoring audience. Picture: Chani Anderson
Taylor Swift taking an extended pause between songs to soak up the love from her adoring audience. Picture: Chani Anderson
Fans were in a frenzy as rumours grew that we could expect an album re-record announcement during Swift’s Irish tour dates. As she makes her way through her back catalogue, many are interpreting what they believe are clues from the singer, who famously leaves cryptic clues about upcoming projects littered throughout her performances, social media, and pretty much anything else she touches.

Every gesture on the tour has been pored over and fans are convinced Reputation (Taylor’s Version) will be revealed this weekend. The most likely day is Sunday — on June 30, 2019, Scooter Braun bought Big Machine Records, effectively becoming the owner of all of Swift’s music, prompting her to undertake the re-recording of all her music. Announcing another release on that date would just be good ‘Karma’.

Here are the surprise songs Taylor Swift played

A big talking point of the tour too is the surprise song selection, anywhere from between two to four songs mid-show that Swift mixes up for each night, rarely playing the same songs twice since the Eras Tour began. In Dublin, she delighted fans with the acoustic set with music from four songs.

She played ‘State of Grace’ on the guitar on Friday night, the opening track from Red and mashed it up with ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’, the song with the iconic lyric “so make the friendship bracelets”.

Next, we were back to the piano for ‘Sweet Nothing’, a song with a direct reference to her time in Ireland: “Does it ever miss Wicklow sometimes?” She blended the track with ‘Hoax’ from Folklore, making it the first time she played that track live.

On Saturday, we get a song she says she’s never done live before, ‘The Albatross’, off the anthology edition of her last album, The Tortured Poets Department. Maybe she picked it for the lyric “and when that sky rains fire on you” – thankfully though, the rain had dried up before she took to the stage that night. She adds in a little ‘Dancing with our Hands Tied’ from Reputation, before mashing up ‘This Love’, and ‘Ours’.