Not since the days of the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party have we heard such loud, high-pitched screams as at Taylor Swift's first ever UK arena gig at Wembley on Monday. The arena was filled to the rafters with teenage girls and tangibly buzzed with excitement in anticipation of Taylor's arrival on stage. Could it be that a new generation of music lovers will not grow up believing that country music is inherently extremely uncool?
From her energetic entrance to the sound of our favourite Taylor hit, 'You Belong With Me', through to the dramatic finale of 'Should've Said No' two hours later, the gig was a non-stop screamathon. At one point, Taylor had to stop the show just to wait for the crowd to calm down. If she hadn't started up another song, they would have quite happily shouted "we love you Taylor!" incessantly for the rest of the night.
Taylor may have only had one top 20 single in the UK so far, but her fans were singing along with every song she performed. Taylor's tendency toward songs which tell stories meant that many were acted out on stage. She even performed 'Forever and Always', a song she wrote about her unpleasant break-up with popstar ex Joe Jonas, to a lookalike of the Jonas Brothers singer himself. Teen romance was certainly the over-riding subject of the night, and one that the majority of the audience would very much identify with.
The electric atmosphere and complete lack of empty seats at Monday's Wembley concert showed that Taylor could have easily played several more nights at Wembley and many more around the country too. Hopefully she'll find time for another flying visit to our shores at some point over the next twelve months - there will certainly be demand for it.
Words by Jessica Popper, photo by Luke Hannaford
