London, look out. Hundreds of thousands of Swifties will descend on the capital this weekend, lining the streets with friendship bracelets as Taylor Swift performs her first of two stints at Wembley Stadium on the Eras Tour.
Whether you're a fan of Swift or not, there's no denying she's causing something of an earthquake, both literally (fans at the Edinburgh gigs caused seismic activity which was detected 6km away) and culturally. So naturally, London's putting on its best show to welcome her to town.
Taylor Swift mural in Wembley
🚨| Final completed mural of Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium ahead of 'The Eras Tour' in London, United Kingdom! #LondonTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/upbZcSJqjL
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) June 19, 2024
Initially spotted last week, but with the eyes hidden in a very weak attempt at concealing her identity, a new Taylor Swift mural has been painted at Wembley Stadium. The work, by Humor Street Art, depicts Swift at the 2023 Grammy awards ceremony, in a navy blue sparkling top and oversized diamond earrings.
In the mural, she is surrounded by lyrics from some of her songs, including Teardrops On My Guitar, Fearless, Long Live, Starlight, Out Of The Woods, Getaway Car, Lover, Champagne Problems, You're On Your Own Kid, and But Daddy I Love Him. Letters are capitalised, seemingly at random, but as all Swifties know, nothing involving Taylor is ever random: apparently they spell out HUMOR INDIE MURWALLS FOLKLORE TAY ALICE ERAS. Make of that what you like — 'clowning' Swifties certainly will, especially as there are 10 songs on the mural, but Swift has 11 albums (by our calculations, Folklore is the only album not represented on the artwork...)
Swiftie steps outside Wembley Stadium
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Not content with one new piece of art, Wembley has added another string to its Swiftie guitar, with the singer's face recreated in the outdoor 'Spanish Steps' staircase leading up to Wembley Stadium — find it just off Wembley Park Boulevard, right between Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena.
The All On The Board team at Wembley Park
The All On The Board team of TfL staff, known for writing themed messages on whiteboards within tube stations, have hinted in a comment on the above Instagram post that they'll be in action with 'something very special' at Wembley Park station on Friday night. If you're heading to Wembley for the first-night show, keep your eyes peeled.
Eras Tour merch pop-up in Hyde Park
🚨| Surprise! Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Merchandise Pop-Up Shop will be opening in Hyde Park from 20 June until 23 June, 12pm to 8pm, and open to all no ticket required! #LondonTStheErasTour pic.twitter.com/DEPrnqEDDO
— The Eras Tour (@TSTheErasTour) June 19, 2024
In addition to the official Eras Tour merchandise store at Wembley — which opened two days before the first show — a second, 'surprise' merch store is located in Hyde Park. It's there 20-23 June, 12pm-8pm and it's open to everyone, whether you've got a concert ticket or not.
The Taylor Swift tube map
Never one to miss out on the cultural zeitgeist, Londonist has rolled out its own red carpet to Miss Swift, in the form of the Taylor Swift tube map — a recreation of the iconic diagram with stations renamed after song titles and lyrics. When we created it, we threw down the gauntlet for TfL to temporarily rename a station or two, as it did for England football manager Gareth Southgate in 2018. We're still waiting on that front...
The Eras Tour is at Wembley Stadium 21-23 June, then 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 August 2024.
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