Taylor Swift: key takeaways from the European leg of her Eras tour

1. Dozens of dates in more than 10 countries

When the European tour kicked off in Paris on 9 May there were more than 50 dates scheduled, taking in France, Sweden, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, before wrapping up in London on 20 August.

Several European cities reported a sharp rise in demand for hotel and short-term rental accommodation over the summer after dates were announced. BBC Scotland revealed that the accommodation shortage was so severe that several homeless people had been sent via taxi to Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Some areas also boosted transport links around the show, for example Irish Rail running additional late-night services to Cork and Limerick.

2. Seismic proportions

It’s not all Tay-gating and friendship bracelets: Swiftonomics is serious business. The UK leg was predicted to boost the British economy by £1bn as almost 1.2 million fans attended the concerts in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London.

Each spent an estimated average of £848 on the overall experience, sparking a short-term bump in inflation, according to Barclays. However, some economists have expressed scepticism about the impact Swift’s tour could really have on the economy, claiming the £1bn figure had been overhyped.

Swift’s decision to donate to food banks in the cities in which she toured helped a Cardiff food bank to buy a lorry full of supplies, while one in Liverpool said it would fund 12 months’ worth of donations.

A team of geophysicists recorded ground seismic waves generated by fans dancing in Wembley Stadium over three nights, from 21 to 23 June, and found that the songs Love Story and Shake It Off generated shaking equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 0.8.

3. A tragic backdrop

On 29 July, shortly before Swift arrived in the UK, three young girls were killed in a horrifying attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

Swift is understood to have personally reached out to the families of the three Southport stabbing victims: Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.

After the attack, which left 10 others injured, Swift released a statement saying she was “completely in shock” and “at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families”.

Swift then brought two young survivors backstage for a rare meet-and-greet at one of her Wembley shows. Photos posted on TikTok show Autumn and Hope Foster, who both attended the dance class, posing with Swift.

4. The highest-grossing tour ever

As Swift’s Eras tour sweeps across the globe, it is on track to gross more than $1bn (£770m) for 2024 alone, having already become the first tour to pass that figure last year and making her the first ever billionaire through music alone.

Pollstar, a trade publication that collects data on the live music industry, put the tour’s gross earnings at just over $1bn after the first 60 shows. This means Swift is selling an average of 72,000 tickets at $239 each, earning $17m from each show.

The industry standard is that artists receive about 85% of the ticket income, suggesting Swift earns about $14.7m per show. Her gross takings have been estimated at over $2bn, although this does not include the cost of running the tour.

Tour merchandise is selling at an average price of $51 per item in the US, or £52 in the UK.

5. A foiled terrorist plot

The Vienna leg of Swift’s Eras tour was cancelled after three people were arrested over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Austrian capital, understood to be Swift’s show.

According to police, one of the suspects confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue”. About 20,000 to 35,000 non-ticket holders were expected to gather outside the Ernst Happel Stadium for each of the three concerts.

Security for the subsequent UK leg was tightened as a result. Although fans tend to congregate outside venues for singalongs, Wembley warned it would move any such gatherings on.