Taylor Swift breaks her Vienna silence, thanks London

Taylor Swift addresses the canceled concerts in Vienna, saying the thwarted terrorist plot “filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt.” More than 450,000 tickets are sold for the Eras Tour’s five-night stint at Wembley Stadium. The singer reveals production secrets in a brand-new video. Swift may have a break from the tour, but she has plenty of football games to watch. Paramore recreates an iconic moment. And Travis Kelce is setting the stage for his acting career. 
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I’m Bryan West, the Taylor Swift reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Let’s connect on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Facebook or X: @BryanWestTV.
Swift wrote a lengthy post summing up the ending of the European leg of the tour, thanking London and addressing why she waited until Aug. 21 to comment on the Vienna cancellations.
“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she said in a lengthy Instagram post that continued into the comments. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
It was the first time the singer weighed in on the canceled concerts. The Austrian event producer, Barracuda Music, released a statement on Aug. 7 that read in part, “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.” Fans gathered in the streets by the thousands to sing Swift’s songs. Her team reportedly went on lockdown while officials arrested three teenagers in connection with the threat.
“In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to,” Swift continued on Wednesday’s Instagram post. “My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that.”
Seven years ago Taylor Swift deleted all of her social media and, like her “Lover” house, burned every former post to the ground. She hit 666 posts before the Wembley shows, significant because “Reputation” is her sixth album. She sang “I Did Something Bad” on Saturday night, which was only song from the sssssslithering album she hadn’t performed on the Eras Tour. SURELY REPTV WAS COMING! 
Fans clowned extra hard that Taylor Swift was going to announce the “Delicate” album during her final night in London. In-person concertgoers and online live-streaming zealots waited for her to come out in a different catsuit than her standard black-and-red serpent piece. They watched with held breath as she introduced “producer of the century” Jack Antonoff during her acoustic set. The black screen never showed a new album with a presumed capital “R.”
Instead, the fans who didn’t leave the concert early on Tuesday were able to watch the fresh-off-the-presses music video for her second single “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The 3-minute video includes backstage and under-the-stage shots of how the singer pulls off some of her coolest stunts. Who knew there were string lights inside the “cleaning cart” or that she uses a pulley system to quickly zoom down the larger-than-life catwalk? Fans also got to see the perspective of being given the “22” hat and how Swift dives into the stage following her acoustic set.
As I’ve said in this newsletter multiple times before, “Reputation” is what fans tune into livestreams for and it’s what everyone wants, so doesn’t it make sense for her to wait to play her best card until the final leg? Swift is very patient. Her pattern of albums is two rereleases one year and one new project the next year. The hype from Brazil in 2023 and London on Tuesday was 100% fan-driven. And the first clue that nothing was going to happen was when the Eras Tour dancers fed into the conspiracy by posting black hearts and Rep-coded photos. The key line from the album is, “There will be no further explanation. There will only be reputation.”
With that being said, who’s clowning for Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Toronto and Vancouver? 😂
Florence Welch joined Swift onstage for “Florida!!!” Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. The singer, dancers and production crew pulled late nights in England to rehearse the new song added to the “Tortured Poets” set, not to the acoustic section. Between the Mandy Moore choreography and swampy-green animations, it would be a huge setup for only one show. So the question is will Swift sing the full song by herself or invite other guests on stage in Miami? Maybe Gracie Abrams, who is opening the rest of the tour comes out as the second singer?
Speaking of the opening act, let’s hear it for Paramore who performed their final stop in London after 48 shows.
Watch the full “Florida!!!” performance here.
One year ago, the Internet broke when Swift appeared on national television cheering on Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce next to his mom, Donna. While pundits debated whether the relationship was real, the couple had already gotten to know each other out of the public eye. The world followed the rom-com for 13 games, culminating in the Super Bowl.
Kelce has signed for two more seasons. Swift does not have concert conflicts with 14 of the 18 regular season games. See the full list here.
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1… 2… 3… let’s go b****! If you didn’t see the news (cause you were somewhere else) here are some headlines from the week. I added a few extra, because there was a TON of news:
Swift’s last Instagram story began with “in summation,” which is the last trademark of “Tortured Poets.” The singer also released the music video for “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” which is the last song on her Eras Tour set. The two moves made it feel like the 11th era may be coming to a close and Swift may be making her way into her next era. I still believe “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” will be released next year (maybe New Year’s Day because of Track 15) to keep in line with her pattern I mentioned above: 2-1-2-1-2, but she could also be making a push to break her pattern and allow the wintry album plenty of time to shine.
Timing is everything with Swift. With all eyes on her and the election, if she speaks out and endorses a candidate, her name will be dragged on some outlets, paving the way for life to imitate art or history to repeat itself from 2016 when a global cancellation led to her disappearing from sight. She did put a pushpin in Miami during her Spotify “Tortured Poets” exhibit.
Why not debut a new “Rep” dress for the final North American leg? Just some snake-slithering thoughts.
For the final section of the newsletter, I like to highlight a Swiftie. I met two (among many) amazing Swifties in London and wanted to feature both of them.
The first is Bridget Saric. The fearless dancer is on a mission to dance every day until she meets Taylor Swift. With more than 70 days down, the Aussie creates her own stage on the floor of the Eras Tour bopping to the three-hour setlist. She exudes joy and confidence.
The second is Chris Lloyd, the concert sketch artist. Lloyd brings his notepad, pen, watercolors and a small water bottle to create masterpieces of fans and scenes. He self-imposes an “All Too Well” challenge where he starts and finishes a colorful piece of art during the 10-minute version. His most recent clip to go viral was of a security guard during the Wembley shows.
You can read more about both fans’ stories here.
Let’s connect on Instagram, TikTok and X. I’m at @BryanWestTV.
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