‘Swift lift’ is the term coined for Taylor Swift’s impact on the economy of the cities and countries she visits
Taylor Swift‘s world tour arrives in Lisbon today (May 24) for the first of two three-hour concerts at the Estádio da Luz, expected to celebrate the country singer turned pop star’s career.
For many, today’s and Saturday’s concerts ended a four-year wait. Taylor Swift was scheduled to make her Portuguese stage debut in July 2020 at the Alive festival, but the show was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Eras Tour in Portugal, initially for just one date, was announced almost a year ago, in June. Tickets went on sale in July, but those interested had to register in order to buy them.
Ticket prices ranged from €62.50 to €539, plus taxes, and they sold out in no time, as has happened on every date of this tour.
The tour, which celebrates Taylor Swift’s career with a line-up that includes the most popular songs from the singer’s albums, kicked off in March last year in Glendale, Arizona, and won’t end until December this year in Vancouver, Canada.
Taylor Swift’s world tour was the first to exceed one billion dollars in revenue, according to Forbes magazine.
Meanwhile, in October last year, the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”, directed by Sam Wrench and recorded in August last year during the tour’s three concerts at the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, California, opened in cinemas around the world, including Portugal.
With a simultaneous premiere in several countries on October 13, the film grossed $123.5 million globally in its first few days of release, or around €116 million in box office revenue, breaking records for the premiere of a filmed concert, according to Variety magazine.
The film’s screening in Portugal had 15,856 spectators over three days, making it the most watched film in that period, and made €208,268 in box office revenue, with tickets costing €13.13, a figure set by the artist herself, according to exhibitor Cinema NOS.
Taylor Swift is, at 34, one of the most popular pop artists in the world, having started out as a teenager in the world of country music.
This year, she entered Forbes magazine’s annual list of multimillionaires for the first time and became the first artist to win the Grammy for Best Album for the fourth time.
According to Forbes, Taylor Swift has a fortune valued at $1.1 billion.
Taylor Swift, who was born in December 1989 in the US state of Pennsylvania, released her eponymous debut album at the age of 16. At the time, Shania Twain, the Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill were some of her musical references. “Taylor Swift” has been the only album outside the show’s line-up.
It was in 2014, with “1989”, an album that includes songs like “Shake it off” and “Bad Blood”, featuring Kendrick Lamar, that Taylor Swift established herself as a pop artist.
In all, she has released 11 original albums. The most recent, “The Tortured Poets Department”, came out in April.
The doors to the venue open at 4pm and the show is scheduled to start at 6.15pm. Paramore will be the opening act.
For those who haven’t managed to get tickets, promoter Last Tour points out that tickets will not be on sale at the stadium, but there will be an information point, which opens at 10am, “for questions relating to ticketing and customer support.”
Spectators can only take photos or record videos during the concert with mobile phones. Tablets, professional and commercial cameras, tripods, GoPros and recorders are prohibited on the premises.
Posters larger than an A3 sheet of paper, glass and metal containers, or containers with a capacity of more than 50 centilitres are also prohibited. The same goes for clothing, costumes, or personal objects that could impede the vision of those behind or around, as well as “sound articles” such as horns or vuvuzelas.
Alcoholic drinks, crutches without a medical certificate, aerosols, perfumes and smoking are among the objects considered dangerous.
Public transport will be the best way to get to the Estádio da Luz, as road traffic and parking will be restricted in the area between Friday and Sunday.
If you take the Metro, the Colégio Militar station is the best for those with tickets for level 3 and the Golden Circle, and Alto dos Moinhos for those with tickets for levels 0 and 1.
Source: LUSA
