Taylor Swift fever broke out again in London on Wednesday as the star returned to play the final European gigs of her blockbuster tour — handing a major boost to Britain’s entertainment industry.
The 34-year-old megastar will play five concerts at Wembley Stadium, starting on Thursday, with more than 450,000 fans set to watch.
It follows the three dates she played in the capital in June, part of the 15 performances scheduled across four UK cities this summer.
The “Swift effect” means Britain is now poised to be crowned as Europe’s largest media market.
The UK entertainment and media market is forecast to exceed revenues of £100 billion this year, according to forecasts from PwC, meaning it will leapfrog Germany to take the top spot.
The booming trade comes in part thanks to the Eras tour, with figures from Barclays showing that it will boost UK consumer spending by £1bn this year.
Ahead of her Wembley return, Swift held a thank-you party on Monday night for her 200-strong tour team at private members’ club Annabel’s in Mayfair.
After flying in to the UK on Monday, she hired the entire venue for the night.
She was photographed in a £2,500 Vivienne Westwood blazer and skirt outfit as she emerged from the venue at 3am on Tuesday.
Tickets for the Wembley shows are already changing hands for thousands of pounds on secondary ticketing websites. A ticket for Thursday’s gig with a face value of £150 is available for £2,500, while one for the final show on Tuesday is going for £4,728.
Wembley has added additional security measures for the five shows.
“Additional ticket checks” will be brought in and stewards will be deployed outside the stadium to make sure that only those with tickets attend.
It follows the cancellation of three concerts in Vienna over an alleged plot by suspected terrorists to attack the venue and fans.
Three children were stabbed to death last month in Southport while attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, prompting the singer to write: “The horror of [the] attack is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock.”
The tightened security will see a crackdown on “Tay-gating” — the practice where Swift fans gather outside a concert even if they don’t have tickets. A message on Wembley Stadium’s website warned: “To support the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously said that he is “sure Vienna has got its own reasons” for the cancellation but the capital was “going to carry on, working closely with police [and] ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely”.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place.
“There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London.”
After the June Wembley shows, Swift praised the “crowds of 90,000 fans each night” as some of the loudest she had ever heard.
The Prince of Wales and two of his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, posed for a selfie with the star after the first of the Wembley gigs.
