Pop concert: “My name is Taylor” – Magical hanging out with a star

When Taylor Swift performs, it’s about more than just music. For her fans, the 34-year-old is something of a savior. At her concerts, she makes sure that the troubles and stress of everyday life are forgotten, at least for a while. In Munich, the US singer sings one song after another for almost three and a half hours, tirelessly and with incredible power. Forget the unbearable heat while waiting for hours to get into the Olympic Stadium, the sweaty clothes that stick to your body, the thirst.

From the moment Taylor Swift floats onto the stage at around 7:30 p.m., people are celebrating, dancing and singing along loudly on this Saturday evening. “It’s nice to see you,” Swift says right at the start – in German – and the fans respond with a cheer that literally shakes the large grandstand and is so loud and shrill that it hurts your ears for a moment.

There is an audience not only in the stadium

And she immediately sends a greeting to the Olympiaberg, a hill within sight of the stadium. At big concerts, people always gather here to listen to the music. This Saturday was no different, although it was very crowded this time. But it was also romantic and relaxed, with a picnic, wine or beer that you brought along yourself. With a bit of luck and maybe a pair of binoculars, you might even catch a glimpse of the stage.

In the stadium, Swift really gets the mood going. The musician is a master at playing with the crowd. She doesn’t want to be the detached star, far away from the fans, but one of them. And so she creates a sense of familiarity between herself, the audience and her team: “Thanks for hanging out with us.” As if you were sitting comfortably together in your living room and not in a huge stadium – with 74,000 people, as Swift emphasizes several times. She introduces herself with a wink. “I’m your host tonight,” she says. “My name is Taylor.”

It is this approachability that fascinates fans about the singer. So much so that they spare no expense or effort to see her live and dress like her, with sequins, cowboy boots or a fairy dress. “She is herself every time you hear her speak or see her do things. She is just a normal person,” enthuses Jennifer, who traveled from Florida. The show on the “Eras” tour in Miami was too expensive for her. “The worst seats cost $4,000 per ticket,” she explains. Instead, she traveled to Europe, first London and then Munich. She still spends a lot of money here, but she and her daughter could spend a whole vacation on it, the American explains.

Deafening cheers again and again

Swift plays the songs with which she had already thrilled fans on the previous stops of her “Eras” tour, a selection from each album of the past years in the matching outfit. “It’s like a walk through my best memories,” Swift describes. The Munich audience thanks her again and again with a mixture of cheers and screams that make their ears ring.

During “Shake it Off” there is no stopping it, the whole stadium goes wild. During quieter songs, yellow and orange balloons shine, illuminated by the flashlights of cell phones. It becomes impressive when Swift steps on stage all alone with a guitar, surrounded by a sea of ​​lights. She sings “You Are in Love” and then sits down at the piano to sing “Call It What You Want”.

Some people collapse at high temperatures

The concert is a rollercoaster of emotions – and temperatures. At 5 p.m., the temperature in Munich was 31.9 degrees Celsius, according to the German Weather Service. Some people collapsed. To protect fans from the sun, the concert organizers handed out thousands of emergency blankets and “vast quantities of water.” But the fact remains that many people waited in tight quarters for several hours to be let in. Inside, the queues in front of the drinks stands are so long that many miss the opening act, Paramore.

Towards the end, a refreshing wind blows into the stadium – and to the last song “Karma”, Swift and her team dance through the Munich summer rain. On Sunday, the pop singer will perform once again in the Olympic Stadium – at the last German concert of her tour.

What remains are countless cell phone photos, exchanged friendship bracelets and the feeling of having been part of an experience. The downside: a lot of garbage. Golden emergency blankets will be lying in the streets afterwards. And tens of thousands of luminous bracelets that were handed out at the entrance will end up as electronic waste.