'Taylor Swift was singing directly to me!': Fans share delight at pop icon's opening gig in UK

Taylor Swift fans have shared their delight after the pop icon performed in her first UK gig in six years, with many calling it 'the best night of their lives'. 

More than 70,000 Swifties packed Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium to see the American superstar give her all in the first of her three performances in Scotland's capital.

The 34-year-old singer delivered a flawless three-and-a-half-hour showstopper of a performance in which she told screaming fans: 'What a way to welcome a lass to Scotland.'

Over the course of 46 songs, Taylor suffered cramp in her hand, saw a live proposal and gifted a fan her hat all while changing costumes a whopping 12 times. 

Posting a video on social media, one fan claimed Taylor looked at her to say 'are you good?' before singing directly to her. 

They wrote on X: 'She kept smiling and singing to me and I swear I am not hallucinating. This is the closest and most magical night of my life.'

Another superfan posted a clip of Taylor refusing to sing her song until security helped a fan in the audience.

Swift could be heard saying: 'I'm just gonna keep playing till somebody helps them,' while continuing to strum her guitar.

'Just let me know when [you're good]' she said, before adding, 'I can do this all night!'

Once the situation was handled, she said: 'You're good?' before yelling 'Awesome!' and continuing the song.

Certain fans in the audience were all particularly struck by a group of girls who were dancing next to the stage.

One person wrote on X: 'These girls were dancing the whole concert and it was so entertaining to watch, I hope you all had the best time you made us smile.'

Another added: 'Whoever you are, you are truly having the time of your lives and it’s adorable to watch!'

Swift fans were also delighted after she also added two unexpected mashups of previous tracks during the 'surprise song' segment of the show.

Taylor performed a guitar mashup of Would've, Could've, Should've from Midnights 3am Edition and I Know Places from 1989. The second 'surprise song' was a piano hybrid of 'Tis the Damn Season from Evermore and Daylight from Lover.

The reaction from Swifties was swift, as they took to social media to share their feelings about these surprise medleys.

'This is the best combo of surprise songs ever like, unbeatable,' posted one fan, as another shared 'Edinburgh wins!' 

However, some fans expressed their disappointment at missing out on these unique pairings.

'DR TAYLOW ALISON SWIFT WHAT R U DOING?,' posted one fans, as another, shared, 'NOOOO I lost Daylight and TIs The Damn Season at the same time Nooooo'

Another chimed in: 'Taylor Swift wants me dead as I walk.'

Elsewhere in the excitement of yesterday, a Swift superfan said she made 120 friendship bracelets to take with her to the record-breaking Eras tour in Edinburgh so she can 'swap or give away as many as possible'.

Kayleigh Gore, 33, from Teesside, Middlesbrough, said she started to create her vast collection of bracelets in November ahead of Swift's second show in the Scottish capital on Saturday.

Ms Gore, who will be attending the highly anticipated tour with three friends, said the concert will mark the first time she has seen the superstar singer perform despite being a fan since Swift released her debut album in 2006.

The fan-established tradition of making and trading friendship bracelets for the Eras tour was prompted by a lyric from Swift's hit track You're on Your Own, Kid, where she sings: 'So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you've got no reason to be afraid', sparking a global trend.

This has prompted a number of fans to queue for a bracelet shop in Edinburgh, called pie in the sky, as one fan posted a picture of an enormous line in the streets.

Ms Gore, a lecturer in psychology at a sixth form college, said: 'I started making the bracelets around November, December because I'd seen a lot of the people, when she was on tour in America at the time, were doing it there.'

'Because it was months and months away, I was making them every now and then but over the last two or three months I've been making them two to three times a week.

'So far, I've got about 120. As we've got closer to the date, I've started to do very simple ones because I was trying to get as many as possible so I can swap or give away as many as possible on Saturday.'

Ms Gore added that she has made bracelets with beads spelling out song lyrics and titles associated with each of the artist's 11 albums.

'I realised when I started making them that I was making a lot based on my favourite songs and my favourite albums but because I'm wanting to swap them with fans and we all have different favourites, I then made a list of songs from each album and worked my way through,' she said.

'I've got some from every album that she's done. I've seen a couple of people on TikTok who haven't had time to make any, so if they can't trade and they just want to take some of mine, I'm perfectly happy with that.'

Ms Gore said she will be enlisting her three friends to help her carry the bracelets into the venue, as well as attaching clips to her bag to hold them all.

'Because I've got so many, I've already told my friends they are going to have to carry some for me,' she said.

'I think I could get at least half of them on my bag with the clips.'

Ms Gore added that she has been 'tearing up' with excitement at being able to attend her first Taylor Swift concert.

'I'm very excited, I've been a fan since her debut, so about 2006, and this is the first time I'm going to get to see her live,' she said.

'I'm getting more and more emotional as we get closer to the date and I've been listening to the set list in my car.

'Every time certain songs come on which are my favourites I start tearing up because I'm so excited to see it live.'

It appears Edinburgh also fully bought into the Taylor Swift pandemonium as a train station began blaring out her songs and a tram branded her name on its side. 

Scottish Gas Murrayfield could also be seen welcoming Swift to Edinburgh with a performance of her hit 'Love Story' on the bagpipes by the Reel Time Pipe band.

Hotels in the city also joined in on the fun by leaving extra chocolate bars for people staying in their hotel, in a nod to one of Swift's songs.