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Taylor Swift is still on the European leg of her Eras Tour, which saw her make stops in two German cities last week. While playing at the Olympiastadion arena in Munich on Saturday, Taylor had a few more audience members than expected. To the tune of about 50,000 more. You see, it’s apparently pretty normal for Munich fans to pitch tents in Olympiapark when a concert is happening at Olympiastadion. But this is Taylor Swift we’re talking about, so naturally photos from the day show Olympiapark positively covered with people. Or as one fan put it on Twitter, “that’s next level tailgating.” Taylor was gracious about the second audience, making sure to thank them from the stage:
Taylor Swift had a few thousand extra fans in attendance when she performed her first show in Munich for the Eras Tour!
On Saturday, July 27, Swift, 34, took the stage at the Olympiastadion for her first of two shows in the German city and gave her thousands of fans an extra shout-out — despite the fact that they were not actually inside the venue.
In photos captured of the concert venue (and right outside of it), Swifties could be seen tailgating and camping out in the rolling hills just behind the Olympiastadion.
As they packed in tightly along the tall hills in Olympiapark and on the banks of the Nymphenburg Canal, fans pitched brightly colored tents so they could catch Swift’s show from outside the stadium.
In videos captured by fans on X (formerly Twitter), Swift could be heard giving the crowds outside a shout-out from onstage.
“We’ve got people in a park outside the stadium, thousands of people listening from out there!” she told the cheering crowds. “I just feel so incredibly welcomed, and we’re gonna spend all night trying to make it up to you.”
Also during the show, Swift excited her fans with a guitar performance of “Fresh Out the Slammer” — one of her surprise songs, as per Eras Tour tradition — as she incorporated it into a mash-up with her 1989 hit “You Are in Love.”
She then headed to her piano for a performance of “Ivy” off of Evermore, which she paired with “Call It What You Want” from Reputation, when she flubbed the opening notes. “Sometimes you just don’t hit the right note,” she said, before restarting the song.
Before her first show in Munich, Swift played two shows in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday, July 23 and Wednesday, July 24, which saw her dealing with some rainy weather and brought out her “Fuzzy Hair Me” alter-ego, as she put it in an Instagram post on Thursday, July 25.
“Hamburg!! I loved those crowds so so so much,” the Grammy winner wrote. “AND we got a rain show night one, unlocking Fuzzy Hair Me for the evening 😝.”
“Been having a blast watching these new Eras crowd traditions unfold all throughout Europe… You guys are seriously so creative,” Swift added, before teasing her next show on July 27: “See you 🔜 Munich!”
Swift kicked off the Germany leg of the tour with a three-night stint in Gelsenkirchen. Her shows there were so popular that the town renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” earlier this month, after a local fan petitioned the mayor to temporarily change the town’s name.
Those fans took up every inch of that park! The high in Munich was 88 F on Saturday; not unbearable (and certainly well below the dangerous temps Taylor had on tour in Brazil last year), but still much hotter than I’d like for being tightly packed together with a few 10,000 other humans. On principle, though, I like this idea. As long as ticket prices keep soaring, I support fans getting creative and finding ways of enjoying concerts without spending their life savings. And speaking of fans, I have to link to the girls from Gelsenkirchen who made the town’s temporary name change happen — they even got a new sign! Not only that, but Taylor reportedly got her very own stone on the Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame. Take that, star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
🚨| Taylor Swift acknowledging the insane crowd of people on the hill outside the stadium at today's show in Munich, Germany! #MunichTSTheErasTour
"We have people in a park outside the stadium, thousands of people listening from out there!" pic.twitter.com/s8LZxYrsxA
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) July 27, 2024
Photos credit: IMAGO/Wolfgang Maria Weber / Avalon, Mike Gray / Avalon, Getty
I’m glad she was cool about it, and her team didn’t work with the German Gov’t to block people from camping. Not that I have any idea if they can or not. But Taylor does not like losing out on her dollars.
I read that people there do that all the time for concerts. Maybe, this was the peak number-wise. It is nice that it is allowed. Also, there is a river or lake between stadium and the hill from the photos I have seen. It is very far away. I would assume it wouldn’t create security issue because of that.
She’s not losing money as every venue was was sold out immediately and she’s always cool with the tag alongs.
She’s losing money by the people on the hill not spending thousands buying future concert tickets and merch in the stadium.
There was a huge merch stand outside the stadium which was open for three days. They did some business, trust me, people did spend serious cash on merch.
@Flamingo – How? There are literally no other tickets to be had, at any show on the entire tour, other than on the secondary market which doesn’t benefit her anyway. And without tickets, they cannot buy merch inside the stadium.
I didn’t read this article but if this is happening, I’m glad. I was outraged and so disappointed there was no tailgating allowed anywhere she was playing that was close to where I was last year. All I (and a few moms and kids) wanted to do was go and sit in a parking lot with a picnic and listen, since we couldn’t get tickets. Back in the old days, if you just showed up like that, sometimes you’d luck out and someone else (not a scalper, another concert goer) would end up with a friend or so that didn’t show up and offer you their extra ticket(s) for face value or less. But even if that didn’t happen, and it was just hanging nearby with friends enjoying sandwiches, you could hear the show and it was a fun experience. To do that with kids who so badly would’ve loved to see the show would’ve been such fun bonding. Obviously venues in cities couldn’t keep people from hanging nearby I guess. But some of the more rural/suburban stadiums (and their towns) could. I would’ve leaned into it for the economic boom if I were a business or town official!
Well done Taylor and ALL the Swifties to show the world how it’s done with grace and gratitude ~ and peace.
The police even put up toilets and water stands.
She is really doing remarkably well, and with real dedication to her fans. I am impressed, but still not a Swiftie, haha
I’d like to see T make a stop in Southport, England to lend support to the community: 2 kids killed and 11 injured (and 2 adults) while attending a Taylor Swift dance class. It could help those kids in intensive care so much.
She released a statement this morning regarding the awful attack. I also can’t imagine everyone yelling at me all the time regarding what I say don’t say regarding politics, current events, etc. and then something like this happens.
She might – she’s due back in the UK for a series of gigs in London so who knows.
I’ll be honest – I’m not sure she does, even if she knows the optics would be good. I’m sure she’s reached out privately in some capacity, but she and her team are hyper-focused on fan safety. She’s talked for years about feeling responsible for their safety at her events. Even though this wasn’t her event or anything she was involved in, I imagine they would be worried about other crazies seeing her “reward” an attack area with a visit and decide to copycat to get her attention.
I’m originally from Munich and this happens all the time! I’ve watched U2, the Foos and Muse from that hill and it’s an insanely great evening out when the weather is nice. Have never seen it this crowded though!!
That picture is amazing. What a fun tradition. Germans take tailgating to a new level.