Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift – Wembley 2024: REVIEWED!

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Image credit: TAS Rights Management

Image credit: TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift – 19th August 2024, Eras Tour London, Wembley Stadium

Right. I’m going to be brutally honest with you here, and caveat this with a plea to Swifties not to rain fury down on me for being an imposter in their midst… but I am categorically not, a Swiftie. Yet here I am, dressed in a very loudly pink floaty skirt and heart shaped handbag, covered in hastily acquired bead bracelets, masquerading as one.

All things considered, I have a very eclectic musical taste which leans more towards rock and metal than anything else. That said, I do like a good pop song and have enjoyed many of TSwiz’s hits (I even own the Fearless album on CD, give me a gold star immediately). Believe it or not I am even wearing a Taylor tee, though in order to assert some kind of childish pushback it is one with her name made up in black-metal lettering, I couldn’t resist.

Having made it down the M1 and queued to get into the Wembley red carparking, we traipsed our way over to grab our tickets, following a trail of fans taking photos in front of all the Taylor themed backdrops dotted around the arena. Upon grabbing said tickets we discovered that we would be in the left stage standing area, and didn’t really realise what that meant at the time – more on that later.

The process of getting into the arena itself is really straightforward and easy, head to your colour coded entrance area, scan your ticket and push through the turnstile, quick bag search and get your wristbands (including a very cool light up one specific to the tour). After that the concourse is yours to inspect the merchandise shops (lots of small ones about instead of one massive one, really helps with the queue situation). As we were running a little late we headed down to our entrance and launched ourselves out onto a set of steps, and the absolutely breathtaking view of thousands upon thousands of people and one of the biggest stage set-ups I’ve ever seen in my life.

First support act Maisie Peters modifies her song ‘Lost The Breakup’ to include “er… I’m kinda busy like, I’m with Taylor tonight!” in a starry-sequinned white mini dress and stompy black boots. Having seen her earlier this year at Hyde Park, I knew to expect a good set and she did not disappoint – her lyrics are fun, she has a beautiful voice and her songs are ultimately singable. What’s not to love.

Tennessee punk-rock royalty Paramore are up next, representing the other side of the girlhood-coin with a barrage of loud and rowdy songs. Talking Heads cover ‘Burning Down The House’ is a consummate banger (I love the original too, to be fair…) but we are whipped into a frenzy by the epic anthem ‘Misery Business’. Hayley Williams, wearing a slinky black punk princess dress – even comes to visit us at the stage side and I kid you not, I could reach out and shake her hand we’re so close. I don’t though, because that would be super weird. It’s a cracker of a set, albeit short.

As Paramore’s amazing transparent orange drum-kit is forklifted from the stage, I am already in awe of the slickness of production that has gone into this. The stage is cleared in what seems like seconds, a *ahem* Swift turnaround if you will… we are suddenly staring at a countdown clock on the enormous stage screen, and the crowd erupts in the most deafening scream I have ever heard in my life. I’ve been to a lot of rock shows, but the pitch range is a lot lower – this is the force of 90k soprano shrieks entering my eardrums at speed.

The screaming only increases as the countdown finally ends and giant billowy silk-sheeted petals fan out from centre stage, on the backs of cat-walking dancers. They remind me of something you’d see on Pandora from James Cameron’s Avatar, but that’s probably not the kind of thing normal people talk about at a Taylor Swift concert is it. Anyway the nice leafy things make their way to the centre diamond of the runway and flop down on top of each other in a circle before popping up to reveal the queen herself, resplendent in a pink bedazzled bodysuit and matching boots.

Starting off with ‘Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince’, she is lifted skyward on a centre riser, making her visible to every eye in the audience which obviously, elicits yet another wild scream. Ending the first song with a strong power stance, Taylor shouts “Of all the wonderful sights you could come to London to see… I’m sure this view I’m seeing right now is absolutely the best one!”. Taylor then spends a little time pointing at various sections of the crowd to get them hyped up, before ‘holstering’ her gun-finger at her side with a wry smile. It is at this point that my sister and I both opt to jam loop earplugs in, I refuse to go deaf over teenage fanaticism.

Now wearing a pink sparkly double breasted suit jacket, she says “Wow, I can feel it immediately going to my head… the way you’re making me feel tonight… a sold out show for 92 thousand people… you’re making me feel like I’m The Man” leading into the namesake song, where she climbs an abstract office building set up on the stage. The dancers are incredible, I know there’s such a thing as stage clothing but anyone who can do that in a full suit gets my admiration.

“London what a delight, and an honour, and a privilege… London welcome to the Eras Tour!” yells the pop princess on this penultimate night of the European leg of Eras, now standing centre stage holding a pink acoustic guitar. She spends a minute thanking Maisie Peters, who she credits with amazing songwriting skills, and then Paramore, stating “We grew up together as teenagers, and now we got to travel Europe together”.

‘Lover’ features dancing couples overtaking the stage, including same-sex pairings – I will always applaud platforming inclusivity on a large scale, particularly with the state of the world at the moment. The song is gorgeous I have to admit, but the transition into ‘Fearless’ means I am finally at a part I really know and I’m… ready for it. You see what I did there right?

With an incredible downpour of firework rain from right across the top of the stage, Taylor reemerges in another bedazzled fringed bodysuit and a matching sparkly guitar, her signature red lipstick in stark contrast. “You wanna go back to high school with me?” is the herald into ‘You Belong With Me’, and then ‘Love Story’. I actually know all the words to these ones, I think I’m doing an excellent job of fitting in frankly.

Onto the next section with barely a pause, red balloons signal the beginning of Red with ‘22’ and Taylor wearing a t-shirt saying “This is not Taylor’s Version’, and the iconic black hat. I am reliably informed that every Swiftie has been awaiting the drop of ‘Rep TV’ which for quite a long time I thought was some kind of weird streaming service she was launching. No, they of course mean Taylor’s Version of Reputation – the re-recording of her earlier works to eclipse the contract-locked originals. Anyway, is this t-shirt she’s wearing an easter-egg of epic proportions for an announcement,  or is she just trolling you all in the funniest way? Answers on an Eras postcard.

The iconic 22 hat is gifted to a rather small girl who is crying her eyes out and shouting “I love you so much” repeatedly, which is too cute not to shed a small tear at, but the bit I’m enjoying the most is all the giant cheerleading megaphones and the confetti cannons, it feels like a proper party now. The t-shirt is whipped off (thank you Chippendales for bringing velcro clothing to the people) to reveal a black and red ombre sparkle outfit for ‘Never Getting Back Together’. Apparently the enigmatic dancer known as Kam, says something different in the refrain each night, but tonight it is “Are you havin’ a laugh?” in a Cockney accent.

‘Trouble’ blows up with giant plumes of smoke erupting from the stage every time she hits the high notes, and Taylor stops for a breather to chat. “Are we enjoying the Red era London? This show is my favourite I’ve ever gotten to do… better crowds than I ever imagined I’d play for in my entire life. You have every song memorised, every lyric. This is a dream crowd”.

The black diamante encrusted matching trench coat and guitar is absolutely the number one thing I want to steal from the Eras closet, imagine how good I’d look swishing round Download festival in that thing. However, 10 minutes of ‘All Too Well’ is a little past my threshold, so we take a chance to go grab some water. Here I have to mention that there are free water points all along the barriers of the standing areas, with cups being constantly replenished. The standing areas as well, although sold out – are not overcrowded at all. You can comfortably move and stand without being on top of anyone, something I find seriously unusual and at the same time, fantastic about this show.

Speak Now’s ‘Enchanted’ might be a standalone, but it does feature a delightful Cinderella-esque ballgown, before being swapped out for it’s antithesis aesthetic – a one legged black jumpsuit covered in red snakes, to match the writhing snakes on screen. Red and white lights adorn our pulsing wristbands to welcome Reputation to the chat with ‘Are You Ready For It’. I think I like this Taylor best in terms of aesthetics, she’s in her zero fucks era, her clapback era, I love that for her – but especially with the caged Barbie dancers in ‘Look What You Made Me Do’.

Eventually the snake on screen slithers into a firefly lit, serene woodland, signalling the beginning of the Folklore/Evermore portion of the night, featuring a giant swamp shack set-up and some really weird trees that have grown directly from the stage. Apparently this is known as ‘The Folklore Cabin’ but as this is my least favourite album you’ll forgive me for not being up to date on the history. Taylor is kind enough to fill me in anyway though, “The folklore cabin is the imaginary cabin I pretended I lived in while I was writing this album, during the pandemic… confused and isolated… but I still wanted to connect with people”. Explaining that, during this album she deviated from autobiographical songs to write about characters as the narrator, she flits through the light, airy songs to arrive at the moss-covered piano for Evermore. Unfortunately a technical issue slightly tarnishes the mood “Um ok, this is in the wrong key… how do I get into here?” Taylor asks a techie who comes out to fix the problem, inadvertently showing us all that the grand piano is in fact merely a house in which an electronic keyboard sits. Slight chink in the armour there, but she recovers quickly.

We however are starting to feel the halfway mark of being on our feet, and take a trip to the barrier for a sit-down during the slow stuff. Another huge kudos to the arena staff here as we were repeatedly asked if we were ok, and handed water whilst we were sitting down. You can even see most of what’s going on from there thanks to the enormous screens.

No respite from the fan-screams though, even Taylor takes a few minutes to stand in awe of the constant wall of noise after she finishes; “That might have been the loudest sound I’ve ever heard in my entire life”. ‘August’ has all the Folklore girls swooning and swaying (they’re all dressed as elven forest maidens – some of whom have fallen backwards through a bush, but in a cute way).

The sun has finally gone down on Wembley and the light up wristbands are really coming into play. The dark blue forest backdrop and blue tinged soft lights of the bands for ‘Willow’ are so beautiful. On stage sparkly dementors are swishing some glowing orange balls about, and appear to be summoning something, but I personally am watching a pair in the crowd next to us who have done the absolute genius cosplay of bringing a yellow balloon each, and using their phones to light them up and join in. Bravo niche-Swifties, good work.

Back to the party stuff with 1989, Taylor hits the stage in a sparkly miniskirt and top for ‘Style’, ‘Blank Space’ and ‘Shake It Off’ while the wristband lights flash orange and blue to match her split outfit.

‘Bad blood’ is accompanied by huge bursts of fire from pyro cannons around the stage and on top of the lighting rigs, before we swap over to newest release The Tortured Poet’s Department. Taylor is resplendent in a white dress and microphone with black sparkly gloves, the floor is decorated with projections of stained glass windows, and ‘Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me’ is sung with wild abandon by every single voice around us. She zooms around on a silver robot platform during ‘Down Bad’, laments and swoons on a giant bed set with typewriters and then throws on a white military dress jacket to march the stage for ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’.

Ending lying on stage with the remnants of a burned white flag, the theatre of this show is unmatched. After being posed on a broken heart couch by two tailcoated helpers, she is made to move like a marionette and re-dressed in a silver ringmaster set to absolutely crush ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ – the wormiest earworm of all her new material. I won’t lie, a lot of the most recent album feels quite samey to me overall, but this is a total hit.

Next up, purple lighting and another outfit swap for the much anticipated secret songs section, which turn out to be a ‘Long Live’ and ‘Change’ mashup, then ‘The Archer’ mixed with ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’. I’m really out of my depth here, but it’s clearly important because everyone in my vicinity is hugging and crying, while she plays on a floral painted piano.

We’re two and a half hours in at this point and I’m not sure how she has anything left in her. She’s barely had a 30 second breather between playing, singing, dancing, talking and costume changing – and she’s got to do this all again tomorrow. In answer to my disbelief, she takes a running jump into a stage pit, and then projections of her swimming down the length of the runway pull her towards crashing waves on the screen, amidst the soft deep blue of our sea of wristbands around the arena.

At this point, some very weird paper mâché looking clouds atop rolling ladders are wheeled out, for the start of final section Midnights, with ‘Lavender Haze’. Of course she has an outfit for this – a giant furry lavender coat, that looks like she skinned a muppet to get it. ‘Anti-Hero’ featuring the weirdest line “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby” if you hear it that way (and I do, every time) but is probably the most audience-sung-song so far. Dancers with umbrellas hide Taylor for a costume change into a sparkly star and moon bodysuit, and chairs are placed on the centre risers for a very saucy burlesque routine during ‘Vigilante Shit’.

Our wristbands flash all different colours during ‘Bejeweled’ and the girl in front of us who has hand sewn giant jewels all over her top, responds by turning the rainbow lights on inside her mesh skirt. 10/10 no notes. Enduring the endless screaming once again, Taylor comes up for air “I cannot believe a crowd exists this loud… but also that you did this on a Monday night!”.

Closing out with ‘Karma’, in yet another pink sparkly jacket, this time with fringing – is deservedly the anthem of the night. I cannot believe she’s made it to the end of this still looking as absolutely magical as she does. Either her makeup artist is a real life wizard, or she is actually the ethereal being she portrays, because I look like a toad who has been zapped back to life and propped upright against the barrier. It even rained tonight and her hair still looks good, TELL ME YOUR SECRETS TAYLOR.

There’s fireworks, there’s confetti, there’s screaming, there’s crying, there’s hugging and dancing. It’s a truly celebratory ending to a mammoth night of entertainment, one that I can scarcely believe has been upheld by a single artist.

So what were my main takeaways from tonight you ask? Well, firstly… someone has to spend presumably aeons sticking tiny rhinestones to every single thing Taylor Swift owns, from guitars to boots to trenchcoats and mic stands. This is fabulous, I’m so down with that part.

Next, Swifties have a seemingly endless reservoir of tears, and will cry at almost anything – including but not limited to, if you give them a bracelet that matches their outfit, or if Taylor looks their way at any point in the night. I now understand the real need for the water refill stations everywhere.

Following that train of thought, the Eras tour is one of the safest and best run events I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a LOT). The attention to detail and thought about logistics has been second to none, but more than that – all of the staff members have been genuinely fantastic, helpful and nice. I wish it wasn’t unusual in live music, but it is.

After the show I found out that Taylor Lautner (and I think his partner… Taylor Lautner… who are all friends with… Taylor) was hanging out in the VIP section, alongside TSwiz’s very own parents, and that I could have sidled up there as it was next to our section. Damn it. Where have I been Loca?! Anyway, as we head out of the arena after collecting some confetti to put with our tickets… I sense my sister, who is with me (also a phony-fan), is already on the turn towards Swiftdom – she has given two security guards bracelets, marvelled over the police dogs who have bracelets all the way up their leads, and bought us both tshirts.

So finally, to close this ridiculously long review (which really is an ode to a ridiculously long show) my thoughts boil down to this. Taylor Swift has an incredible voice, clever songwriting, and the ability to back-to-back intense 3 hour shows, in which she never stops. I might not be the kind of Swiftie that can sing all the lyrics, nor the kind who knows the ex-boyfriend lore, or even the kind who talks show tactics on the forums. BUT. When she inevitably comes back around, you can count on me to be there with silly bracelets on singing the same 5 songs I know, at the top of my voice. So long, London!

Image credit: TAS Rights Management

SETLIST

Intro

(The Alchemy/Fearless/End Game/Speak Now/gold rush/TTPD/evermore/Red/Lavender Haze/Lover/Bejeweled)

Lover

  1. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince (shortened)
  2. Cruel Summer (extended outro)
  3. The Man (spoken intro)
  4. You Need to Calm Down (shortened)
  5. Lover (spoken intro; extended outro)

Fearless

  • Fearless (shortened)
  • You Belong With Me
  • Love Story

Red

Red – Intro (contains elements of “State of Grace”, “Holy Ground” and “Red”)

  • 22
  • We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Kam Saunders: “you having a laugh?!”)
  • I Knew You Were Trouble (shortened)
  • All Too Well (10 Minute Version; spoken intro)

Speak Now

Speak Now – Intro (contains elements of “Castles Crumbling”)

  1. Enchanted (shortened)

Reputation

  1. …Ready for It?
  2. Delicate
  3. Don’t Blame Me (shortened)
  4. Look What You Made Me Do (extended outro)

Folklore / Evermore

  1. cardigan (shortened)
  2. betty (spoken intro; shortened)
  3. champagne problems
  4. august
  5. illicit affairs (shortened)
  6. my tears ricochet
  7. marjorie (shortened)
  8. willow (extended)

1989

  • Style (shortened)
  • Blank Space
  • Shake It Off
  • Wildest Dreams (shortened)
  • Bad Blood (shortened)

The Tortured Poets Department

Female Rage: The Musical (contains elements of “MBOBHFT”, “WAOLOM”, “loml”, “So Long, London” and “BDILH”)

  • But Daddy I Love Him / So High School
  • Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (shortened)
  • Down Bad (shortened; with “Fortnight” outro)
  • Fortnight
  • The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (shortened)
  • I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (extended intro)

Surprise Songs

  • Long Live / Change (spoken intro; mashup on guitar; tour debut for “Change”)
  • The Archer / You’re on Your Own, Kid (mashup on piano)

Midnights

  • Lavender Haze
  • Anti‐Hero
  • Midnight Rain
  • Vigilante Shit
  • Bejeweled
  • Mastermind
  • Karma (extended outro)

Taylor Swift to headline BST Hyde Park

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One of the world’s biggest pop artists, Taylor Swift will headline BST Hyde Park on the 11th July.

Having just released her latest album Lover to critical and commercial success, Taylor is the hottest artist on the planet. The album was her fourth UK Number 1, making her the female star with the most chart toppers this decade, and was the top selling album in the US in just 48 hours of release. Lover had the highest first week sales for any album in the US since her 2017 release, reputation.

Taylor Swift

BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend Norwich Sunday Review

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Despite the rain falling hard and fast onsite at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich, the second day of the festival was one full of anticipation ahead of the arrival of Taylor Swift to Norwich. Perhaps perfectly timed by the universe, the clouds cleared and the sun emerged to beam down upon the incredibly large crowd just in time for Swift's performance that cemented her dominance as the biggest and best popstar in the world right now.

Having conquered the charts, Clean Bandit made sure everyone was dancing as if there were no tomorrow, playing tracks from their debut album 'New Eyes' as well as bringing out the incredibly talented Rae Morris to perform collaboration 'Up Again'. Violinist Neil Milan brought out his trademark dance moves as he bounded about the stage like he was headlining.

Rae Morris performing onstage with Clean Bandit at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. Image from the BBC

Gaining exposure at such an early stage of an artists' career brings with it an incredible weight of exepctation, and Irish singer-songwriter SOAK showed signs of nerves as the usually chatty performer kept talking to a minimum as they delivered heartbreakingly beautiful odes that would have you think she was much older than her young years. Channelling the raw emotion of legends such as Tom Waits. 'Be A Nobody' and 'Blud' brought the In New Music We Trust stage to a stunned silence, as the audience became visibly introspective about what these songs that many had perhaps never heard before made them feel. 

SOAK bringing the In New Music We Trust Stage to a standstill 

As a self confessed pop music sceptic, it was with trepidation that Rita Ora's set was approached. But such scpeticism was unfounded, as Ora delivered one of the highlights of the weekend. However you may want to criticise artists who perhaps don't have total creative input when making music, there is no denying that Rita Ora can sing. Really sing. Her set was heavy with hits from across her already impressive career and tracks such as 'Doing It' and 'RIP' went down an absolute storm with the age spanning crowd. Pop music at it's finest.

As the sun peered out from behind the clouds, Jungle took to the In New Music We Trust Stage to kickstart the carnival atmosphere ready for the night ahead. 'Busy Earnin' 'Time' and 'Julia' amongst many others had the tent bursting at the seems with people dancing and partying their way through a set that felt very much like a victory lap for a band that experienced runaway success across last year's festival circuit.

How does one describe James Bay? Well according to more than a few people poised to see him, he falls somewhere between "the most beautiful man in the world" and "his face was carved by angels" which when coupled with his amazing voice and melodies shows exactly why he was deserving of this year's BRIT Awards Critics Choice Award. 'Hold Back The River' and 'Let It Go' erupt massive crowd singalongs that are almost loud enough to drown out Bay's own voice. 

One name has been synonomous with this year's Big Weekend. You might have heard of her before? She likes to shake it off with fellas with hella good hair and recently she unveiled an already iconic video seeing her army of powerful ladies do battle against the forces of evil. Still unsure who it is? It can only be Taylor Swift.

Introduced by a BBC Radio 1 listener who won the opportunity to welcome Swiftie to Norwich, Taylor was greeted by screams of 'TAYLOR! TAYLOR!' as she emerged in a decadent sparkly outfit to reminds us all what a star she is. Opening with 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', the next 40 minutes passed like some sort of euphoric chorus direct from the heavens. There were lifelong Swifites rubbing shoulders with recent converts following the release of '1989'. Strangers became friends over a shared love of shaking it off and that is exactly the kind of slap in the face that any present music snobs needed because in case you didn't get the memo; life's too short to be hating on someone as perfectly brilliant aas Taylor Swift. Ya hear?!

The beauty of BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, is that you don't get just one globe conquering act in a day. Oh no, you get TWO! Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters never thought he'd get to say Taylor Swift was his opening act which was greeted with thunderous cheers from a crowd who have grown up with his mighty powerhouse of a band.

Playing to a crowd of die hard Taylor Swift fans was never going to be an easy for a band who fall on the total opposite side of the music spectrum. But the appeal of the Foos is twofold – first you have the anthem after anthem back catologue of tracks such as 'Walk' and 'Congregation' and then secondly you have the heart warming personality of Dave Grohl that feels like you and he have been friends for decades. 

The euphoria washing over Earlham Park throughout 'Times Like These' induces a swelling of happiness and warmth in the heart of everybody onsite. Closing with a spectacular firework display, Big Weekend closed it's doors for another year and as the crowds poured away from the site in Norwich, there really was a collective consensus that this was without a doubt the biggest Big Weekend there has ever been.

 

 

Who To Watch At BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend In Norwich

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Next week (23rd & 24th May) sees Radio 1's Big Weekend land in Norwich, bringing with it some of the world's biggest artists including Taylor Swift, Muse and Florence & The Machine all descending on Earlham Park. With three stages packed with bands and artists from all over the world, consider this your go to guide whether you are attending or watching from home.

BBC Introducing Stage

Fickle Friends – Canvassing the power of pop music, Fickle Friends wield music that was made for festival atmospheres. Upbeat and melodic synth pop oozes around the vocals of frontwoman Natti building to spectacular euphoric crescendos that have already earnt them support from the likes of Huw Stephens. Listen to their tracks 'Swim' and latest single 'Could Be Wrong' on their SoundCloud and you'll understand perfectly why Fickle Friends are set to be one of this summer's runaway success stories. https://soundcloud.com/ficklefriends

 

HONNE – Roughly translating as 'true feelings' or 'desire' in Japanese, Honne make the kind of sultry futuristic music that will no doubt soundtrack the conception of more than a few babies in the years to come. Still very much an underground sensation, Honne have already been compared to the likes of Drake and Frank Ocean for their low-fi high impact soundscape. Their debut single 'Warm On A Cold Night' carries on the smoothness of the 80s synth scene and carries it romantically across the threshold and bang into the 21st Century, ready for some serious vibe heavy baby-making.

 

In New Music We Trust Stage

 

Circa Waves – Having already made one of the best songs of the summer with 'T Shirt Weather', Liverpudlian lads Circa Waves have the same frenetic energy that helped Two Door Cinema Club sky-rocket to success. Their debut album 'Young Chasers' is packed to the rafters with absolute belters that will no doubt be sang back at high volumes in the Norwich sunshine. 

 

Hozier – He seemed to take over the world with melancholy ballad 'Take Me To Church' but for those thinking that Irish Hozier was merely a fleeting one hit wonder, he'll be on hand to prove he is more than worth his salt. He's already been nominated for a Grammy, meaning that this afternoon set is likely to be full of couples ready to soundtrack their schmoozing alongside many other music fans that fell in love with his debut record. 

 

Years & Years – Olly, Emre and Mikey won the BBC's Sound of 2015 Poll at the start of the year for their ridiculously upbeat and heartfelt sound. With album 'Communion' slated for release in one month, the boys already have a wealth of well loved and well rehearsed material including their number 1 single 'King' and latest ode to love 'Shine' which sees frontman Olly Alexander not only wear his heart on his sleeve, but rub it all up in your grill. If you want to hear what the future of great pop music looks like, it's here and by jove is it wonderful.

 

Jungle – Make sure you're not 'Too Busy Earnin' to miss Jungle carry on the party. Taking to the stage in a caccophany of rainforest sounds and noises, Norwich is set to feel more like the Amazon throughout this set. Their self-titled debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and are a must see even if you caught them on last year's festival circuit.

 

SOAK – Having been made BBC Radio 1's 'Track Of The Day' and having been in session for Huw Stephens, it's no surprise that SOAK has landed a slot on the In New Music We Trust Stage. At only 18 years of age, SOAK has a wiseness and world weariness in her lyrics that channels the soul of Tom Waits putting a unique black and white filter over the world. SOAK us undoubtedly one of the best songwriters around right now and her mellow melancholy will be in high demand across the summer and beyond. It's gloomy without being sad and quite cathartic to listen to no matter what the weather.

 

The Main Stage

 

Charli XCX – Her tracks with Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea propelled Charli XCX into the global spotlight, but it is her own hefty catalogue of bratty punk pop you should be paying attention to. Charli is very underestimated when it comes to how good of a role model she is to teenagers . Preaching self love and a devil may care attitude to authority, Charli's set is one of my most anticipated sets of the entire weekend for unrelenting energy she puts into performances and the amount of #tunes she has following on from the release of her debut album 'Sucker' which was overflowing with belters.

 

Florence & The Machine – Despite having broken her foot at this year's Coachella festival, sitting down still hasn't been holding Florence back from re-conquering the world with cuts from her soon to be released third album 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'. Florence was propelled from the womb ready to be crowned queen of the summer festival circuit and Big Weekend marks her first UK festival performance since she signed off her secodn album Ceremonials at Reading & Leeds in 2012. This return has been a long time coming for fans of all ages and with an even bigger Machine to back her powerful lungs, Norwich won't know what hit it when Florence is carried onto the stage.

 

Clean Bandit – Opening the Main Stage on May 24th, Clean Bandit have all of the hits on hand ready to get the people of Norwich jumping high into the sky ready for the final day of Big Weekend. With their collaborator Jess Glynne playing the day before, we can hope for a joint rendition of 'Rather Be' at some point across the weekend.

 

George Ezra – Since Mumford & Sons have put down their banjos, George Ezra is here to fill that barn dance shaped hole in your life with his take on acoustic power folk. The undoubtedly deafening roaring along to hits such as 'Cassy O' and 'Blame It On Me' will cement Ezra's status as a much loved nation's sweetheart. His thunderous soul will be perfect for the people of Earlham Park to get down to and warm up for the evening's headline act.

 

Taylor Swift – No preview for Big Weekend would be complete without mentioning one Ms Taylor Swift. Having taken over the world with her record '1989' Taylor might just cause the biggest number of people shaking it off in one place at one time. Armed with more than three albums worth of hits and fan favourites, Taylor's arrival on Norwich soil is a very very big deal. 

You can check out the entire line up for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ewh8q9/performances/lfbj3d

And you can also check out a mash-up of all of the acts announced for the festival here to get you in the festival mood: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02pd4gj/big-weekend-mashup

Fifty thousand tickets to be released for Radio Ones Big Weekend Norwich 2015

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BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show host Nick Grimshaw today announced that Catfish and the Bottlemen and Years & Years will perform at Radio 1's Big Weekend 2015, taking place at Earlham Park, Norwich on 23 and 24 May.

They will join Taylor Swift and Florence and the Machine, on the line-up for the Europe’s biggest free ticketed festival which has an unrivalled reputation for attracting live performances from some of the biggest UK and international acts, bringing the nation together for a shared live music moment. Thousands of lucky music fans will be able to enjoy the 2015 event that will feature three stages including the Main Stage, In New Music We Trust Stage and the BBC Introducing Stage.

The full line-up, including headline artists, for Radio 1’s flagship music event will be revealed on Radio 1 next month.

Fifty thousand lucky music fans will be given the opportunity to get tickets across the two-day event. From Tuesday 31 March at 8am, tickets will be given away in pairs, with 25,000 available for each day. Tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Those hoping to obtain tickets will not need to register in advance – however demand for tickets is expected to massively exceed supply.

As with previous Big Weekends, tickets will be geographically weighted and an element of preference being given to local residents: 55 per cent of tickets will be reserved for those living within the area covered by Norwich City Council; 20 per cent will be reserved for those residents with a Norwich (NR) postcode, but outside the area covered by the City Council; 20 per cent will be reserved for residents in the surrounding East Anglian region with Ipswich (IP), Colchester (CO), Cambridge (CB) and Peterborough (PE) postcodes; with the remaining 5 per cent for other audiences across the UK.

Tickets will be available online at Radio 1’s website – http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ewh8q9  – and once booking opens, a link will appear to a secure site hosted by See Tickets, who are handling the ticketing process on the BBC’s behalf.

There will also be a phone number to call for those without internet access – 0844 858 9071 (calls cost 6p a minute plus standard network charges). Please note that calls to this number before 8am on Tuesday 31 March will not be answered but will still be charged. Phone lines are expected to be exceptionally busy and not everyone hoping to call is likely to get through. It is recommended that the quickest way to secure your ticket is to apply online at Radio 1’s website – http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ewh8q9

There is no charge for the event itself, but a handling fee of £3.50 per ticket will be applied to cover ticket handling, postage and other associated costs. Under 16s hoping to attend the event will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult who is at least 18 years old.

Radio 1’s Big Weekend is now in its 12th year and will be produced in partnership with Norwich City Council.

Ellie Goulding and John Newman join Taylor Swift at BST Hyde Park

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Global superstar and seven-time Grammy Award winner TAYLOR SWIFT was the first headliner announced for Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015 bringing The 1989 World Tour to the Great Oak Stage in London’s iconic park on Saturday 27 June

Joining the most talked about artist in the world will be very special guests ELLIE GOULDING and JOHN NEWMAN.

BRIT and MTV Europe awards winner ELLIE GOULDING is one the UK’s best selling female artist having sold almost 20 million records worldwide. Her last album ‘Halcyon/Halcyon Days’ topped the UK chart, went top ten in the US and she has just had a UK top ten single ‘Outside’ with Calvin Harris. Ellie was one of the special guests Taylor Swift brought onstage in Los Angeles during her RED tour; the pair duetted on Ellie’s hit ‘Anything Could Happen’ and also her UK #1 ‘Burn’.

British soul sensation JOHN NEWMAN is currently working on the follow up to his UK #1 album ‘Tribute’ which featured the number 1 single ‘Love Me Again’ and was a top ten hit all over the world. Like Ellie, John has also worked with Calvin Harris scoring a UK chart topper with ‘Blame’ earlier this year.

Taylor Swift is the essential pop star headlining the essential event of 2015. Her critically acclaimed sell out 2014 RED worldwide tour saw her play five sold out shows at London’s The O2. With career record sales in excess of 30 million albums and almost 80 million song downloads, Taylor is the only artist in history to have an album hit 1 million plus first-week sales in the US three times (with 2010's Speak Now, 2012's RED and 2014's 1989).

Taylor Swift to headline British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015

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Global superstar and seven-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift is the first headliner announced for Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015. The most talked about artist in the world, Taylor will take to the Great Oak Stage in London’s iconic Hyde Park on Saturday 27 June. Tickets are on general sale 9am on Monday 10 November.

‘1989’ is Taylor’s fifth studio album, inspired by the bold sounds of the 80’s, which debuted at no. 1 in the UK’s official album charts and across 95 countries worldwide on iTunes. Taylor’s infectious first single, ‘Shake It Off’, peaked at No.1 in the UK on iTunes, spending three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the radio airplay charts, ten consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the official singles chart and is nearing platinum certification.

Taylor Swift, is the essential pop star headlining the essential event of 2015. Her critically acclaimed sell out 2014 RED tour saw her play five sold out shows at London’s The O2. With career record sales in excess of 30 million albums and almost 80 million song downloads, she is the only female artist in music history (and just the fourth artist ever) to twice have an album (2010's Speak Now and 2012's RED) hit the 1 million plus first-week sales figure in the US. Taylor's album ‘RED’, released two years ago on Big Machine Records/Virgin EMI, has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide to date, including over half a million copies in the UK where it debuted at No. 1 on the official album charts, and more than 1.2 million copies in the U.S. in its first week (where it scored the highest first-week sales debut of any album in over a decade).

 

As the London date on her global tour, Taylor joins an illustrious group of headliners who have made Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park the best music experience of the summer. With a stellar line up of exciting artists to be announced soon as part of the event, Taylor’s show on Saturday 27 June is set to be an unmissable day out!

Jim King, Senior Vice President Live Events, says: 

"It is an absolute honour for AEG to announce Taylor Swift as our first headliner for 2015. As one of the World's biggest artists and one who never fails to deliver incredible live experiences for her fans, Taylor Swift performing on Hyde Park's Great Oak Stage will be a highlight of 2015 and we couldn't be more excited to welcome her back to London.”

Liz Mullins Director of Events at The Royal Parks, said: 

“Since it began in 2013 Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park has become a firm favourite in the events calendar, bringing a diverse range of entertainment and the world’s biggest artists to this iconic park. From The Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath, Lionel Richie to Tom Jones, comedy nights and family days there has been something for everyone. We are looking forward to working with our partners AEG Live to once again bring this truly unique event to Hyde Park.”