MADRID — The crowd gathered on the floor of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for Taylor Swift to take the stage. The hot, sticky air hung in anticipation of the Eras tour, while beads of sweat beaded on the floor. The ventilation shutters in the upper part of the arena were open, but with no wind, the 32°C temperature seemed like an unnecessary invitation to stay on stage for the Spanish concert.
Stadium staff offered free cups of water to the 67,000 fans, but most of those close enough to snap a photo or video of Swift near her stage didn’t take advantage of the offer. Fans hydrated just before entering the stadium and used the restrooms for the last time. Once in place for the concert to begin, there was no turning back as the orange and purple flaps of the parachute revealed Miss Americana.
At the 20th song of the night, Swift called out to her fans for help. “Ayuda por favor” (help me please) she said as she gyrated during “August” in the “Folklore”/“Evermore” combo set. Moments before, during “Betty,” she also asked workers to fetch water.
In nearly every European city, fans in person and live have noticed Swift asking staff for help for concertgoers. Swift has interrupted or paused her show at least 14 out of 31 times. Sometimes, she speaks out once. Other times, she points at fans multiple times during a single show. Twice, she has said she won’t continue playing music until fans get help. And if she says it but notices help is on the way, Swift thanks the staff.
The different songs in which she asks for help vary, but the most common song is the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” Here are some examples:
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In Stockholm on the third night, Swift asked fans if they were holding lights to get her attention or if anyone needed help before the acoustic portion.
In Scotland on the first night, the singer noticed a fan in need of help and strummed her guitar until workers arrived at the distressed fan. That’s when Swift got the most attention for her interlude, singing, “I’m gonna keep playing until somebody notices them.” Just before the acoustic set, she made an announcement before singing “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.”
In London on the first night, she asked for help during “All Too Well,” “Betty” and “Champagne Problems.”
In Dublin on the first night, she pointed out that a fan needed help, then thanked the staff while changing outfits and singing “Lavender Haze.”
In Amsterdam on the second night, she interrupted “All Too Well” three times, each time her voice rising with urgency.
On the second night in Switzerland, she said, “We need help over there, please… we need help over there… over there” before finishing the last chorus of “My Tears Ricochet.”
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Swift has asked for help at 45% of her European tour shows. However, she had to cut her US tour short last year (out of 53) when a security guard got too aggressive with a fan during her hit “Bad Blood.”
There is one major reason for these calls: seats.
In Europe, there are no assigned seats in the rugby and football stadiums visited by Swift’s monumental production, and it is common in large sold-out stadiums. Tickets may be cheaper, but the luxury of being able to leave your seat to go to the toilet or make concessions no longer exists.
A similar arrangement played out last November in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, amid brutal temperatures. Temperatures soared into the triple digits, triggering a heat warning. Fans reported having to leave their water bottles and umbrellas at the gates. Once inside the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium, fans complained about access to water and the $2 price tag for a cup. In the crowd, Ana Clara Benevides Machado was rushed to hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest caused by heat exhaustion.
Swift did what she could during the three-hour show, calling for help as fans chanted “water, water, water…” At one point during “All Too Well,” the Eras tour singer was seen grabbing a water bottle from staff on one side of the stage and walking to the other to throw a water bottle into the crowd.
“She has a lot of power,” Andrea Davis said shortly after Benevides’ death. Davis is the president and CEO of the Resiliency Initiative, a global consulting firm specializing in crisis management and risk mitigation planning. “During a concert, it’s not the artist’s job to hand out water. But unfortunately, it’s because she has a brand to protect and she really cares about her audience.”
The CEO of event organizer Time4Fun, Serafim Abreu, apologized in a video posted on social media: “We recognize that we could have taken alternative measures to all those we took, such as creating shaded areas outside the stadium, changing the schedule initially planned for the shows, putting more emphasis on allowing people to bring disposable cups of water.”
Swift invited Benevides’ family to her final show in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Since then, international shows have noticeably added access to water, and Swift has acted as a vigilante, interrupting parts of her shows and calling out to fans when they need help. She isn’t shy about speaking into her microphone, and has interrupted during many of her periods. The interjections occur between lines of songs, sometimes replacing her lyrics.
Fans are the first to alert stadium workers, first responders, or Swift herself. They brandish cellphone flashlights. Since the ground is packed with sardines, first responders will form a line and hold flashlights above their heads to weave through the crowd. If a fan needs to get out of the crowd, workers can push them out by carrying the fan or bring them to the open barrier between the stage and the crowd.
Each stadium reacts differently to the water distribution. In Stockholm, multi-spouted tubs were set up along the ground for fans to fill their cups. In Madrid, workers with red crates filled with water walked around to refill cups. In Switzerland, workers handed out bottles of iced water and gold and silver emergency blankets. Fans in large numbers blew mist onto the crowd.
The calls for help come in all temperatures. Swift got a hand cramp in Edinburgh, Scotland, from the frigid wind. It was in that same city that she continued to play guitar and sing and talk, claiming she could “do this all night.”
Seven cities remain open for sieges
Swift will be heading to Milan, Italy, for two concerts on Saturday and Sunday, where temperatures will range from 80 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 30 degrees Celsius), with a 62 percent chance of rain on the first night. The following six cities in Germany, Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom are expected to see temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius), according to AccuWeather.
Swift’s team did not respond to a request for comment on the constant interruptions at concerts. Her final “open-seat” stint on the Eras Tour will be during her five August shows at Wembley Stadium.
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