Heartbroken Taylor Swift reportedly reached out to the families of the Southport stabbing before she took to the stage at Wembley Stadium tonight.
This evening’s performance in London was said to be ‘the hardest concert of her career’ after three little girls were killed whilst at a Swift-themed dance class on the Merseyside.
Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, after the incident on July 29, while 10 others were also injured.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, was charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
As she took to the stage tonight returning to the UK for the first time since the tragedy, she appeared overwhelmed as she welcomed 92,000 fans to the final European leg of her Era’s World Tour.
While she did not mention the stabbing explicitly, the three innocent victims are said to have been in Swift’s thoughts, who is said to have been ‘shaken to the core’ by the incident.
‘Taylor may not have spoken about Elsie Dot, Alice and Bebe on stage but she has reached out to their families,’ an insider said tonight. ‘It is something that has weighed heavily on her mind.’
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Swift said she was at ‘a complete loss’ over the devastating attack.
‘The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock,’ the 34-year-old singer said following the incident.
‘The loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, the first response.
‘These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.’
Just days later, Swift was then forced to cancel three gigs in Vienna after police uncovered a foiled ISIS terror plot.
Swift has not commented publicly on the attempted attack but insiders said she was left ‘horrified’.
Tonight, however, as the queen of pop made a triumphant return to the stage in London for the final five shows of the European leg of her Eras tour, which has been running since last year.
To help her through the gig – which has been surrounded by tragedy – her long-term pal and co-collaborator Ed Sheeran, 33, made an appearance on the stage.
During her surprise song set, which Swift changes each gig, the singer-songwriters’ performed their song Everything has Changed from the 2012 album Red, followed by End Game from Reputation.
The duo then sang an emotional acoustic rendition of Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud while bright green lights shone out from the stadium.
Before he left the stage, Swift showered him with compliments and while hugging him described him as a ‘second brother’.
She said: ‘Now he is someone that plays Wembley like every week. This is regular for him and he works so hard. He’s probably so tired but he wanted to come play for you and do this for all of you.’
Speaking after the concert, another insider told the Sun: ‘Ed and Taylor have been friends for well over a decade and are very close. He has seen how the last few weeks have impacted her and wanted to be there to support her.
‘It meant the world to Taylor to have him there on such a tough night.’
Following tonight Swift will play four more shows in London, which will wrap up the European leg of her Eras World tour.
Tonight a steel ring was formed around the stadium made up of hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers and security guards clad in yellow jackets.
The London force reassured the public that they are ‘well prepared’ for the five gigs taking place over the next week, with additional ticket checks taking place.
The force has also put a stop to fans congregating outside the stadium to hear her music – often referred to as ‘tay-gating’ – telling those who do not have a ticket will be turned away from the area.
It comes after the foiled terror plot in Vienna, Austria, led to Swift cancelling all three concerts in the city.
The planned attack allegedly involved a car, knives and explosives and was reported to have targeted those gathered outside the stadium.
Recent events, however, did not put a dampener on Swifties’ sprits tonight, who were out in force, trading friendship bracelets, dousing themselves in glitter and dressing up in themed outfits.
Amongst the sea of Swifties were a number of famous faces, including Idris Elba and Amelia Dimoldenberg. When asked if he was excited to be there Elba said ‘Oh my god, yeah, can’t you tell?’ adding his favourite song was London Boy.
Elba, who stopped short of admitting he was a fully-fledged Swiftie, then traded bracelets with another fan Sienna Lorenz, 19, a student from Nottingham University.
‘I gave him a London Boy bracelet and it broke as soon as he touched it so I gave him the Style one and he said thank you,’ Ms Lorenz said. Ms Lorenz said
Swift opened the gig with Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince to screams and cheers from the crowd.
Breaking her silence in an emotional speech after Cruel Summer, the star said: ‘The way that you have chosen to welcome us. There are 92,000 of you, out here, with your hands in the air – screaming the words.
‘Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. We love you so much London,’ she added. ‘I know how much planning and energy and effort it took to come to these shows I really appreciate that.’
Later on in the show, Swift came out dressed for her Red Era wearing a t-shirt that said ‘a lot going on at the moment’. Her t-shirt references are often picked up by fans.
During her hit song 22, Swift gave her black hat away to a young blonde girl wearing a light blue jumper who was singing along to the lyrics. The two embraced for a few seconds before Swift gave her the hat.
Swifities arriving at the stadium earlier on in the day had insisted they felt safe and praised the efforts made by security.
‘After Vienna, it’s good to hear that they’ve upped the security’, student Brodie MacArthur, 23, said. ‘In the back of your head, there’s still worries. But there are a lot of people here to keep it safe.’
Katie Jackson, 18, who works in care and travelled from Leeds, was wearing an outfit inspired by Taylor Swift’s song Lover, made by her mother over several months.
Regarding security, Miss Jackson said: ‘They’ve put other things in place now and bumped up the security a bit more but you can’t let it stop you. They wouldn’t go ahead if it was going to be dangerous.’
Many Swifties said they felt safe because of the fan’s community which they say is filled with kind people.
One heartwarming moment caught on camera showed a police officer trading bracelets with a young Swiftie.
The little girl, wearing a pink princess dress was seen handing over a pink bracelet to the female officer, while the cop in return tied another bracelet onto the youngsters arm.
Trading friendship bracelets at Swift’s concerts has become a ritual with fans since the Eras Tour kicked off in Arizona last year, with Swifties spending hours making the beaded bands.
Little Sophie Hutton, who has been in Great Ormond Street hospital with cancer for 72 days, said she could not wait to see Swift perform tonight.
The schoolgirl from Sutton, who is still recovering, said: ‘They just called us up and said ‘would Sophie like to go’ and I was like, yes! I won a Taylor Swift colouring book and we have been wanting to go ever since
‘(Being in Great Ormond Street) it was quite scary and what got me through was colouring.’
Her mother Angela Hutton, called her daughter ‘super brave’ and said: ‘This is the best first place to go when you’re out of hospital. It’s absolutely fantastic.’
Meanwhile four siblings have travelled from all across the world to see Swift’s show tonight.
Kiki Heath, 34, has travelled from Canada, student Bailey Heath, 23, from Bristol, Indi Heath, 36, from Surrey and China Heath, 26, from Budapest.
‘When the doors open we will be sprinting,’ Indi said, adding that they would ‘run as fast as they can’.
The first person in the queue arrived at 11am on Wednesday to try and get ‘the best spot’ in the stadium.
Coco, 19, said the experience of her first Swift concert had already been ‘really fun’, adding that the atmosphere had been ‘really nice’ with fans making friendship bracelets together.
‘We wanted to come as early as we could, we wanted to be the first ones because you get the best view and you have the most space’, the teen who travelled down from Surrey said.
‘It’s way more relaxed. Lots of people find it uncomfortable to camp out but I think it’s really fun. You get to meet other people.
Some unlucky fans, however, were left furious after being trapped outside Wembley as the singer began her first set.
Swifties were left angered as they were refused entry to the stadium due to a maintenance issue after security ran out of wristbands.
Fans were pleading to be let in quicker so that they didn’t miss the start of the show. She sings Cruel Summer, The Man and Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince first.
A concert goer said: ‘It was chaos they wouldn’t let anyone in without a wristband. They would bring some up but run out and you had to wait ages each time before they got more.’
Lotty Evans, 18, from Warwick, who was huddled in the rain with her friends and family, said the heightened security at the concert had not dampened their spirits.
She said it had made her feel ‘secure’ and was what she expected in London.
Ms Evans was also not surprised Swift did not mention the attacks in Southport during her set.
She said: ‘I think it’s really difficult to discuss events like that especially in the context of somewhere like Wembley.
‘I can totally understand why she didn’t talk about that, having talked about it on social media, it must be a really difficult thing for her as well, that she’s associated with such a tragedy. I can totally understand why she didn’t, for sure.’
Asked how it felt to go to a Taylor Swift concert, she said: ‘I’ve followed Taylor Swift for years, I’ve known her since I was like seven, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to see her because I missed her when she did the (Reputation) tour.
‘This was my first Taylor Swift concert and what a good one to start with.’
She said the surprise songs, which featured Ed Sheeran duetting with the pop superstar, were her highlight of the evening.
Speaking outside Wembley Stadium following the Taylor Swift concert, Beth Jones, 16, said: ‘It’s such an amazing experience, I’ve been to quite a few concerts of hers before but this was a whole new level.’
Charlotte Jones, 52, added: ‘She has got so much stamina and so much kindness and love for her fans.’
They described the security in the stadium as ‘top tier’ and said they both felt safe during the concert.
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Source: CNN
