Taylor Swift masterfully handled an unexpected stage malfunction during her Saturday, June 29, Eras Tour concert in Dublin.
In the middle of Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department set, she sang the opening of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” on a riser opposite backup dancer Jan Ravnik. While the stage was supposed to lower the pop star back down before the next verse, it did not budge on Saturday. Per social media footage, Ranvik walked over to Swift and fireman-carried her off the malfunctioning set and onto the flat ground.
Swift continued the remainder of the song without missing a beat or addressing the issue.
Saturday was Swift’s second of three concerts at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, where she even praised the country’s history of exemplary storytelling.
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“Folklore, in general, just belongs in Ireland,” she gushed moments earlier during the concert, referring to her 2020 Grammy-winning album. “How I imagined the album world looking [was like] Ireland. Storytelling with lots of different characters. You guys have that on lock, too. That’s very Irish, the storytelling.”
Swift, however, did not write Folklore or its sister album, Evermore, in the Emerald Isle and needed to use her imagination to craft the characters. The 2020 LPs were Swift’s first albums that were not purely autobiographical.
jan helping taylor after the stage malfunctioned before TSMWEL! taylor reacted so fast, i would be standing there like
pic.twitter.com/ntpUHPAi4o
— kaia (@kaiamal13) June 29, 2024
“When I was making this album, it was two days into the pandemic that I started Folklore, I wasn’t in Ireland,” she said on Saturday. “So I had to create an album where the imaginary world that I pretended to go to every single day while I was writing it. I gotta be honest, kinda seemed like Ireland, so we’re back to where they belong. Folklore belongs with you guys.”
Swift’s acoustic setlist this weekend also paid homage to Ireland. During her Friday, June 28, concert, she mashed up “State of Grace” with “You’re on Your Own Kid” before performing a second medley of “Sweet Nothing” and “Hoax.” Not only is “Hoax” one of the Folklore tracks that belongs in Ireland, but “Sweet Nothing” features a lyrical shout-out to the county of Wicklow.
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Swift played two more mashups on Saturday: “The Albatross” and “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” on guitar before “This Love” and “Ours” on piano.
Swift performs a third concert in Dublin on Sunday, June 30, before bringing her Eras shows to other European cities. The summer run concludes in London at Wembley Stadium for five concerts in August — she played three shows at Wembley earlier this month, which featured boyfriend Travis Kelce’s stage debut — before a slate of fall shows in Canada and the United States.
