carnations you had thought were roses, that’s us

Don’t you ever grow up

Don’t you ever grow up

Just stay this little

Oh darling

Don’t you ever grow up

Cardiff, United Kingdom 18/06/24

Taylor Swift before playing Lover in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024. 

Taylor Swift before playing All Too Well (10 Minute Version) in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024. 

"Are we enjoying the Red era so far, Cardiff? You know, this tour, the Eras Tour, is by far my favourite tour I’ve ever gotten to be a part of in my entire life. And you know, I think that if I were to write down the reasons for that, first of all I would say, never in my life did I even dream that I’d ever get to perform for a crowd this generous, like ever. Like, looking out into this crowd tonight, right, you guys, you got your hands in the air, you’re dancing, you’re in the moment, you’re not just singing the words to every song, but screaming them—it’s magical for us onstage when you show up like that, you know? And I know a lot of people here are from Wales, am I right? We also have a lot of people here who traveled to be at the show. Am I right about that too? So like, the amount of effort that you put in to just be with us tonight, right? You got tickets so far in advance, you decided to plan your travel, your outfits—because I know, I know you did some planning for the outfits, because you look good, I’ve been seeing it, it’s not gone unnoticed. But I think another reason why I love this tour so much is because I’ve been touring since I was like, 15 years old, and I’ve had so many fun moments on those tours that I’ve gotten to do. But with this show, we really took all of my favourite memories from those tours and put them in one show. And so it feels like we were all there for all of it. And I know a lot of you were supporting me for so many years now, and I just can’t thank you enough. And there is one more song from Red that I do want to play for you, if you happen to have about 10 minutes to spare?"

Taylor Swift before playing betty in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024. 

"And so we have brought the folklore cabin to Cardiff! So, folklore, folklore is an album that I’m always going to be so proud of, because I started writing—I started out writing—you guys are so sweet about folklore right now. This is so nice! So, I started writing this album about two days into the pandemic, so it really was more than an album for me. It was an entire like, escape mechanism, and you know, because when I would go into this world where I was writing this album, I would just pretend my life was totally different than it was. I think a lot of us do this when we escape into reading a good book or watching a great movie, like we just pretend that we have a different life. And that’s when I did whenever I would write for folklore. You know, I would pretend that I was like, this, I don’t know, this very poetic woman wandering through nature, wearing like, a lacy Victorian nightgown, holding a candle. Do you see the vision? You know, somewhere in the Welsh countryside? And I just kind of, and I pictured, in my fantasy, I lived here, in this cabin. Yup, not great in the winter, not good insulation, but aesthetically pleasing. And when I would be writing this album, I just decided I was going to do it differently. I thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to create characters this time, and these characters are going to feel feelings, and fall in love, and break up, and betray each other.’ And so that’s what I did, and I really loved it, and then I’ve just been toying with doing that ever since, but folklore was really the first time I committed to that idea, of just being the narrator instead of being the character. And as the narrator, I wrote a story about a girl named Betty!"

Taylor Swift before playing champagne problems in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024. 

Taylor Swift before playing I Forgot That You Existed (guitar) mashup with This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024. 

"Welcome to the acoustic section! So the acoustic set is a trend, a little tradition thing we started on the Eras Tour where I like to try to challenge myself to just do different things every single night—something different on guitar, something different on piano. And every single show, it’s unique, and so I spend a lot of my time trying to plan these things, and trying to figure out what you might like, and basically the loudness of you singing lets me know if I’ve done it correctly. You know?"

Taylor Swift before playing I Hate It Here (piano) mashup with the lakes (piano) in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 18th June 2024.