Taylor Swift performs on stage during the Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. Kate Green/Getty ImagesCNN —
Taylor Swift returned to the stage at London’s Wembley Stadium on Thursday, just over a week after three of her Eras Tour concerts in Vienna were canceled when police in the Austrian city thwarted a terror attack plot targeting one of her shows.
Swift did not acknowledge the situation at Thursday’s show as some anticipated. She began the concert, as usual, by welcoming the audience with a short speech about how much of a “delight and a thrill” it is to perform for them.
The superstar has also yet to make a comment about the matter on her social media. CNN has reached out to Swift’s representative for comment.
During the acoustic set toward the end of the show, Ed Sheeran joined Swift on stage for a series of songs, including “Everything Has Changed,” a song on Swift’s “Red” album on which Sheeran is a featured artist, and “Endgame” from her “Reputation” album. They also sang Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud.”
Swift last performed her concert in front of audiences in Warsaw, Poland in the beginning of August. She was supposed to begin a three-show stop in Vienna on August 9 when Austrian authorities said they had prevented an ISIS-inspired plot to attack one of her concerts during that leg.
Three teenagers have since been detained in connection with the investigation and are suspected of plotting a suicide attack.
Investigators found a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and over $20,000 in counterfeit cash at the home of the main suspect, a 19-year-old ISIS sympathizer who had been radicalized online, according to Franz Ruf, public security director at Austria’s interior ministry.
Thursday’s concert kicked off the first of five shows Swift is scheduled to perform at Wembley Stadium, the run serving as her final European tour stop before she heads back to North America.
The band Paramore opened for Swift on Thursday, with supporting opening act Sofia Isella. Holly Humberstone, Suki Waterhouse, Maisie Peters and Raye will respectively fill that role over the remainder of the London tour stop.
Paramore, who was set to open for Swift at the three Vienna shows, did not address the cancellations or terror threat while on stage on Thursday either.
CNN previously reached out to representatives for Paramore and each supporting artist for comment, and have not heard back.
Heightened safety measures
With safety and security top of mind following the Vienna cancellations, both Wembley Stadium and London authorities have publicly outlined their plan to keep concertgoers safe.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News in an interview last week that the capital city has “a huge amount of experience in policing these events” and that they’re “never complacent.”
Recalling the “many lessons” learned from the horrific 2017 Manchester Arena attack, which left 22 people dead and injured hundreds at an Ariana Grande concert, Khan said that they would be “working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely.”
CNN has reached out to a representative for Grande for comment.
“London plays host to a significant number of very high profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience,” a spokesperson for the London Metropolitan Police told CNN in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement continued: “There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review.”
The Met Police are working closely with the venue’s security teams and other partners to ensure that the appropriate safety measures are in place for the shows, the statement added.
Wembley Stadium also outlined on their official website that the venue will “collaborate closely” with police, the Safety Advisory Group and relevant authorities “to ensure that the stadium’s security protocols meet the highest standards.”
Wembley Stadium — which already hosted Swift for Eras Tour shows in June — also specified that people who do not have tickets to the concerts are not allowed to stand outside of the venue, outlawing a tradition that many Swifties have participated in at various venues throughout the tour.
