Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Lisbon descended into chaos on Friday as furious fans tore down a fence after waiting for hours in the blistering heat.
The Blank Space hitmaker, 34, kicked off the European leg of her Eras Tour on May 9 in Paris before heading to Portugal this weekend.
However, Taylor’s first show in the country did not get off to a great start as eager fans were left waiting outside for 45 minutes to enter the stadium.
One fan who travelled to the Estádio da Luz stadium to see Taylor said: ‘I’m just sad, I’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars to see Taylor. Please. I just want to be inside.’
Another fan who lives in Amsterdam and came to the concert with three of her friends claimed they waited in line for an hour and a half before getting sent outside.
She said: ‘We’ve been waiting in line for an hour and a half and we just got all the way to the stadium and then got sent all the way outside,
‘We’re herded cattle. There’s absolute chaos.’
It was reported that 200 fans broke through security gates and forced their way into the stadium, terrifying the security staff.
Before the concert, massive queues of fans could be seen starting to form outside the arena due to the delay as frustrated fans proceeded to yell at staff: ‘Let us in!’
Gates were due to open to those with standard tickets at 4pm, however, it was reported that the fans weren’t allowed in until 4:45pm.
A staff member at the stadium said: ‘There were loads of people pushing everyone. They tore the fence down.
‘There were only two security guards outside so extra security had to be deployed to deal with the rowdy fans.
‘They started to yell ”let us in, let us in”.
‘There was a lot of security. The fans were hysterical because of the delay.’
The staff member also added that their co-workers felt quite ‘disturbed’ and ‘scared’ by the incident.
They added: ‘Everyone was pushing and screaming, the staff are quite disturbed and scared by the incident.
‘I don’t know what caused the delay but we had to wait for the VIP guests to get inside while other fans were forced to wait.’
Rock band Paramore opened the concert after 7pm, however, the tickets stated the show was supposed to begin at 6pm.
Temperatures in the stadium were also very high at 66 degrees when Taylor finally took to the stage at 8pm.
Before the concert, security had a strict rule of no water bottles being allowed into the arena.
However, as fans were left to wait for long periods in the heat, they made a last-minute change to allow water bottles into the open-roofed stadium.
According to USA Today Entertainment, Taylor took to the stage and didn’t apologise to fans for the delay or wait and her team has reportedly not responded to an email when asked about the late start.
Instead, she thanked her fans by saying,: ‘This is my first time getting to come to Portugal, and this is how you welcome us,
‘When I first walked out in the show and I looked out and saw the crowd, you took my breath away. My heart was beating so fast. You just made me feel so loved. Thank you so much.’
Taylor is set to perform one more time in Lisbon before she heads to Madrid to perform at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu stadium on May 29.
It comes after Taylor returned to her £1.4billion Eras Tour in style earlier this month as she unveiled new The Tortured Poets Department outfits on stage in Paris.
Fans went wild as the global megastar pulled out all the stops with her high-energy performance, as well as treating the audience to an edited setlist – with six songs replaced by six new tracks from TTPD – and new costumes during the three-hour show.
Taylor strutted out in a white taffeta Vivienne Westwood dress with a corseted bodice, dramatic hip draping and her own lyrics ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life’ scrawled down the skirt.
Before performing The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, a track from her new album based on her romance with Matty Healy, she wrapped a matching white trench coat around her.
Later in the show, Taylor showed off her incredible figure in an orange and pink jeweled bodysuit which she teamed with matching knee-high boots as she performed at the Paris La Defense Arena in France.
Leaving her blonde tresses loose, the Cruel Summer hitmaker accessorised with a chunky gold chain necklace and applied a bold swipe of red lipstick.
She seemed in high spirits as she put on the epic show for the crowd while singing into her dazzling blue microphone.
Taylor rocked the new bodysuit while singing her 2012 hits We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble.
The superstar later added a dazzling red oversized blazer over the number as she was joined on stage by her backing dancers to perform her 2019 track The Man.
Taylor, who has been praised by fans for her outfit changes for each Era during the concert, later slipped into a black and silver tasselled mini dress.
She opted for a pair of black sequin knee highs as she rocked out on her dazzling silver guitar.
Fans went wild over her first European performance, with one penning on X: ‘She just blew our minds’;
‘I cannot get over the fact that in the middle of a tour she managed to completely add an entire new section with choreography + props + costumes…. DURING !!! THE !!! MIDDLE !!! OF !!! THE !!!! TOUR????? literally no one works harder than Taylor Swift’;
‘That costume change?? The visuals?? The dancing?? The marching band?? Taylor fu**ing Swift’
To make space for songs from her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, the hitmaker has cut several favourites from her three-hour setlist.
Fans have taken to X to share their dismay at the changes which sees favourites including Tolerate It Long Live, The Archer and The 1 replaced with songs from her latest album which met lukewarm reviews.
One person wrote: ‘Woke up to the worst news that Taylor Swift has cut Long Live from her set. I walked down the aisle to that song last month. Please do it in London.’
Another said: ‘Taylor has cut songs from Evermore in favour of songs from her new album, WHICH I DO NOT LIKE.’
Ticket sale revenues are projected to hit around $1.4 billion which would make ‘The Eras’ the most profitable tour ever ahead of Sir Elton John’s lengthy farewell tour which spanned several years and brought in around $939 million.
