Taylor Swift fans have been left baffled after the singer revealed she had a picture of Cardiff Bay in her Eras Tour ‘cleaning cart’.
The Love Story singer, 34, had posted a farewell carousel of images to celebrate the end of her record-breaking world tour on Instagram at the weekend – but eagle-eyed Swifties were quick to spot an unexpected detail.
Despite playing her final shows in Vancouver, Canada, Taylor appeared to have a print of Cardiff Bay in the ‘cleaning cart’ she’s transported to the stage in at the beginning of each show.
In her Eras Tour book released at the end of last month, Taylor had a different picture of the Welsh capital in the cart, and had later swapped it out for a print by Welsh artist Rachel Rasmussen.
Taylor only performed one show in Cardiff during her 149-show tour, back on June 18. It made for the only tour stop that had a single show.
Fans were left even more bewildered by the nod to the city as Taylor had declared the event the ‘first time’ she’d performed in Wales, despite featuring in BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend in Swansea in May 2018.
This became a running joke among fans – especially as Taylor performed ‘I Hate It Here’ from The Tortured Poets Department for the first time in the surprise songs setlist.
‘I have so many questions, why is Cardiff Bay permanently in the cart?’ one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Taylor Swift fans have been left baffled after the singer revealed she had a picture of Cardiff Bay in her Eras Tour ‘cleaning cart’
Taylor is known for leaving ‘Easter Eggs’ about future album releases in her social media posts, so it wasn’t long before Swifties began to suspect she had an ulterior motive.
Fans noted that June 18 is also the birthday of celebrity music manager, Scooter Braun – with whom she’s had a major business dispute over the masters of her songs.
They wrote: ‘Am I going absolutely mental or is the Cardiff Bay picture still in the cleaning cart?’;
‘It’s still Cardiff Bay but a different photo of the bay I have no idea what’s happening but as a Cardiff resident I am in fact weeping’;
‘6/18 must be significant’;
‘I wonder what significance Cardiff bay is to her then..’;
‘Frankly very relatable to be obsessed with Cardiff but I need to know why Taylor Swift is too’;
‘My theory on why taylor swift has an artwork of cardiff in the cleaning cart is simply because she said it was her first time in wales (it wasn’t) and she was so embarrassed she made sure she would never forget about wales again (as she should)’;
‘Taylor is sooo funny singing I Hate It Here at the one and only show in Cardiff and then permanently having a photo of Cardiff hanging in her silly little cleaning cart which one is it Taylor?????’;
In her Eras Tour book released at the end of last month, Taylor had a different picture of the Welsh capital in the cart
Taylor only performed one show in Cardiff during her 149-show tour, back on June 18. Pictured: Stock image
Taylor is pictured performing in Cardiff on June 18 – and her 1989 set outfit gave a moving nod to Wales
And fans were quick to note that Taylor had even bought a print of the Welsh capital
Artist Rachel Rasmussen could not believe that her ‘very own painting of Cardiff’ was just inches away from the pop star
‘why does she still have a pic of cardiff in vancouver???!’;
‘It’s actually even more confusing bc she’s replaced the picture of cardiff with a painting of cardiff.’
Taylor had kicked off the show welcoming her fans and saying in Welsh ‘Croeso i’r daith Eras!’ which translates to ‘Welcome to the Eras Tour’.
Then during a rendition of break up hit We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together she passed her microphone to a dancer who exclaimed ‘Ych-a-fi’ – a Welsh term to describe something disgusting, delighting fans.
She later gushed over the audience saying: ‘This crowd in Cardiff is one for the books. This crowd is different, you’re another level!’
For her surprise songs, she sang ‘I Hate It Here’ – the first time she’d performed it live and ‘The Lakes’ from folklore.
She also played an acoustic mash up of ‘I Forgot That You Existed’ from Lover with ‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’ from Reputation.
Taylor is known for leaving ‘Easter Eggs’ about future album releases in her social media posts, so it wasn’t long before Swifties began to suspect she had an ulterior motive
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Behind the scenes of Taylor Swift's $1billion Eras Tour as it finally ends after two years
‘This is my very first time getting to play a show in Wales and look at this,’ she said.
‘Look what you’ve done, you’ve gone and made me feel so amazing.’
Taylor closed her three-hour show by saying ‘diolch o galon’, meaning thank you from the heart.
She also wore a red and green two-piece for her 1989 set – which many suspected was a nod to the country’s colours.
Taylor has made history after grossing a record $2 billion in ticket sales for her career-spanning, 21-month Eras Tour, which consisted of 149 shows in 21 countries.
In addition to having the highest-grossing tour of all time for a second year in a row, the pop star, 34, became the first to have a $2 billion tour.
The 14-time Grammy winner sold a whopping $2,077,618,725 in tickets, according to the New York Times, which confirmed the number with Swift’s camp after she took her final bow at BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday night.
Last year, her mammoth tour, which packed stadiums and inspired Swifties to make countless friendship bracelets, became the first to cross the billion-dollar mark.
Taylor Swift has made history after grossing a record $2 billion in ticket sales for her career-spanning, 21-month Eras Tour, which consisted of 149 shows in 21 countries; seen on August 15, 2024
In addition to having the highest-grossing tour of all time for a second year in a row, the pop star, 34, became the first to have a $2 billion tour (pictured on November 14, 2024)
The 14-time Grammy winner sold a whopping $2,077,618,725 in tickets, according to the New York Times, which confirmed the number with Swift’s camp after she took her final bow at BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday night
As a reward to her team, Swift quietly gave out more than ‘$197 million in bonuses to everyone working on her tour — including truck drivers, caterers, instrument techs, merch team, lighting, sound, production staff and assistants, carpenters, dancers, band, security, choreographers, pyrotechnics, riggers, hair, make-up, wardrobe, physical therapists and video team,’ according to People.
This comes over a year after it was revealed that she shelled out $100,000 in bonuses for her truck drivers, who were responsible for hauling her equipment around the country amid the US leg of her tour.
Per TMZ, she handed out the huge six-figure bonuses the workers ahead of her Santa Clara, California.
At the time, the publication stated that there were around 50 production truck drivers taking part in the US leg of the tour, meaning that if she did indeed pay $100k in bonuses, she would have written a check for upward of $5 million.
In October, the Cruel Summer hitmaker officially became the world’s richest female musical artist, with a a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
The Fortnight artist – who has a real estate portfolio estimated at about $125 million, Forbes said – achieved the financial feat of becoming a billionaire solely through her musical endeavors, royalties and concerts.
Amid a business dispute with music magnate Scooter Braun over her catalogue, Swift recorded new versions of her material on her first six records and began releasing them three years ago.
The results have been wildly profitable, with the Eras Tour creating such high demand that the U.S. Congress began making inquiries to Ticketmaster in regards to its take on concert ticket sales.
Over the summer, Pollstar editor Andy Gensler predicted that Swift’s Eras Tour was on track to reach $2 billion, excluding resale inflation and the hundreds of millions she’s made from merchandise.
‘She is the torchbearer for the live industry,’ Gensler told Variety. ‘It’s nothing we’ve ever seen before, and it’ll be a long time before we see it again.’