Taylor Swift had a special surprise for her fans during her Eras Tour stop at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on Saturday, July 6. The pop superstar performed “Mary’s Song” live for the first time in 16 years, seamlessly blending the 2006 deep cut into a mashup with “So High School” and “Everything Has Changed.” The performance was a nostalgic treat for the sold-out crowd, but it also carried a special significance thanks to Swift’s boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce.
Eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed the updated meaning behind the song’s closing lyrics: “I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89 / I’ll still look at you like the stars that shine / In the sky, oh my my my.” This lyrical Easter egg was a sweet nod to Kelce, who wears the number 87 jersey for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kelce was spotted in the audience, grinning from ear to ear during the performance.
Kelce has been a frequent presence at Swift’s shows as she tours through Europe. Last weekend, he was in Dublin for some performances, and the weekend before, he attended all three of her shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. On the third night in London, Kelce arrived with Swift’s parents, Scott and Andrea. He even made a surprise appearance on stage during the concert, dressed in a full tuxedo and top hat as part of her transition skit for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”
On a new episode of the New Heights podcast, Kelce talked about his big debut and having to carry his girlfriend off stage. “I was up there with three professionals. You can do no wrong with Taylor on stage. [I kept telling myself], ‘Do not drop the baby. Hold onto the baby,’” he said. “She found the perfect part of the show to put me in. It was, like, the safest option.”
The Amsterdam shows marked a long-awaited return for Swift, who hadn’t performed in the Netherlands since her 1989 World Tour in 2015. The “Karma” singer made the most of her three-night run at the Johan Cruyff Arena, delivering a career-spanning, jam-packed set. On Friday, July 5, Swift surprised fans with the live debut of “imgonnagetyouback,” intertwining the track with Reputation highlight “Dress.” Fans were also treated to an emotional medley of “You Are In Love” and “Cowboy Like Me.”
Next up, Swift will take her show to Zürich, Switzerland, for two nights before concluding the European leg with five highly anticipated dates in London.
Swift, 34, surprised the sold-out crowd at the Eras Tour show in Amsterdam by performing a mashup of “Mary’s Song,” “So High School,” and “Everything Has Changed” during the secret songs segment. At the end of the mashup, Swift sang the closing lyrics to the 2006 classic “Mary’s Song,” which has taken on a new meaning since she started dating Kelce: “I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89 / I’ll still look at you like the stars that shine / In the sky, oh my my my.”
The “Fortnight” singer had a big smile on her face as she performed the song for the first time since 2008, and fans cheered as they heard those lyrics because the Kansas City Chiefs player’s jersey number is 87 and Swift was born in 1989 (and has an album named 1989).
Kelce, 34, who was also born in 1989, was present for this special moment. He has become a fixture at Swift’s record-breaking stadium tour and even joined her onstage for a show in London last month. Among the audience members who experienced the moment live were Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes. The couple stopped in Amsterdam during their European vacation, which also included Spain, London, and Switzerland.
With the football players in the crowd, Swift switched up the lyrics once again to “Karma” to mention “the guy on the Chiefs,” which she sings whenever Kelce is in the crowd.
These shows, which come halfway through the European leg of the tour, are the first time the performer has visited the Netherlands on tour since the 1989 World Tour in 2015, after skipping over the country for the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. Swift’s three concerts in the Dutch capital follow a weekend of tour dates in Dublin in late June, where the star dealt with a minor stage malfunction like a pro and played host to Kelce and actress Julia Roberts, both of whom were spotted in the VIP tent.
Responding to a viral clip of Kelce and Roberts, one lip reader said she believed Roberts told the football star, “I’m so unusually happy for you guys, and I don’t mean to make you nervous, but it makes me so happy.”
Swift will next bring her three-and-a-half-hour act to Zürich, Switzerland, where the star is set to play two back-to-back nights on Tuesday and Wednesday. Later this summer, she’ll close out the European leg with five dates in London, where she already made waves with three buzzy shows in June, complete with selfies with royals, onstage moments with Kelce, and swarms of celebrity attendees.
Source: Billboard, People
