Taylor Swift is set to return to Wembley Stadium tonight, kickstarting five nights of shows following three sell-out performances in June.
However, it’s not just the Swiftie’s preparing for the highly anticipated event, but also a dedicated team of employees working to ensure the event runs as smoothly as possible for the 90,000 attendees expected on each night.
Hours of work from a varied work force has gone in to bringing the magic of Taylor Swift to London.
From British Sign Language interpreters to medical assistance and crowd safety workers, there’s a team of individuals who have put in countless hours to ensure the concerts are safe, accessible, and enjoyable for all.
Talking exclusively with FEMAIL, the heroes behind the scenes have revealed how the extraordinary event comes to life.
As Taylor Swift returns to Wembley Stadium tonight, the workers behind the event have exclusively revealed to FEMAIL how they bring the event to life
Interpreters at Wembley Stadium work hard to ensure that the Eras Tour is open to all attendees.
‘Preparing for a show of this scope, including the support acts, requires over 50-100 hours of rehearsals,’ British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreter, Marie Pascall explained.
Marie continued: ‘As BSL doesn’t have a direct sign for every word, the goal is to visually represent the music.
‘Interpreters capture the emotion of the music, not just the literal meaning incorporating body movement and rhythm into the performance.’
Marie and her colleagues allow deaf fans to fully experience the magic of live music.
On working at Wembley Stadium during The Eras Tour, Marie explained that fatigue can affect communication quality. Therefore, because the show includes a varied three-hour performance, two interpreters are used.
Marie added: ‘Taylor Swift’s music spans a range of genres, from the storytelling in folklore and evermore to her pop hits.
‘Interpreting for rap or rock artists can be more challenging due to the speed and complexity of their lyrics, as well as the intensity of the sound.
Senior Events Manager Ross McMeekin (pictured) is the main point of contact for concert promoters
Trea Boyce (pictured) is a Customer Engagement Manager at the event, and travels five hours from Hastings to help out
Mark Cutler (pictured) is the Stadium Medical Operations Manager, dealing with a range of cases from people who have suffered heart attacks to people who have dislocated an ankle falling over
‘A unique challenge is that artists often don’t provide setlists in advance, requiring interpreters to be prepared for anything.
‘Songs like Shake It Off are a blast because of the audience participation—they always get an amazing reaction.’ Marie concluded: ‘I’m now a converted Swiftie.’
Mark Cutler works tirelessly as the Stadium Medical Operations Manager, dealing with a range of cases from people who have suffered heart attacks to people who have dislocated an ankle falling over.
On an event day, his team can be supported by up to 200 medical staff including first aiders, nurses, paramedics and doctors pulled in from various agencies, hospitals and medical centres across London, and can respond to up to 100 incidents, typically, on any given event day.
Mark explains ‘During an event day, Wembley Stadium is one of the safest places to be, as we have so many trained staff on site. You are over 50 per cent more likely to survive a cardiac arrest at Wembley than you are if it happened to you in the street.
Our work is ensuring people have the safest trip to Wembley as possible. People don’t come to Wembley to end up in hospital. That is not the experience they want, so if we can treat them on site and get them back out there safely, we will.’
The 34-year-old singer will perform to as many as 90,000 Swifties on each night during her Wembley shows
It is Ross McMeekin’s role as Senior Events Manager to be the main point of contact for concert promoters.
Ross, who has worked for months to bring Taylor’s shows to Wembley Stadium, considers himself lucky for securing the role.
He said: ‘With my job, I am lucky enough to be right in the thick of it when the event is going on.
‘I get to see the spectacle, excitement and enjoyment going on inside the bowl alongside what’s happening behind the scenes. Seeing the joy on the fans faces makes all the effort and the long hours’ worth it.’
Commenting on the June shows, he added: ‘I ended up with quite a few friendship bracelets. The screams when she first came out on stage are probably some of the loudest, I have heard for any concert.’
Meanwhile, Trea Boyce is a Customer Engagement Manager for The Eras Tour, and travels from Hastings to Wembley every event day, a five-hour round trip on a good day. But for Trea, the journey is worth it. She said: ‘I do it because I love it.’
The customer engagement team respond to any enquiries or assistance a guest might have when they come to Wembley Stadium for an event; anything from providing a chaperone wheelchair service or something as simple as providing information about the nearest accessible toilets.
She continued: ‘The Taylor Swift shows were very busy primarily because everyone was very excited and didn’t want to miss one minute of the action.
The Love Story singer from Pennsylvania is returning to Wembley Stadium for five nights of sold out shows
Trea works as part of the customer engagement team, responding to any enquiries or assistance a guest might have when they come to Wembley Stadium
Jim Harkness (pictured) is the External Crowd Safety Manager at Wembley Stadium, ensuring everyone’s safety outside the stadium
‘We had a couple of people have panic attacks who just needed help finding a suitable space to calm down and relax, and a few lost children who we were able to quickly reunite with their guardian.
‘I feel lucky to have played a small part in delivering one of the all-time great shows at Wembley Stadium.’
Elsewhere, Jim Harkness, who works as an External Crowd Safety Manager, is responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety outside the stadium.
A stalwart of Wembley events, he said the Swift shows have been among the most fun to work at in all the time he has worked at Wembley.
‘There was such a good atmosphere every night,’ Jim said. He added: ‘The fans were all very compliant and very patient as many of them started to queue up very early.
‘I wish I could have Taylor Swift fans at every event – It would make my job so much easier.’