BRYONY GORDON: Taylor Alison Swift has done the impossible in this deeply polarised age and united the generations – from Gen Z to Millennials and Boomers – in sparklingly spectacular glory. It is the best night of our lives…

If Taylor Swift blooms from the petals of a giant flower in the middle of the stage at Murrayfield Stadium, it’s hard to know who’s more excited: my 11-year-old daughter, now covered from head to toe in the very expensive Eras Tour merchandise we’ve just had one and a half stood in line for hours for, or for me, her 40-something mother, covered in HRT patches.

Like about 95 percent of the record-breaking crowd, we’re both covered in sequins. Indeed, it’s unlikely that the home of Scottish rugby has ever seen anything like this: 73,000 people, mostly women, dressed in a variety of outfits so fabulous they make a Pride parade look subdued.

As the sun peeks out from behind the clouds, the wind-whipped audience is transformed into human glitterballs, their clothes reflecting light off each other, a special effect almost as spectacular as the fireworks that close the show, an epic three and half an hour later.

Bryony Gordon and her daughter Edie arrive covered in sequins for the show

“This is just the wildest way to welcome a girl to your town,” beams the new Queen of the North, wearing the first of several sequined bodysuits herself. ‘I will be your host tonight. My name is Taylor.’

The sound can certainly be heard as far away as the Outer Hebrides. And I’m not ashamed to say that a lot of it seems to come from me.

It’s been a long time since I screamed like that at a concert. Almost 30 years, when I was queuing outside the London Arena to see Take That at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. I thought the days of hysterically singing along to a pop star were long gone, but then along came 34-year-old Taylor Alison Swift, a one-woman force of nature who has done the impossible in this deeply polarized era and swept the generations in sparkling spectacular glory.

Here on the Eras Tour there are no members of Gen Z, no Millennials, no Boomers. There is just one united mass of Swifties. Little Swifties (those who, like my daughter, weren’t even born when her fourth album, Red, was released in 2012), Single Swifties (people in their 20s who came of age for albums 1989 and Reputation), Smug Married Swifties ( their favorite album is Lover), Seriously Exhausted Swifties (my target audience) and Senior Swifties (those are the ones old enough to be Tay-Tay’s mother).

There are also quite a few heavily pregnant Swifties, who don’t let the prospect of giving birth stop them from visiting their queen.

“I bought the tickets a year ago, so obviously I had no idea the concert would take place around my due date,” said one woman, whose belly was also covered in sequins. ‘Obviously my husband was a little concerned about my arrival, but I was willing to take the risk of giving birth in Murrayfield if it meant seeing the Eras Tour.’

“This is just the wildest way to welcome a girl to your town,” beams the new Queen of the North, as she rocks the first of several sequined bodysuits

Taylor Swift captivates the crowd at Murrayfield as she sings her heart out in a white ball gown

Families had gathered for an intergenerational night out. Sophie Bowyer, 30, had traveled from Leeds with her mother, Claire, 54, and her grandmother, Gillian, 82. Gillian had just had a hip replacement, but she wasn’t letting something as small as a new joint stop her. of attending.

“When Sophie asked me to come I was absolutely delighted,” said Gillian, wearing a Taylor T-shirt. ‘I love her music and I think it’s so brilliant that she writes it all herself. She is so inspiring, and I just love seeing so many generations of women coming together and lifting each other up.”

“Some might say it’s a bit of a cult,” Sophie laughed, “but it’s actually a community built up over seventeen years. The atmosphere here tonight is just incredible. I didn’t worry about taking my grandmother with her new hip because I knew everyone would be so nice and supportive, and they also helped us get her up and down the stairs so that she can do a dance.’

Swift recognizes the overwhelmed audience members who need help, and sends security their way; she congratulates a couple who got engaged during Champagne Problems

She’s endeared herself to her fans by taking over her former record company and re-recording all her music on her own terms – a struggle referenced on this sequin T-shirt

We all know by now that Swift creates miniature economies wherever her Eras Tour shows up. But she also creates miniature associations, where people are kind and happy and don’t worry about standing in line for hours to get something. It’s hard to imagine any other group of fans navigating the epically long lines to enter the stadium with such grace, but for Swifties, the camaraderie in the lines is as much a part of the experience as the concert itself.

Women who have spent hours making Taylor-Swift-themed friendship bracelets trade with each other and discuss which “eras” they are most excited to see tonight. This is what’s at the heart of Swift’s global appeal: She’s an artist, yes, but more than that, she’s a sisterhood.

There are few men here tonight – so few that most of the men’s rooms in the stadium have been repurposed for women – and many of the attendees are wearing jerseys from the American football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, with Swift’s friend’s name on them. (and Chiefs player) Travis Kelce.

More often than not, men feel the need to question her popularity. When she was named Time’s Person of the Year last December, the Internet was flooded with people announcing that they weren’t getting Swift, without even considering for a minute the possibility that that wasn’t the point – that she was for a exists for a while. large group of people other than them.

Swift understands her fans in a way that few others do. Her music, about heartbreak and shame and radiant when you just want to hide, appeals to millions of women who want to dance to songs that ask them to be themselves, rather than sexy or desirable. That she’s done all this while refusing to line the pockets of the usual record company executives (to thwart the profits of a private equity firm, which owns her first six albums, she painstakingly re-records and re-releases them out) only makes it worse. her even more a force of nature.

As the evening progresses, something becomes very clear: a big part of Taylor Swift’s success is that she loves her fans as much as they love her. Gratitude radiates from every bejeweled costume she puts on. She recognizes the overwhelmed spectators who need help, and sends security their way; she congratulates a couple who got engaged during Champagne Problems.

For 210 minutes, she does the impossible and makes 73,000 sequined people of all ages feel like she’s only talking to them. It’s spectacular. It’s epic. My daughter and I both agree that it is the best night of our lives – and all the more magical because we get to enjoy it together.