When it was played on Sunday night at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, Taylor Swift’s recent song “Midnight Rain” lived up to its name, albeit it wasn’t until well past 1 a.m. local time that it was ultimately included in the set list. Due to lightning strikes close to the downtown area, Swift’s hometown three-night run finale was delayed by hours from its scheduled start time.
Once it did, however, begin after 10 p.m., the second half of the three-and-a-half-hour set was marked by a steady downpour, hitting Swift as hard as it did the audience in the roofless venue, before the show finally concluded just after 1:35 a.m.
At that rainy early hour, the throng was often in a frenzied state. (With the exception of the tiny percentage of spectators who gave up and left before the concert began.)
As the long-promised rain finally started falling in earnest midway through “Delicate,” the 16th song of a 45-song set that may go down in history as “Late Night With Taylor Swift,” Swift announced to the 70,000-strong crowd, “It’s officially a rain show.”
taylor alison swift. god of thunder and lightning. #NashvilleTSTheErasTour #TSThe pic.twitter.com/XT7Hhb7S7u
— Alexandra || {Taylor’s Version} (@alltooswiftly13) May 8, 2023
Later, while the rain continued, she stated, “This is something we’re all doing together,” during the show’s “Red”-themed segment. It’s really a great opportunity for bonding. Tonight, we’re all going to leave here looking like we just got five car washes… Where were you? people will ask. Many wars? You respond, “No, I just attended the Eras Tour.” It’s alright.
The National’s Aaron Dessner, a co-writer and co-producer on Swift’s last three albums, joined her for the show’s penultimate “surprise songs” segment as the clock approached one in the morning. Dessner played a second guitar on the “Midnights” bonus track “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” walking a distance from the main stage to the B-stage at the centre of the stadium, Dessner, too, quickly looked waterlogged.
Like with every other stop on the tour, the concert was due to start at 6:30 p.m. with two opening bands before Taylor Swift’s set, which typically lasts from around 7:50 to around 11:15. However, in Nashville on Sunday, the event didn’t start for another hour or so before statements on social media and on large screens advised people to take cover in the venue’s concourses or stay in their cars if they hadn’t entered yet.
This warning was in effect from around 5:30 to about 9:45, when lightning temporarily left the region and spectators were instructed to take their seats, causing a crowd to swarm the stadium entrances. By that time, many families who came along with their younger children had already left from the concert.