Taylor Swift performed “The Black Dog” for the first time live during night one of her Eras Tour stop at Wembley Stadium in London on Friday (June 21).
While wearing an orange dress, the pop superstar, 34, performed the song at the end of her concert, during her “surprise songs” section, where she plays acoustic versions of a handful of her songs.
“Black Dog,” which is widely believed to be about The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, with whom she had a brief dalliance, is off of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. It includes references to a pub in South London as well as pop-punk band The Starting Line, whose music has been covered during live shows by The 1975.
“I’ve never played this one live before,” Swift can be heard telling the crowd in videos posted to X.
Swift did not play “London Boy” or “So Long, London” – both of which are speculated to be about her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn – as some fans had predicted. Though, she did surprise the audience with “Hits Different” from her 2022 Midnights record, “Death By A Thousand Cuts” from her 2019 Lover album and a mash-up of “Maroon” and “Come Back... Be Here” from Midnights and her 2012 album Red, respectively.
Swift has two more nights at Wembley this weekend before moving on to Dublin.
An array of high-profile celebrities and figures were in attendance during her first night at Wembley, including her boyfriend NFL athlete Travis Kelce, Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, Cara Delevingne, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness and the Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. The Prince of Wales and the royal children were also reported to have been in attendance.
Ahead of Swift’s concert, Buckingham Palace gave a royal welcome to the “Anti-Hero” singer with the military band playing a special rendition of her hit song “Shake It Off” during the changing of the guard.
Early on Friday, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams shared a video on Instagram of Swift putting out a fire in her New York City apartment.
“Writing this entire song from 2am to 6am was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” the “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” singer wrote in the caption. “@taylorswift now we know how to use a fire extinguisher. I love you.”
The two duetted on the song “us” off Abrams’ newest album, The Secret of Us, which was released the same day.
You can read The Independent’s five-star review of Swift’s first UK performance here.
