Julia Roberts, Travis Kelcy, Graham Norton and rugby stars among celebrity fans at Taylor Swift's Aviva concert – Irish Times

Whether you won the Taylor Swift ticket lottery or not, there was no way you weren't going to see the current queen of pop over the weekend, as she played three triumphant return concerts at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, spreading immense joy in the process. Were you among the lucky 150,000 fans who got to see Taylor in person? If so, you've joined celebrity club Julia Roberts, Stevie Nicks, Graham Norton, and Swift's athlete boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

Fans of Irish celebrities turned out in droves on Friday.

Also in the crowd were Cork-born TV presenter Norton and radio presenter Ryan Tubridy, who had returned from London, both of whom were brave enough to wear the ultimate Swifty fan accessory: friendship bracelets.

Norton posted a photo on Instagram of her right arm adorned with a number of colorful bands.

[  Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is not just a concert, it’s a love story – and Dublin said yes ]

Meanwhile, Tubbs posted footage from the concert online, describing it as a “stadium filled with love,” and also posted a photo of herself wearing a friendship bracelet with the caption, “This is what happens.”

Former Ireland rugby players Brian O'Driscoll, Johnny Sexton and Rory Best also attended the concert.

O'Driscoll was accompanied by his wife, actor and writer Amy Huberman, while Sexton attended with his wife Laura Sexton and their children, and Best attended with his wife Jodie Bell.

Sexton posted a photo online of himself holding hands with his daughter as he walked into a packed stadium, captioning the photo: “This is retirement.”

Amy Huberman posted a picture of former rugby union bosses Sexton, O'Driscoll and Best, commenting: “They once said themselves they were fast enough for the Aviva.”

For the rest of the weekend, Irish and international celebrities flocked to the Aviva to watch Swift in action, including golfer Shane Lowry, who attended with his wife Wendy Lawry and their daughter, Westlife star Nicky Byrne, Virgin Media presenter Karen Coster, Ireland AM star Muireann O'Connell, former RTÉ 2FM presenter Dorian Ghareehy and her fiance Mark Mehigan, and Six O'Clock presenter Katya Mia.

Among the perhaps more high-profile stars in the VIP tent at Sunday's show were Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, Super Bowl winner (aka Travis Kelce, aka Swift's boyfriend) and Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks.

Swift noticed Kelsey from the stage midway through her song “August” on Sunday and gave an adorable reaction.

She sang “Clara Bow” live for the first time on Sunday, including lyrics that mention Nicks, and Swift said she wanted to sing the song because Nicks was in attendance.

Local words by her dancers

One of Swift's dancers, Cameron Sanders, who is known to substitute the local phrase for the line “like ever!” in the recorded version of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” depending on the city the tour is in, performed several powerful songs for the Dublin crowd on Friday night, including “póg mo thoin.”

On Saturday night, Sanders yelled, “Your head,” and on Sunday he called him a “bastard.”

Sanders also posted a video to her Instagram Story after the concert in which she lip-synced to the original version of the viral song “The Neck of Ye.”

Clara O'Sullivan, an eight-year-old girl from Ladysbridge, County Cork, was at the Eras tour with her aunt, Stephanie Skierka, on Sunday night when she was approached mid-concert by a member of Swift's team asking her to join them.

Later, as Swift performed her hit “22,” a favorite of O'Sullivan's, O'Sullivan came onstage and Swift gave her the hat she was wearing and signed it, a tradition that has been held for selected lucky fans at every concert on the tour.

“We were dancing away and after the song 'Love Story' they picked me and I had no idea what was going on, I was just given the hat,” O'Sullivan told PJ Coogan on Cork's 96FM Opinion Line on Monday morning.

Swift's autographed hat reads, “Taylor Swift Dublin Eras Tour 2024.”

O'Sullivan's aunt Skielka said her husband had never taken the hat off since he received it, and when she suggested putting it in a glass box, O'Sullivan quickly said “no” because he wanted to show it to his friends.

Locally made gloves

Meanwhile, Irish glove designer Paula Rowan said she was “extremely pleased and honoured” that Taylor Swift chose to wear her white Aida leather gloves during the Tortured Poets section of her Eras Tour.

The designer, who has a store at Westbury Mall on Balfe Street in Dublin, said he was incredibly grateful that Swift had worn his designs.

“Taylor Swift is one of the world's best-selling artists with a huge influence in both the music industry and pop culture. As an artist, businesswoman and philanthropist, she is truly an inspiration and role model to all. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Swift is not the only superstar to wear Rowan's gloves; Madonna, Cher, Beyonce and Dua Lipa have also worn her creations, which are handmade in Italy. Her gloves were also worn in the HBO series “And Just Like That,” starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

The Dublin designer also supplied gloves to Lady Gaga for her leading role at Gucci, and her creations have also been worn by Kate Middleton, Helen Mirren and Kate Moss.

The glove designer designed his first glove collection 15 years ago and describes his work as “couture for hands.”

Taylor arrives

But where is Taylor now? Aviation fans were thrilled to see her arrive in Ireland on Thursday, but her departure date is still unknown.

Aviation enthusiast Shaun Dunn posted on Thursday night from his Twitter account @shauns_aviation that he was going plane spotting on Friday around 12 p.m. and would be listening to Taylor Swift while he did so.

Then on Friday morning, he posted a video of himself at the airport's observation deck, with Swift's hit “Shake It Off” playing in the background.

At 12:16 p.m., Dan tweeted, “She's down.”

Additionally, the account “Taylor Swift's Jets” on the social platform Blue Sky posted that Swift's plane took off from London Stansted Airport at around 11am and landed at 11:56am, confirming Dan's suspicions that it was, in fact, Swift's jet.

Eras tour dancers have already arrived

Several of Swift's dancers were in Dublin prior to her own arrival.

Sam McWilliams, one of the Eras tour dancers, posted a photo of himself at the Troye Sivan concert on his Instagram story on Wednesday night that looked suspiciously similar to the one at the singer's concert at Dublin's 3Arena that night.

Typically, many performers wait to post until they've left the city or country — unless, of course, McWilliams, who is clearly a lover of Sivan, wanted to share it immediately with his eagle-eyed followers who love to follow Swift's every move.

Another of Swift's famous dancers, Cameron Sanders, also reposted an Instagram Story from Troye Sivan's tour dancer, Benjamin Williams, thanking Sanders for coming to the concert. Sanders reposted a story with a photo of the two of them together and said, “The whole concert was wild.”

Celebrities flock to London

Swift was in Dublin after performing three nights at London's Wembley Stadium over the weekend, which was also attended by an incredible number of celebrities.

So, which celebrities went to see Swift at Wembley last weekend – and Don't Blame Me – the list is long:

Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, the Super Bowl-winning football player for the Kansas City Chiefs, not only attended all three Wembley shows, but also danced onstage with her on Sunday.

Prince William also attended her concert with their two older children and met up with Swift and Kelsey after the show, with Swift posting photos on Instagram.

But perhaps what attracted more attention were the future King's dance moves, which were caught on video during the concert — but at least he seemed to be having fun.

Tom Cruise, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Hugh Grant were also reported to be spotted at Wembley on Saturday night.

Barbie director Greta Gerwig was also reportedly in attendance.

Galway Women, Derry Girls and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan was in attendance on Friday, as were co-stars Salma Hayek and Leslie Mann.

Zara and Mike Tindall, Erin Andrews, Charissa Thompson and Stella McCartney were also in attendance.

Also spotted at Friday's concert were Labour leader Keir Starmer, model Cara Delevingne and Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness.

American actress Rachel Zegler, known for her roles in “West Side Story” and the prequel to “The Hunger Games,” also attended Saturday's concert and posted on X afterwards.

The Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth was also reported to be in attendance at Wembley.

Ellie Goulding and Gracie Abrams, who released the song “Us” featuring Swift on Friday, June 21, were in attendance on Sunday.

Veteran rock stars Paul McCartney and Jon Bon Jovi also appeared at Sunday's concert.

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