Taylor Swift kicks off European Eras Tour in Paris with setlist and outfit changes

Taylor Swift on stage in Paris on Thursday night  (AFP via Getty Images)
Taylor Swift on stage in Paris on Thursday night (AFP via Getty Images)

Taylor Swift-fever struck Paris as the highest-grossing tour in history finally arrived in Europe — before it heads to London.

The 152-date Eras tour tour has become a cultural phenomenon, with ticket sales alone projected to top £1.1 billion by the time it ends in December.

It kicked off in the US last year, with fans boosting local economies and causing seismic activity with their dancing.

For the opening night in Paris - the first of four sold-out dates at La Défense Arena - Swift dropped several songs from the usual setlist to include music from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department.

The seven tracks she included were; But Daddy, I Love Him, So High School, Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me, Down Bad, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Live and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.

Swift performing in Paris (AFP via Getty Images)
Swift performing in Paris (AFP via Getty Images)

To make room for her new hits Swift removed The Archer (Lover era), Long Live (Speak Now era), The 1 (Folklore era), Tis The Damn Season (Evermore era),Tolerate It (Evermore era) and The Last Great American Dynasty (Folklore era) from her set.

She also also debuted a number of new outfits, including a sparkling red bodysuit and a custom Zuhair Murad Couture bodysuit with fringes featuring embroidery of varied shades of midnight blue for the Midnights era.

The 34-year-old greeted the crowd by saying “enchanté” and said she felt “incredibly lucky” to be launching the European leg of her tour in “the most beautiful, romantic city in the world”.

She remained on stage for more than three hours after playing 45 songs, including two surprise songs during her acoustic set, Paris and Loml.

The venue said a fifth of the crowd were from the US, with many Swifties taking advantage of Europe’s rules against charging huge mark-ups on resale tickets that can save Americans thousands of dollars compared with shows at home.

The tour comes to Wembley Stadium on June 21, 22 and 23 June, before returning for five further dates from August 15.