Record-breaker - Taylor Swift finished the European leg of her Eras Tour with a record-breaking show at Wembley Stadium that was packed full of surprises. The star was joined on stage by Florence + The Machine and by Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, rewarded fans with the premiere of a new music video, and gave the first live rendition of her song So Long, London.
It was Swift’s eighth concert at Wembley this summer - overtaking a record for any solo singer, which was set by Michael Jackson with his Bad tour in 1988. "You just made me the first solo artist to ever play Wembley eight times in a single tour," she told fans. "We will never, ever be able to thank you enough for it." The tour has criss-crossed Europe all summer, with the Wembley finale marking the 131st date of her two-year trek.
Brighton rocks - Brighton Hippodrome has announced a one-off performance before it closes again for two years. The 127-year-old venue has been undergoing an extensive restoration programme after plans to bring the dilapidated site back into use were approved earlier this year. It was once home to world-renowned music acts and theatre shows but has not hosted a single performance since 22 November 1964.
The first person to sing inside the venue since rock-and-roller Chuck Berry in the 1960s will be Peter Joannou. A singing barber, Joannou cuts hair at his salon just a few doors down in Middle Street during the day and on the last Saturday of each month sings hits from his first-floor window into the evening. He will perform to a bigger crowd next Friday at the Hippodrome's open day.
Taking a break - Camp Bestival has announced it will take a break from holding its event in Shropshire in 2025. More than 20,000 gathered at Weston Park for this year’s family-friendly event, which was in its third year at the site. The four-day festival started in Dorset in 2008, but came to the Shropshire/Staffordshire border for the first time in 2022. Curator Rob da Bank had spoken about a "bedding in process" for the festival, but a notice on its website said it would not go ahead there next summer and encouraged revellers to buy tickets for its sister event in Dorset instead.
(Jim Evans)
