The flight of the Swifties at Murrayfield and news that Scotland could soon get a new arena in the capital has put the issue of stadium shows firmly in the spotlight. Taylor Swift’s recent stop in Edinburgh for her all-consuming ‘Eras Tour’ has broken stadium attendance records in Scotland. Cementing her place on the throne of pop stardom, her world tour saw around 220,000 fans descend upon Murrayfield over three nights.
The question asked in the wake of the shows is, had Tay Tay cemented Murrayfield’s place as Scotland’s go-to venue for arena-sized tours? Or will Hampden ‘Shake it off’ and rally by bringing stars to the west coast? Hampden has played host to many a superstar in its time but falls around 20,000 short of Murrayfield’s 70,000+ capacity at just over 50,000. Murrayfield Stadium (Image: SNS) Hampden’s record attendance is held by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Cinnamon who packed the park with over 100,000 people over two nights in July 2022. Although Murrayfield currently has no other concerts booked in the calendar, Hampden will host American rockers, The Foo Fighters and pop sensation Pink later this month.
Music Journalist and Broadcaster, Billy Sloan, feels a deep connection to Glasgow as Scotland’s capital for music, however, would agree that for shows of this scale, Murrayfield is unmatched. He said: “While Murrayfield takes over due to its larger capacity - I think Hampden has established itself as the place to go to for big shows o.
