Rachel Egan

Yes, you can laugh… I’m over it now.

I’ve been a big Taylor Swift fan for years, so I couldn’t believe my luck when we managed to secure tickets to see her at Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium on 9th June 2024-my 33rd birthday.

Everyone knows one of my favourite Taylor songs is Anti-Hero and I had Taylor Swift bunting for my hen do with the lyrics, and my colleagues at work got me an Anti-Hero birthday badge to wear to the gig. Having not seen Taylor live since the Reputation tour I was really excited to see her perform Anti-Hero in-person!

Like all good Swifties, I had pre-planned my toilet breaks for the longer transitions between Eras sets. So I nipped out for a wee towards the end of the phenomenal acoustic set (Haunted x Exile then Dorothea x It’s Nice to Have A Friend).I thought I would have loads of time for queuing in the (very nearby) toilets to get back in time for Anti-Hero, even if I had to miss Lavender Haze.

The queue was quite a bit shorter than I expected this time though, partly because there was no loo roll to be found anywhere and the toilets were an absolute disgrace. I met a Swiftie mum and her young daughter in the queue, we got chatting and I ended up digging out a clean napkin I had going spare for them to use. A few people saw my birthday badge and wished me happy birthday.

When it was my turn, I peed quickly, wiped myself with my own pocket tissues and went to dart back to my seat.

Except the toilet door wouldn’t budge. Not an inch.

I thought maybe I was twisting the lock the wrong way at first so played with it a few times to see. Nothing. The lock was moving but it was as if the door had swollen in its frame. It was around 8 foot high and solid thick wood and it was completely stuck.

I was very embarrassed but decided to call out to the queue for help and the Swiftie mum I had spoken to earlier said she would try to kick it in. She tried a few times, then I tried pulling it and she tried pushing. That’s when I heard Anti-Hero start. I realised the only way out was to climb, because if I waited for staff to come I would probably miss the rest of the gig and really wanted to see the remaining Midnights set!

So I pulled the sanitary bin over to the door, hoisted myself onto it, and pulled myself up using the door frame for leverage. As a 5 ft nothing woman hoisting myself up over an 8 ft door wasn’t the easiest and I had to contort my leg into some ungodly angle so I could fit in the narrow gap in-between the ceiling and the top of the bathroom door. Getting down the other side was a challenge too but luckily my new Swiftie mum friend held her arms out and was there to help break my fall.

I walked back to my seat, where Taylor was now on Vigilante Shit, another one of my favourite tracks. My husband asked what had happened as I had been gone for so long. He told me I had missed Anti Hero and Taylor coming to our side of the stage (luckily he caught it on video for me!)

Good luck to all the UK Swifties going over the next few weeks, don’t get locked in any loos but if you do miss your favourite track for any reason, shake it off!