By Larisha Paul
Taylor Swift‘s collaborative partnership with Aaron Dessner has led some Swifties from the Eras tour straight to the National‘s concerts. The pair first began collaborating on 2020’s Folklore, which featured the band’s instrumentalist and producer on nearly a dozen songs. They most recently teamed up on selections from The Tortured Poets Department. Observing the growing overlap in their audiences, the National frontman Matt Berninger has noticed an influx of bemused fans — and way more women.
“We see a lot of Taylor Swift fans coming to shows and being bewildered by the first 25 minutes or so. We’ve been blessed with demographics that are across the spectrum,” Berninger recently told NME. “Then 10 or 15 years ago, a lot of younger people started coming [to our shows] – more and more women. The first 10 years was kind of a dude-fest at most of our shows, but that’s changed a lot. At our shows we have all kinds of old friends and they’re always different.”
Berninger shot down the idea that Swift would make a surprise appearance at their concerts or that the full band would appear at one of her own but expressed gratitude for their musical connection. “Nah, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. It is fun – that whole bridge has been a really, really fruitful thing for our whole band, not just Aaron,” he said. “Obviously, Aaron’s been having such a great time and making so much great stuff with her, and the Taylor Swift bridge has been there for a long time. But no, we’re not.”
Dessner has made a few solo appearances on the Eras tour. Last April, he joined Swift in Tampa to perform the Midnights bonus track “The Great War” and returned the following day to play “Mad Woman” from Folklore. That May, in Nashville, they played “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” together in the pouring rain. Dessner has also appeared for performances of “Seven” and “Right Where You Left Me.”
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine getting to play a song for 80,000 people on acoustic guitar with @taylorswift,” Dessner wrote on Instagram following one of his appearances. “Eternally grateful for all the music we have made and your friendship.”
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