FEATURE
“We’ve been watching a little bit. It’s
cool,” said 20-year-old Emling, who said
they’ll return for Sunday’s race. “We like
racing.”
The race weekend scheduled her
show after Saturday qualifying and before
Sunday’s race. One group watching is Liberty
Media, the American group that is taking over
Formula One’s commercial entity and will
be looking for ways to grow the sport. Track
president Bobby Epstein had predicted as
many as 40,000 would be lured in by Swift.
Taylor Swift Austin F1
The concert was a big opportunity for
the singer as well. Swift’s face was splashed
all over publicity efforts for the race that
promoters hope will draw 250,000 this
weekend just as Swift is rumored to be close
to releasing a new album. And she’s not
alone in the music lineup. Usher and The
Roots were scheduled to play at the track
after the race Sunday night.
But Saturday night belonged to Swift as
she dazzled fans with set that ran about 90
minutes, full of hits from her previous albums.
The only stumble was a cold she said got
three days earlier. At one point, she stopped
between songs to blow her nose.
She also acknowledged the international
makeup of her crowd that danced and sang
throughout her set.
“This show is really important because
we have people from all over the world,” she
told the crowd. “Thank you for that.”
Swift drew a mix of fans young and old,
from race fans curious to thousands more
who came solely to see her.