Blank Space isn’t just one of Taylor Swift ‘s biggest hits.
Some mega-fans have reported suffering a bizarre phenomenon after attending the UK leg of her Eras Tour: total amnesia.
After four hours of adrenaline, excitement and more than 40 songs, Swifties are returning home and realising they can’t remember a thing.
Psychologists say it’s a recognised syndrome, caused by heightened emotions and a buzzing atmosphere making it harder to form memories.
And due to the unprecedented levels of hype around Swift’s tour, it seems more people have been affected than ever.
Some mega-fans — or Swifties — have reported suffering a bizarre phenomenon after attending the UK leg of her Eras Tour
Taylor Swift is joined on stage by Travis Kelce (R) during the Eras Tour show in London on Sunday night
@champaigeproblems (left) shared her post-concert experience on social media. In a TikTok post that now has 33.7K likes she admitted to not remembering the concert. Fan @clare.marie56, (right), who shared a video from her night at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool to TikTok, claimed she was grateful for the video footage she took as her memories are all a ‘blur’
After four hours of adrenaline, excitement and more than 40 songs, fans are returning home and realising they can’t remember a thing. @Kiana commented on @clare.marie56 in agreement that she only remembers about 40 per cent of the concert
US gig-goers have already reported the strange symptom, which experts call ‘post concert amnesia’.
And now social media is filled with haunting accounts from fans who attended Swift’s London dates and have been hit by it.
One Swiftie, known as @champaigeproblems on TikTok, shared her post-concert experience on social media.
In a post that now has 33.7K likes, she said: ‘Post concert depression? No, I have post-concert amnesia because why do I not remember the eras tour at all? I was there and know it was the time of my life, but why do I not remember it?’
Another fan @clare.marie56, who shared a video from her night at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool to TikTok, claimed she was grateful for the footage she took as her memories are all a ‘blur’.
She said: ‘It was rare, I was there. I literally don’t remember anything. Eras tour amnesia.’
Although it will be unlikely that fans will be left with no memory at all, it’s possible to be left with just a feeling.
‘Emotion effects the semantic details of the memory in terms of what happened visually, and they are left with the general sense of how they felt at the time,’ Dr Shah said.
@staceneverlands, who went to watch the Eras tour in Cardiff, was also questioning why she couldn’t remember the night, in a post on X
Swiftie @ts0670 (left) posted a video on TikTok from the concert confessing they have ‘no actual memories’. One fan @staceneverlands (right), who went to watch the Eras tour in Cardiff said after the concert she felt depressed and had memory loss
Many fans agreed and said they could only remember ‘snippets’ of the concert, putting it down to the ‘excitement’
So much anticipation is often put on big events, like a wedding day or in this case a Taylor Swift concert, that your emotions just take over.
Post-concert amnesia can be compared to the memory loss people experience after a traumatic event.
‘When people experience trauma, sometimes that memory gets blocked out or isn’t formed properly,’ Dr Punit Shah a Phycologist and lecturer based at University of Bath, told MailOnline.
‘That isn’t to say Taylor’s concerts are traumatic, but the emotion of the situation can mean people are so immersed in it and emotional that the details of the event aren’t as well formed as they might expect,’ he added.
‘The reason why it’s happening with Taylor Swift concerts is because it’s really hard to get hold of tickets, there is a real anticipation around it and it ramps up your emotions.
‘If you have what should be a memorable event, sometimes people’s emotional response can either solidify that memory or weaken the memory it.
‘So some people attending these concerts will find them very memorable and will form what’s called a flashbulb memory, where you remember a lot about what’s happened in that situation.
‘But for some people the emotion of the situation can mean that the memory trace isn’t laid down as strongly.’
Another fan @staceneverlands, who watched the Eras tour in Cardiff last week, wrote on X: ‘Why did nobody tell me that the day after the Eras tour that your body would feel like you’ve ran a marathon and also experience memory loss?’
Meanwhile, a fourth Swiftie @ts0670 took to TikTok to confess they have ‘no actual memories’ of the gig.
In a post that’s got 54.3k likes, the fan said: ‘Did anyone else that went to the Eras Tour concert just black out?
‘Like I do not remember anything at all – I literally only have my videos. But there’s no actual memories.’
A concert-goer from Liverpool also admitted to suffering ‘memory loss’ following the show.
In a TikTok post @jenniferh11 said: ‘Okay, but why did nobody warn me about the post Eras tour come down. Why am I suffering from memory loss, feel depressed and like I just ran a marathon?’
Others have said the experience just ‘felt like a dream’.
@Samcarr posted a video on TikTok and confessed he couldn’t remember the surprise song Taylor Swift played at the concert in London
Others agreed with @Samcarr and commented that it ‘feels like a dream’ some even said they just felt ‘hungover’
TikTok user @Samcarr said: ‘Had the most insane dream last night that I went to the eras tour in London and Taylor performed the surprise song I wanted the most… oh wait’.
Experts have also likened the phenomenon to the loss of self that’s been reported in ‘angry mobs’, despite everyone enjoying the concert.
‘When you are part of a massive crowd you can experience deindividuation,’ neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett, honorary research associate at Cardiff University, told MailOnline.
‘It’s the same thing that happens in an angry mob. Because we are social creatures, when everyone around you feels the same, just as stimulated, just emotional, you sort of blur together, you lose your sense of self a lot,’ he added.
Usually it happens with anger but can happen when everyone is really ecstatic and happy, he explains.
‘You become detached from yourself and as a result your memories will be blurrier,’ Dr Burnett added.
Experts have also likened the phenomenon to the loss of self that’s been reported in ‘angry mobs’, despite everyone enjoying the concert
Dr Burnett says familiarity of already knowing the songs can also cause blurry memories, because novelty helps memory
Today, concerts are often visual extravaganzas: music fans are now often treated to multiple costume changes, props, strobe lighting, special effects and formation dancing.
This, says Dr Burnett, can lead to ‘sensory overload’. He explains: ‘It’s really hard to remember one thing when there is about 50 things happening.
‘The brain doesn’t have the capacity to take it all in, in detail, so it’s just going to be like a vague memory of one emotional experience.’
Will Swifties struck by post-concern amnesia ever recover their lost memories? Perhaps not, says Dr Shah.
If a memory hasn’t been created in the short term, it can’t enter into long-term memory. So it may be lost forever.
And the mind can play tricks on us, he adds: ‘If someone probed your memory, it’s hard to know whether that was the genuine memory, or whether you’re just confabulating and filling in the gaps or making up that memory in general.’
However, Dr Burnett says you could rejog your memory if you hear a song at a later date.
Source: Mail Online
