Taylor Swift surprised a crowd of roaring fans when she hopped onstage for an impromptu performance of “Shake it Off” at Travis Kelce’s Tight End University music event in Nashville on Tuesday (June 24).
In front of a packed crowd at Brooklyn Bowl — a 1200-person-capacity venue in downtown Nashville — Swift took the stage alongside event performer Kane Brown.
It seems like the performance wasn’t scheduled. Swift told the audience that she didn’t come expecting to perform, but country star and event performer Chase Rice helped make the moment happen.
“I was like, ‘But I don’t have a guitar.’ Chase Rice was like, ‘You can use mine,'” she explained, before nodding to her NFL star boyfriend’s team and TEU training program.
“We would like to dedicate this to our favorite players who are going to play … these are the tight ends.”
The surprise moment marked one of Swift’s first concert appearances since she wrapped her Eras Tour last December. For the fans in the crowd, it also marked a rare chance to see her perform in a more intimate setting. All her recent tour dates have been at stadiums.
Read More: Taylor Swift Just Bought All Her Music Back
Last month, she announced that she has bought back all her old music, after a long and public battle to regain control of the masters of albums she released on Big Machine. She also said that she struck a deal to own all her music videos, concert films, album art, unreleased songs and anything else created or released by her, ever.
Swift walked into the event as her NFL tight end star boyfriend’s date. Even as an audience member, she was a major presence at the show, which was part of the concluding festivities to mark the end of this year’s Tight End University program.
She danced and sang along as Chase Rice performed “Cruise” after telling the crowd that Swift “actually helped support this song years ago.”
Of course, Kelce was in the crowd, too. Later in the evening, they were spotted dancing to “Love Story” at the TEU event.
In addition to Rice, Jordan Davis and Sophia Scott were announced performers at Tuesday night’s show. Advertising for the event also teased a number of surprise special guests.
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Who had the most played country song during the year you were born? This list is a fascinating time capsule of prevalent trends from every decade in American history. Scroll through to find your birth year and then click to listen. Some of these songs have been lost through the years, many of them for good reason!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes