Taylor Swift Fans Are ‘Overwhelming’ This London Pub

A pub located in south London has described the influx of Swifties over the weekend as "incredible."

The Black Dog in Vauxhall experienced a significant surge in patrons after fans realized it was the subject of a song on the pop star’s 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, which set Spotify's record for the most-streamed album in a single day last Friday.

Within an hour of the album's release, the small venue was inundated with enthusiastic fans wanting to pay homage to the pop star, snowballing into “thousands” of dedicated Swifties as the weekend progressed.

Lily Bottomley, the events and social manager for SC Soho, the small hospitality group that owns the Black Dog, spoke to the Guardian, commenting, “I was like, wow, what a coincidence, that’s incredible. Then the traffic increased, and it exploded when her album went live.”

Thinking on their feet, the Black Dog team quickly created a TikTok, started posting and interacting with fans, to great effect. “We’re completely booked out this week and we’re nearly full for her tour dates. It’s been fantastic for the business; the fans have been overwhelmingly positive,” she said, adding that they also hired last-minute security to handle the surge.

"We're just loving it, it's been so fun,” says Bottomley. “All of the attention has been pretty overwhelming but we can't be happier.

“We’ve been looking at past security footage [for Swift]. We haven’t found anything, but you never know,” she says. “I’ve heard that whenever she visits places she puts a cap on, so we could have missed it. We’d love to have her back.”

Of course, many fans have not only been curious to find out whether Swift had been seen by any of the staff, but if her previous “London Boy” exes, Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy, had been seen.

In the song, The Black Dog alludes to the idea that Swift followed an ex into the pub, with the lyrics, “And so I watch as you walk into some bar called The Black Dog and pierce new holes in my heart. You forgot to turn it off, and it hits me. I just don't understand how you don't miss me in The Black Dog.”

Bottomley said that the pub has had “a certain blond regular in a few times.”

The Black Dog by Taylor Swift, lyrics:

I am someone who, until recent events

You shared your secrets with

And your location

You forgot to turn it off

And so I watch as you walk

Into some bar called The Black Dog

And pierce new holes in my heart

You forgot to turn it off

And it hits me

I just don't understand

How you don't miss me

In The Black Dog

When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up

But she's too young to know this song

That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming

Old habits die screaming

I move through the world with the heartbroken

My longings stay unspoken

And I may never open up the way I did for you

And all of those best laid plans

You said I needed a brave man

Then proceeded to play him

Until I believed it too

And it kills me

I just don't understand

How you don't miss me

In the shower

And remember

How my rain-soaked body was shaking

Do you hate me?

Was it hazing?

For a cruel fraternity I pledged

And I still mean it

Old habits die screaming

Six weeks of breathing clean air

I still miss the smoke

Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?

Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes

And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons

Even if I die screaming

And I hope you hear it

And I hope it's shitty

In The Black Dog

When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up

But she's too young to know this song

That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of our dreaming

'Cause tail between your legs you're leaving

And I still can't believe it

'Cause old habits die screaming