Taylor Swift paid tribute to longtime friends the National last night (April 28) on the same day their new album was released by offering the live debut of their 2020 collaboration, “Coney Island.” Swift humorously warned the Atlanta crowd in advance that the group was not there to perform with her in person, and proceeded to offer a solo piano version of the song from her album evermore, which was co-produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner.
“This band has influenced me beyond my ability to verbalize how much they’ve influenced me — just lyrically, their ability to set a scene, their ability to tell a story,” Swift said. “And obviously, Aaron Dessner is in the National and he has completely changed my life.”
Referencing her own guest appearance on the National’s “The Alcott,” which appears on the just-released First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Swift said, “I was lucky enough to be able to write a song with them for their new album. Check it out, stream it, buy it on vinyl. I love them so much. They’ve been so kind to me.”
Also Read
Choppered and Tuned
Dessner already performed with Swift at the April 15 Eras tour stop in Tampa, Fl., where they unveiled the live debut of “The Great War” from the 3am Edition of her 2022 album Midnights. The only other in-person guest on the tour has been Marcus Mumford , who appeared with Swift in Las Vegas for a performance of “Cowboy Like Me.”
The Eras tour continues with two additional nights in Atlanta this weekend.
