Taylor Swift Sydney concert review as seen by a genuine Swiftie
The music experts have had their say but what did the diehards think of Taylor Swift’s first Sydney concert? One of her biggest fans delivers her verdict.
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Let this moment go down in history – this is the biggest concert of this generation. Not since the likes of The Beatles, Elvis and the Spice Girls, has a performer had this much impact on a crowd.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour performance is a delicious treat to fill the soul. For three-and-a-half hours Swift delivered a stellar show. While our feet ached from standing up, dancing and singing along, Swift never faltered. The sheer athleticism that comes with such a performance is outstanding.
It pays off – in return, the audience happily sits in the palm of her hand. When she says throw our arms up and scream we do, and when she hushes the crowd for a quiet song, the crowd stills.
It should be, for all intents and purposes, the exact same show fans have seen for over a year now on TikTok and in her Eras Tour movie. The only difference, the two acoustic surprise songs she plays towards the end of the set.
Yet, somehow, despite performing a near identical set list, Swift manages to make the show special. When she sings and talks, she convinces you that this show is unique – it is for us, Sydney, and us only.
It’s in the way she recognises how Australians say her name ‘Tayla’, or the way she waits for us to sing ‘Sydney’ during Blank Space.
Another spectacular element of Swift’s shows, which can only be felt in person, is the stage design and effects.
Videos and social media fail to capture the magnitude of Swift’s stage, lighting and set design. When she sings her fan favourite All Too Well, mentioning “the first fall of snow”, fake snow fills the stadium, white powder covering our hair.
It’s the sound of 81,000 voices singing along, hugging each other and comparing outfits that make this concert special. She has an effect on everyone, from the eight-year-old girl at her first concert to the 45-year-old man sitting next to me, who would not look out of place at Blink-182, singing his heart out during Taylor’s fan anthem, Long Live.
During Don’t Blame Me, where powerful beams of light lit up the sky, the man looked at me, his jaw open.
“She is amazing,” he says, awe-struck. There are practically tears in his eyes.
When the show finishes, in an explosive bang for her finale, Karma, there’s no cries for an encore. Just a sudden silence as the crowd realises what has just happened.
They don’t demand a follow up song – they are grateful and in shock at what they have already witnessed.
Women pull off their knee high cowboy boots and limp home, while others gather armfuls of confetti to stuff in memory boxes.
All leave with a smile on their face knowing they were just a part of history.
Taylor Swift’s night one Sydney set list
Lover
1. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
2. Cruel Summer
3. The Man
4. You Need to Calm Down
5. Lover
6. The Archer
Fearless
7. Fearless
8. You Belong With Me
9. Love Story
Evermore
10. ‘Tis the Damn Season
11. Willow
12. Marjorie
13. Champagne Problems
14. Tolerate It
Reputation
15. … Ready for It?
16. Delicate
17. Don’t Blame Me
18. Look What You Made Me Do
Speak Now
19. Enchanted
20. Long Live
Red
21. 22
22. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
23. I Knew You Were Trouble
24. All Too Well
Folklore
25. The 1
26. Betty
27. The Last Great American Dynasty
28. August
29. Illicit Affairs
30. My Tears Ricochet
31. Cardigan
1989
32. Style
33. Blank Space
34. Shake It Off
35. Wildest Dreams
36. Bad Blood
Surprise Songs
37. How You Get The Girl
38. Wild Horse / Coney Island (Sabrina Carpenter duet)
Midnights
39. Lavender Haze
40. Anti‐Hero
41. Midnight Rain
42. Vigilante Shit
43. Bejewelled
44. Mastermind
45. Karma
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