One huge problem at Taylor Swift’s Australian concerts

Swifties, we have a problem. One hard-to-escape feature of Taylor’s Aussie tour has made her concerts a tough slog for some.

Swifties, we have a problem.

A video of a Sydney Taylor Swift concertgoer that circulated widely over the weekend sparked fierce debate online – and reminded me of an element of my own Taylor Swift concertgoing experience that I’d tried to forget.

The clip, posted on TikTok, shows a fan at one of the superstar’s recent Melbourne concerts, singing along to the evermore piano ballad Tolerate It.

Well, not singing. Screaming. A full-throated, death metal, needs a lozenge, Cosima’s-got-nodules shriek.

The clip – as well as others circulating online showing fans proudly exhibiting the same behaviour – triggered some real gig-going PTSD in me, because I was seated directly in front of one such screamer during Friday night’s opening Sydney show.

You’d think Swifties would want to actually hear their favourite artist sing. Picture: Richard Dobson

The sound of the 80,000-strong crowd were deafening as Swift finally took to the stage for our show. It was adulation bordering on hysteria: Phones held aloft (to capture stunning footage of … the phones held up in front of them), young fans crying, thunderous applause.

But, as Swift began her opening song, the moody ballad Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, one voice in our area rose above the masses.

A fan in the row behind me, screaming every. single. lyric in a voice that could only be described as heavily indebted to the vocal stylings of Cannibal Corpse singer George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher.

And on it went, for the full three-and-a-half hour show. Our own personal death metal concert (Taylor’s Version). And before you come for me for yucking some poor fan’s yum, I implore you to watch the video at the top of this story. That was the sound we were dealing with for the whole show.

What was weirdest was that these demonic screams were the loudest not during the show’s bigger, singalong production numbers – undeniable bangers like Shake It Off or Ready for It that had every man woman and child singing the lyrics back at Taylor– but during the quiet, sparse piano ballads like My Tears Ricochet or the ironically named Tolerate It.

Nothing but the sound of Taylor, her piano, and a deranged gremlin.

For one brief, beautiful song, death metal banshee took a short break, perhaps to use the bathroom or have emergency vocal chord surgery.

It was then that I could enjoy the concert as it was intended: Cheering fans, singalongs, but also a clearly audible Taylor Swift.

Hearing Taylor Swift sing a Taylor Swift concert – imagine that!

And it seems the fans exhibiting this behaviour are well aware of just how irritating – if not concert-ruining – their screams are to those around them.

Rather than being filmed by other annoyed fans, these concert caterwaulers are posting their efforts on social media themselves, usually with captions joking that they sure feel sorry for anyone unlucky enough to be sat near them. Indeed – if only there was a solution to this seemingly unfixable problem!

Like the clip below, of a fan sat outside the stadium last night and immediately bursting into inconsolable tears when Swift played her favourite song, it all feels rather... performative?

THIS IS TAKING ME OUT I'M SORRY😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VMDrtHrKVO

— 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆🫧💚 (@beyoncegarden) February 25, 2024

Opinions are divided. The Project panel played the original clip on TV last night, with panellist Rachel Corbett defending the focus-pulling behaviour.

She revealed that she was also at Friday’s show, sat next to a screamer of her own, and argued that the behaviour “is a reflection of the emotion of true Swifties; all they want to do is scream.”

Fans gather outside Accor Stadium on Friday. Picture: Getty

“If you want to hear her in crystal clear high quality audio, listen on Spotify. You come [to the concert] for the experience of joy.”

“...That didn’t sound like joy at all,” host Sarah Harris noted.

On Twitter, where the video of the scream-fest has been viewed almost three million times, some are blasting the screamers for their lack of concert etiquette – while others passionately defend their action.

“It’s literally how you should behave at concerts. Have the time of your life and don’t care about ‘concert etiquette’ which by the way isn’t even a thing and if it is it most definitely shouldn’t exist. stop being so boring. try it at least once,” argued one fan. (Side note: ‘Concert etiquette’ is indeed a thing, falling under the larger umbrella that is ‘being a functional member of society’).

“There’s a difference between singing loudly and screeching for a video. The first is OK and should be encouraged, like, we’re all there for a good time … the second is obnoxious,” another countered.

Look, concerts are a time to have fun and let loose – especially a big, dazzling pop show like Taylor’s. Get up and dance (and ignore anyone who might tell you to sit down). Take some dodgy videos your friends will skip through on Instagram later. Sing along to every word. Have a few drinks (not to the extent that you vomit down your entire aisle, though).

But my advice for anyone heading to Accor Stadium tonight for the closing show of Swift’s Australian tour: Don’t forget to pack your earplugs.

Originally published as One huge problem at Taylor Swift’s Australian concerts