Taylor Swift Eras Tour: Why I’m shaking it off despite having tickets

Despite scoring tickets to Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour, Courier-Mail reporter Danica Clayton says it’s no Love Story for her and that she’s shaking off the tickets.

I was one of the lucky few that was able to score tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour when they were on sale last year.

My colleague, Isabella Holland, desperately wanted to attend and so I, along with a few others in the newsroom, spent hours obsessively refreshing the Ticketek page. I didn’t actually want to go, but I wanted to “win”.

I made it through to the checkout page and I could have sworn the entire room was suddenly silent.

Isabella is now one of the thousands set to attend Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour when it hits Melbourne later this week, followed by Sydney next week.

At this point in time, Swift is perhaps the most talked-about celebrity in the world. She’s in the middle of a massive tour, she’s dating NFL star Travis Kelce, she will be releasing a new album in April, and she will be re-recording Reputation and her debut album, Taylor Swift. It’s almost impossible to go a day without seeing something about Swift online.

I actually like a lot of Swift’s music. But the overexposure has reached a point of exhaustion. If you Google search the Super Bowl ... you’re probably going to see how Swift and her latest beau took the Super Bowl by storm before you’ll read about the halftime show performance or the actual results from the game.

Colour me surprised when there was no proposal from Kelce at the Super Bowl. Had it happened, it would have sparked a wave of Swifties infiltrating every social platform, a fairy tale romance album release with five different coloured vinyls by the end of 2024, the most talked-about wedding since William married Kate and would have completed the “hopeless romantic” arc started by Swift in 2006.

Taylor Swift is bringing her Eras Tour to Australia this week.

When I was a teenager, Love Story and You Belong with Me were the anthems I lived by. Swift wasn’t even 20 at the time of release.

In the 2010s, Swift’s star continued to rise, while other emerging stars such as Miley Cyrus faced controversy and cancellation. Earlier this month, Cyrus gracefully accepted her first Grammy, acknowledging the challenges she faced to get to this point, while Swift accepted her 13th Grammy and announced a new album just moments later.

I wouldn’t consider myself a Swiftie, or even a fan, but I enjoy a decent amount of songs from her exhaustive music catalogue. In most online circles, she’s branded as one of two things: a “capitalist queen” or the world’s first “ethical billionaire”.

Her private jet usage has become a sore point for Swifties, with Swift’s team now threatening legal action against a college student for publishing flight information. Just a day ago, she drew criticism after she dashed from Tokyo to Las Vegas on her private jet to arrive at the Super Bowl in time to cheer for her flame.

She has become a brand first and a person second. Her relationship of six years ended, she embarked on a world tour, dated another musician, fell for the quarterback, became what is effectively the NFL’s main publicity tool, she released re-recordings of two of her most beloved albums (1989, Speak Now) and won Album of the Year ... in just 12 months.

I’m only three years younger than Swift and I fully admit I’m both concerned about, and impressed with her ability to never stop. She’s about to hit her mid-30s, and she has achieved a level of stardom most of us could only imagine.

But the question is, at what cost?

So no, I won’t be going to the Eras Tour. After nearly two decades in the spotlight, it’s time for Swift to finally, after an intense year, take a step back and let other artists have the opportunity to shine.