Taylor Swift The Era’s Tour Melbourne Night 1 concert review
Taylor Swift created a history-making era at the MCG on Friday night — breaking records, wooing fans and teasing a new album track.
Entertainment
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Taylor Swift created a history-making era at the MCG on Friday night.
“I have to be honest,” the world’s biggest pop star told the sell-out crowd.
“If I seem a little bit like I’m losing my mind over the 96,000 of you, that’s because it’s true. I am,” she told the adoring crowd.
The moment was not lost on her. In an extraordinary show, called Eras, Swift had written another phenomenal chapter for herself, and her Australian legion of Swifties.
“I’m just taking a mental picture for myself,” she said, overwhelmed by the incessant stadium roar. “... You are already making me feel phenomenal.”
Later, after performing Champagne Problems, Swift soaked up a two-minute ovation, stopping only to flash that megawatt smile.
“Thank you so much. I really missed coming to Australia,” she said. “You’re just different here.”
Swift opened her extraordinary Eras tour on a perfect summer night, the first of three sold-out shows at the MCG.
And from the very start, Swift had the whole colosseum reciting from her anthemic songbook.
Of course, the MCG is used to stadium-sized singalongs.
It’s the battleground of champions after all, and it doesn’t get much louder and prouder than the winning team’s club song on the last Saturday in September.
On Friday night, after Swift took over the turf at East Melbourne, she shook the dial on those fine traditions.
From the platinum-priced seats near the stage, to the top-tier nosebleeds at the back, throughout the Shane Warne Stand, right around to the northern stand, the MCG was in full voice, singing and celebrating.
It was both powerful and passionate.
She launched with Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince, but it was the next song, the certified banger Cruel Summer, that tipped the scale from fever to frenzy.
It was an instantly-unifying moment, sparking a roar of joy, melody and the shrieking reality that, yes — finally — Taylor Swift, the world’s biggest pop star, was here.
US singer Sabrina Carpenter was the official support act, but it felt like the curtain raiser began a week ago, with wall-to-wall coverage of Swift jetting across the Pacific from Japan to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce win a Super Bowl in Las Vegas, then hot-footing it down to Tullamarine.
The Eras Tour is a phenomenon that combines music, storytelling and showstopping visuals to create a state-of-the-art experience.
The show covers 10 albums – or eras – of Swift’s career; 44 songs, and 16 costume changes, with outfits designed by Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Oscar de la Renta, Elie Saab and Ashish Gupta.
Eras has been described as the most expensive and technically ambitious production of the 21st century.
The set-up includes three massive stages connected by a broad ramp, and a catwalk running up the centre of the field.
The main stage has a giant, curved screen, beaming all the action, special effects, stunts and a head-spinning array of costume switches.
The tour’s concept is based on world-building.
Swift’s Eras show creates elaborate settings and storyboards to reflect the different moods and aesthetics of her albums.
The true masterstroke is, with the Eras show, Swift invites her global legion of Swifties into these worlds. Eras is fully immersive and inclusive.
Beyond the stage, the numbers and accolades surrounding Swift are staggering. Sell-out tours, culture defining albums, Time Person of the Year, a doctorate, and so much more.
But the essence of Taylor Swift, and this was explicitly evident at the MCG on Friday, is connection.
Her songs and her life outlook — the good and the bad — resonate deeply with her followers.
And they — her Swifties — turned out in their shiniest, finest outfits, all frills, fun and positive vibes.
Swift said she conceived the Eras tour for old and new fans.
“I wanted everyone to feel like we made the show for you, whether you’re new here, or you’ve been hanging out with me for 15 years,” she said.
“It’s like a trip down memory lane for me.”
Indeed it was. As classics including Shake It Off, You Belong With Me, Love Story, Enchanted and I Knew You Were Trouble echoed through the MCG, and lasers, light prisms, and coloured wristbands lit up the night, Swift was right: Another era was being made. Bring on the next chapter.
Swift’s “surprise” songs, which vary at each concert, were Red and You’re Losing Me. Taylor Swift performs at the MCG Saturday and Sunday.
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