This was published 10 months ago
For those of us who aren’t exchanging friendship bracelets or sweating through sparkles at the concert, at least we’ll be able to follow all the fun in our picture gallery. We’ll keep the gallery below updated during the evening, so you won’t miss a single rain-induced Taylor curl.
If you ARE at Olympic Park tonight, you might be able to find yourself or your friends in our mega gallery here.
And if you’d like to purchase an original image, click here.
Whether you’re reading this on your way home from the show in a bid to avoid making eye contact with the clammy person next to you on the train, or you’re scrolling in bed kept awake by all your FOMO (you should probably research blue light while you’re at it), I’m sad to say our time together on the blog has come to an end.
There have been great highs (Sabrina and Taylor’s duet, Travis’ cute matching outfit set, the description of kangaroos as cool, bouncy and strong) and great lows (the rain and those Swifties who got scammed). Thank you for joining us for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. And no, before you comment, I didn’t see the Beatles.
We’ll keep you up to date throughout the weekend as Taylor Swift performs three more shows in Sydney. And at least, we’ll always have the zoo.
The good news: unlike last time the country’s eyes were on Sydney Olympic Park (when the Matildas played in the World Cup, Luke Coombs played next door, and damage to a critical signal box left tens of thousands stranded) the trains are working, and running about every five minutes
The bad news: there are a lot of people waiting to get on those trains. And don’t forget special event buses are travelling around the city.
Good luck!
Credit: Julia Naughton, Anthony Segaert
Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
So, that’s it. The one thing we could all unite behind in this divided world is over, and all we have left are our single-use plastic bracelets and blisters from our cowboy boots.
Before we sink into despair because our future holds only Midnight Oil gigs, I’d like to offer you distraction in the form of our culture podcast The Drop.
Join my colleagues Osman Faruqi, Thomas Mitchell and I each week as we discuss the latest in pop culture - and hear our reviews of the Eras Tour.
You can subscribe on Spotify and Apple Music. Or you can try before you buy below (but please also buy, although it’s free).
She’s certainly swift. Having only concluded her show about 15 minutes ago, Taylor Swift was spotted catching up with her NFL beau Travis Kelce in the stadium.
Video footage shows Swift waving to the crowd before running into Travis’ arms. The pair then make a quick exit with their arms wrapped around each other. Couples who zoo together, stay together.
And the first review is in!
Millie Muroi, who was at the show for us, has given the Eras Tour five stars.
“With a sparkle in her eye and some cheeky glances, she made the audience feel like they were in on a joke, bringing the crowd on an intimate yet expansive journey with her,” Muroi writes.
“The fact that Swift can deliver [the show] so regularly, in so many different environments, in different conditions, to different audiences and still make all of us feel like it was made just for us is the real testament to her, in this era at least, unmatched artistry.”
Read the full review here.
81,000 Swifties are about to descend on Sydney Olympic Park train station, but despite standing for hours, the attendees’ mood is good as they leave.
Among the first out is Naheena and Tahela, who said their favourite song was Shake It Off.
“But we can’t really hear anything,” Naheena said, with their ears ringing. “It was great. Amazing.”
Swift fans Naheena and Tahela.Credit: Dion Georgepoulos
Friends Ellie Maish, Catherine Ogborn, Michelia Yu and Kayla Carr all dressed up in dresses from their favourite Eras — and they’ll keep up the style on their long commute home.
“It was very loud,” Michaelia said as she left. In a red dress, her favourite song was Speak Now. But they all loved every minute, she said.
Trains are running every few minutes from Sydney Olympic Park to Central via Strathfield and Redfern, and special event buses are also leaving. But be prepared for delays — tens of thousands of us are all trying to get home at once!
Friends Ellie Maish, Catherine Ogborn, Michelia Yu and Kayla Carr all dressed up in dresses from their favourite Eras.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
There’s been some debate among people in the crowd over whether Taylor changed the lyrics to Karma, as she has previously, to “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs”, a reference to her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
Kelce is in the crowd tonight, so it would have been a fitting change. A video that captures Swift’s actual singing, as opposed to the crowd shouting along, seems to confirm that she did, in fact, change the lyrics this time!
The final song of the night is here - Karma - and remarkably Taylor Swift has managed to only be running 15 minutes overtime despite the rain delays.
The entire stadium is on their feet, giving it all they’ve got. It’s hard to tell from my position (not on the stage), whether Swift sang her now-famous line, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me”, but I can confirm that literally everyone else sang that line, so we’ll go with it.
I’m quietly sad that she didn’t adjust the lyrics to have a Sydney-themed twist. “Karma is a cat purring in my lap” could easily have become “karma is a kangaroo, of which I’ve seen a few”.
Taylor Swift is certainly making the stadium sparkle as she performs Bejeweled (BCC Joe Alwyn).
The sad news is that we only have two songs left to round out the Midnights era and the Eras Tour show - Mastermind and Karma.
Travis Kelce, who is wearing a cute little matching shirt and short set, appears to have been wandering around a little during the concert.
He best be back from the bathroom, in his seat, and ready to sing his single line in Karma, in order to give this show the ending it deserves. You have one job, Travis.