By Millie Muroi
MUSIC
Taylor Swift | Eras Tour ★★★★★
Accor Stadium, February 23
To journey through 18 years of Taylor Swift’s discography in 3½ hours is to take a trip down memory lane that leaves your heart pounding, especially when you throw in the threat of impending rain.
After watching Swift sell out and shake up stadiums across the US, Japan and, most recently, Melbourne, it’s been a very long time coming for Sydney fans, who haven’t been graced by her presence since 2018.
Not even heavy rain and lightning could spoil Taylor Swift’s first Sydney show. Credit: Wolter Peeters
Friday night’s show at Accor Stadium in Olympic Park got off to a less-than-ideal start, through no fault of Swift’s. Storm warnings, humidity and high temperatures had filled the city with an even greater sense of anticipation than the pop megastar’s presence. Just after 5.30pm, an hour before opening act Sabrina Carpenter was due to take to the stage, heavy rain and lightning strikes forced Swifties to evacuate from the stadium floor and take shelter in the indoor concourse.
Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long and crowds were respectful, well-behaved and seated just over an hour later. Unfortunately for Carpenter, her set was axed to help things stick to time in a show that famously runs like clockwork, though she did later grace the stage to perform a secret duet with Swift.
Swift’s entrance, only 15 minutes after her scheduled time, from within big, billowing, sunset-coloured petals, could have marked the opening of her abandoned Lover Fest tour, which was cancelled when the pandemic hit in 2020. Instead, she used it as the opener to her marathon Eras Tour (Sydney’s version).
Swift performs The Man, from the Lover era.Credit: Wolter Peeters
After telling Melbourne fans they were the “love of [her] life”, Swift had a tricky task of making the 81,000 people gathered in the harbour city feel as appreciated. But, as usual, she had a way with words.
“Here we are in one of the most exciting cities in the world on a Friday night,” she said, to an adoring crowd. “We might have a bit of a weather situation, with a bit of rain, but I’ve never seen an Aussie crowd let anything get in the way of having a good time. Sydney, you’re making me feel absolutely phenomenal right now.”
Swift’s more recent eras got the most airtime – except for 2012’s Red, which features crowd favourites like 22 and I Knew You Were Trouble, capped off with the now-beloved 10-minute version of All Too Well. In what has become a ritual for the tour, Swift handed the microphone to a dancer during We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, who responded with a local twist on the spoken lyric “like, ever”, opting for a cheeky “yeah, nah”.
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. In The Archer, Swift pointed to the crowd and sang “you could stay”, to a roar of cheers. Whether feigned or genuine, Swift’s apparent humility and shocked reactions to the cheers is endearing.
Swift’s pandemic album Evermore was the one album I never got into because of its slower pace and ghostly, wistful tone. But seeing it brought to life through a black-and-white theatrical performance in Tolerate It and on a piano for Champagne Problems – Swift underscored a depth to the songs I had failed to recognise. As usual, she was right and I was wrong.
If there was any point at which concertgoers took a seat, it was during these more reflective, downbeat eras. Folklore, which similarly softened the cadence of the concert, saw some Swifties attempt a speedy getaway to the bathroom. But catchy tunes like Betty foiled those plans for many.
The pacing of the show also ensured there was enough time to simmer in the sadness of serious songs, and surreal visual narratives, before being jolted into the more aggressive electropop hits of 2017’s Reputation.
During Blank Space, in the 1989 era, fans joined in on the viral “Sydney!” chant popularised during Swift’s tour of that album back in 2015. She later said she noticed the chant and that she had hoped the audience would do it.
During every show on this tour Swift plays an acoustic set featuring two surprise songs. The first was How You Get the Girl, from 1989, which she played on guitar. The second was something very special that few cities get to experience: a surprise duet.
When Swift sat down at the piano, she announced she was inviting someone out with her who had been cruelly impacted by the weather: Sabrina Carpenter.
“One of the times we were at the zoo, we really loved the Sydney Zoo, Sabrina mentioned to me there was a song that was really important to [her] as a kid,” Swift said. The two performed a mash-up of that song, White Horse, and Coney Island. It was an elegant move from Swift to shout out her hardworking opener, and one that made Sydney feel very, very special.
Swift didn’t spend as much time as in previous tours trying to connect with the audience through divulging backstories and personal anecdotes – unsurprising for a show with a 44-song set list. However, the sheer scale of the concert and the production, from choreography to immersive projections, and costume changes, made it just as entrancing.
Taylor Swift enchants Sydney.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Long-time Swifties with a soft spot for her classics may have been left craving more, with only a handful of songs from some of her earliest albums, Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010). But the reception to hits that did make it onto the list, including Love Story and Long Live, was reflected in real-time when Swift sang: “the crowds in the stands went wild”.
Swift left some of her best ideas for the end of the show. Midnights, her most recent work, was a goldmine for visual effects: a chessboard projected onto the stage with moving pieces depicted by dancers, and a giant projection of Swift knocking over skyscrapers and seeming to interact with the real, live Swift during Anti-Hero.
Shaking off her good-girl image in Vigilante Shit, Swift stunned the audience with a bold, sensual performance to the delight of fans – at least those unaccompanied by parents.
Swift has previously discussed the “dead day” she takes after each run of concerts: 24 hours in which she rests and recovers, largely by staying in bed. For Swifties who have made the trek to see her, and spent hours standing, belting and dancing at the Eras Tour, a dead day may be on cards for them, too. Well worth it, though.
After opening her final segment with giant, glowing storm clouds carted onto the stage during the moody Lavender Haze, Swift ended with triumphant anthems including Mastermind and Karma, in which she changed the lyrics to “karma is the guy on the Chiefs” in reference to her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who attended that night.
The Eras Tour is so tightly choreographed, and such a well-oiled machine, that it’s perhaps not surprising at this stage to hear how extraordinary a live show it actually is. But the fact Swift can deliver it 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.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour continues at Accor Stadium on February 24, 25 and 26.