Melbourne In Their Era’s Era

Photograph from TAS Rights Management

I’ve never seen a city like this. Over the past week in the lead-up to the Eras tour, each day, there would be small or big acts of kindness and appreciation towards the global phenomenon ahead of Taylor Swift’s arrival in Melbourne.

Growing up listening to Taylor, I still remember my first show on the Speak Now tour. From the age of 7, I knew Taylor was special. Her dedication to music, love for her fans, leaving Easter eggs and putting on an incredible show every single night, I could not think of any other artist on this same level.

12 years later I’m on my way to the MCG to see Swift perform to her biggest crowd yet (96k to be exact) on the world’s most talked about tour, The Eras Tour. The abundance of glitter, friendship bracelets, and INCREDIBLE craftsmanship amongst the fans spending hours/days/months on their outfits for this special night.

There were kiosks for fans to take photos, crowded merch stands, friendship bracelet trading everywhere you looked and most importantly, fans would compliment each other’s outfits no matter what they were wearing, which I thought was the most special of all.

To begin the evening, we were treated to the one and only Sabrina Carpenter! The stadium was already packed out with fans so eager to see the pop star after years of listening to her music. Rocking her iconic platform boots and mini dresses with her beautiful long hair, the star won everyone over within the first song. Her vocals, songwriting and stage presence were outstanding, especially since these are her first shows in Australia!

One special moment was when Carpenter came to the end of the stage and sang ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ by the late Olivia Newton-John. The stadium couldn’t love her more.

After the high and absolute ball dancing and singing with Carpenter, it was only a matter of minutes before Taylor approached the stage.

Whether you had watched the film in cinemas beforehand because you couldn’t wait (like me) or were completely going in blind not knowing what to expect, the stadium was mad with excitement. Tears were being shed, screams were exchanged and tight hugs between fans as they couldn’t believe their dreams were coming true.

The clock struck midnight and Taylor was approaching the stage. As a creative, every detail, costume and effect was BEAUTIFUL. I was in absolute awe the entire evening. The dancers came out with massive cape-like structures over their backs creating stunning fans as they hid Taylor to come out from the bottom of the stage. Screams were through the roof as she sang “It’s been a long time coming but..” (I screamed a little too, okay a lot). The whole of Melbourne would have felt the energy from the stadium, as everyone sang along.

We went through a journey of “18 years of music” in the eras of Lover, Fearless, Evermore, Reputation, Red, Speak Now, Folklore, 1989 and Midnights. And boy, it did not feel like 3 and a half hours of music, that’s how good it was.

After everyone sang their hearts out to ‘Cruel Summer’, Taylor took a moment to take in the crowd, and boy it was so amazing to watch. Tears welling up, Swift couldn’t believe she gets to perform for 96k people three times in a row.

We were brought into Fearless shortly after Lover when we got to go back to high school and sing along to the songs we grew up with. We were treated to ‘Fearless’, ‘You Belong With Me’, and ‘Love Story’ where everyone roared to the songs that brought Taylor to stardom.

Next is ‘Evermore’; you could tell fans had been waiting for this one. Swift performed ‘Tis The Damn Season’, ‘Willow’, ‘Marjorie’, ‘Tolerate It’ and most importantly ‘Champagne Problems’. This was a special one to watch, as fans roared the lyrics with Taylor and expressed their love for the artist with a 5-minute standing ovation. It could have gone longer, as Taylor teared up and struggled to comprehend the mass of love pouring out to her in this moment. Without a doubt this was well deserved.

Next up, we were taken to the world of ‘Reputation’ and this was a personal favourite. The sound of footsteps approaching, snake hisses and echoes of “Reputation” sent the stadium into chaos. Performing hits ‘Ready For It’, ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, ‘Don’t Blame Me’ and my favourite ‘Delicate’. The choreography that synced with the visuals on the stage was incredible. Taylor would stomp and the stage would shatter perfectly in time, absolutely AMAZING.

Then I was taken back to my first ever Taylor show as she came out in her purple princess gown singing ‘Enchanted’ and ‘Long Live’. I had deja vu, remembering the time Taylor flew around the arena on her balcony as a young girl, it was a very special moment. Seeing girls the same age I was when I first saw her, falling in love with her all over again. It’s safe to say I got a little teary.

Then we got to sing our hearts out to our favourite dance and breakup songs, with the song that re-defined the new iconic birthday ’22’. One lucky TikToker from New Zealand, Oliver Mills received the hat. Taylor gave him the biggest hug and explained how she loves his videos and it was just so special. I have been watching Oliver since he started and it couldn’t have gone to a better person. Then we sang along to ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, and ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ where dancer Kam N. Saunders said “No” in an Aussie accent, sending the fans into hysteria. Along the ICONIC ‘All Too Well, 10 Minute Version’, We all knew all the words too, screaming “F*ck the patriarchy” and “It’s supposed to be fun turning 21”.

Shortly after we were brought into the world of Folklore. One of the most iconic genre-shifting albums from the artist, we got to sing along to the narrative of the teenage love triangle in ‘Betty’, hear the iconic note change in ‘The One’, dance along to ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’, where I was in awe of the costumes and the Folklore Cabin. Taylor then ran around the diamond, spinning in her beautiful white fairy dress to the lyrics of ‘August’. Then most importantly, scream out hearts out to ‘Illicit Affairs’ and ‘My Tears Ricochet’. Lastly, we were treated to the iconic ‘Cardigan’.

For an even more iconic genre shift, we went back to Taylor’s first pop era and sang our hearts out to hits from ‘1989’. In the pink sparkly set, Taylor shimmied and side-stepped her way through ‘Style’, ‘Blank Space’ where the crowd chanted “Sydney” as Taylor used to during the bridge from her 1989 tour, we clapped and bounced our way through ‘Shake It Off’ and sung our hearts out to ‘Wildest Dreams’ and ‘Bad Blood’ filling in for Kendrick Lamar along the way.

This next part was where I ascended into heaven. We entered the acoustic set, filled with nerves, anticipating the two songs that Taylor was going to surprise us with. We know Taylor is notorious for stalking us on social media, looking at what we would love to hear during these sets, and Taylor delivered. Before she began singing the first song she said “I hope I got this right” and she did. As soon as she sang “No, nothing good starts in a getaway car” we lost it. Being one of my all-time favourite songs, I couldn’t have thought of a better song to surprise the crowd with, and the rest of the stadium was in agreeance. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better we got a mashup with ‘August’ and ‘The Other Side Of The Door’. As she walked over to the piano, we knew she was about to kill us even more, when she treated us to ‘This Is Me Trying’, the most perfect combo you could ever get for surprise songs.

As she dove into the stage after sending us into hysteria, she swam her way into ‘Midnights’. Dancing around in her lavender sparkly t-shirt and fluffy jacket Swift grooved along to ‘Lavender Haze’ and we said “Hi” to Taylor during ‘Anti Hero’. Then things got a little more serious as we were mesmerised by the choreography of ‘Vigilante Shit’ ‘Bejewelled’ and ‘Mastermind’. The crowd spun around and twinkled their fingers during every “Shimmer” and sang their hearts out to the bridge of Mastermind. Lastly, the fringe jackets were on and we were sent out with an incredible performance of ‘Karma’. With dancers twirling in different coloured tinsel jackets, fireworks going off in the sky and confetti falling to the ground, we all couldn’t believe that we just experienced the Eras Tour.

This was a night that no one will EVER forget and I will treasure the memories I made for the rest of my life, as so will everyone else. Thank you, Taylor, for always going above and beyond for us, you are the world’s greatest person.