Taylor Swift first entered my life in 2008. I was sitting on the floor of my older cousin’s bedroom as she blasted the newly released Fearless album on repeat. At only seven, I had never heard country music before and, naturally, I didn’t quite grasp exactly what she was singing about. Still, in a rubicon shift, it became my favourite album that summer and her subsequent albums have played background music to my life ever since.
But even with my seasoned credentials as a Swiftie, I was taken aback by the insanity of The Eras Tour when it overtook Australia.
Media coverage was relentless, hotels were booked to capacity and retailers were capitalising on the sudden demand for sequins and cowgirl boots. Melbourne's Flinders Street Station was even lit up with Swift’s likeness and the trains to Sydney's Olympic Park were rebranded the Tay-Tay Express. Taylor-mania was inescapable.
The fandom itself was in no less of a frenzy, with a flurry of costume-making and friendship bracelet-beading in the lead-up to Swift’s biggest show ever. From experience, I know their dedication to Swift often spans both decades and distance.
Longtime fan Renee Thierry attended the show in both Melbourne and Sydney. In their household, Swift’s music is as lasting as tradition and, like with many Swifties, The Eras Tour was considered akin to time travel.
“There’s so much nostalgia there for me," Thierry says.
"I’m 21. When I was listening to this music, I was eight, nine years old and now I’m enjoying it the same so many years later and it was just [as] amazing,” they say.
I also had the privilege of attending Swift’s first show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and while Swift can be a controversial public figure, as a performer she is undeniably infallible.
Her previous shows were notorious for their elaborate stage designs, intricate visuals and various surprises like celebrity guests. But Swift’s earlier tours were child’s play compared to the colossal, three-and-a-half-hours-long extravaganza that is The Eras Tour.
In short, Swift is a chameleon, staging a performance that takes us from lovestruck to despairing, from weeping to dancing — perhaps at the same time — all in one night. It’s impossible to capture in holistic fashion, so we must break it down, as Swift does, one era at a time.
Lover
It’s been a long time coming are the first words of the night. With Swift nowhere in sight, the words ring out like a siren’s call. Her dancers emerge on stage wearing towering tapestry fans as the pastel pink dreamscape of Lover unfolds.
It’s been a long time coming. The excitement in the stadium feels like lightning, waiting to strike at the moment all is revealed. At the centre of the stage, Swift’s dancers fold their gigantic fans over each other like petals on a flower, before unfurling suddenly to reveal …
Taylor Swift, in the flesh. The crowd explodes.
The opening of The Eras Tour is nothing short of sentimental as Swift sings out “it’s you and me, that’s my whole world” – lyrics from "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" – to her fans. Her presence is instantly commanding.
When she moves onto Lover sleeper hit "Cruel Summer", she invites the audience to sing the bridge with her, and they respond in shouts so deafening it threatens to drown out her own voice.
After another two songs to keep the momentum going, Swift finally pauses to greet the gargantuan, 96,000 strong, sold-out stadium and invite them along with her on a voyage through her life’s work.
“I am overjoyed to get to say these words to you right now. Melbourne, welcome to The Eras Tour."
The anxious build-up of ticketing sorrows, stressful merchandise shopping and bracelet-beading nightmares make the words sound so surreal. The moment isn’t lost on Swift either, who in her own pinch-me moment tells the fans “this is the biggest show that we have done on this tour or any tour, ever”.
With the gravity of the moment established, she wraps up her first era with the romantic "Lover" and the emotionally charged "The Archer", and The Eras Tour is officially underway.
Fearless
We are brought back to the very start for Swift’s next set, Fearless.
She struts out onto the stage dressed in a gold flapper dress with a rhinestone guitar slung across her shoulder. For her older fans, the look is a clear call back to her first tour — 15 years ago.
As the "Fearless" guitar riff fills the stadium, the resurrection of Swift’s country past is in full swing. From the spins and dance moves to the accompaniment of her original band from 2009, it’s clear that the purpose of this era is to tease out feelings of nostalgia.
Swift finishes the song by raising her hands in the air to form a heart, it’s another bygone symbol of the Fearless era, and the fans adore it. The massive crowd needs no instruction to raise their hands back in unison.
Swift closes out the set with two more hits, "You Belong with Me" and "Love Story". The songs are the oldest from her repertoire that she’ll perform, as she has chosen to forego her 2006 self-titled album, but they are obvious crowd-pleasers nevertheless.
Evermore
The second of Swift’s indie-folk pandemic albums, Evermore has a more rustic ambience than the preceding country tunes.
"Willow", Evermore’s lead single, is given a witchy makeover as Swift and her dancers — all donning emerald capes — perform a seance with the audience through an eerie chant of lyrics. The excellent stage choreography on the tour is particularly highlighted in this number, with haunting and flowy movements enhancing Swift’s sorceress motif.
During "Marjorie", fans get to share a touching moment with Swift by collectively illuminating the stadium with their phone lights, to honour her late grandmother, whom the song is about.
When Swift takes to her piano, she addresses the crowd again: “We have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?”
It’s the standard chat she has with her fans in each city, that is, until she brings up her upcoming album.
“You have no idea how excited I am for my new album, Tortured Poets’ Department ... We might talk about that a little bit later,” Swift says.
The crowd erupts, myself included. Could we be in for a classic Swift surprise?
Before chaos can ensue, Swift enters into a rendition of Evermore favourite "Champagne Problems", to which she receives a long and thunderously loud standing ovation. She rounds out the set with "Tolerate It", a crushing piano ballad whose lyrics are acted out cinematically by Swift on stage.
Reputation
Whether by fate or Swiftian design, night falls just in time for Swift’s aesthetically darkest album Reputation, and it’s evident from the get-go that this album was made for a stadium tour.
Bright, flashing stage lights and heavy, thumping beats dominate the first song, "...Ready For It", compelling the audience to rise to their feet.
When Swift begins "Delicate", the Swifties unanimously cheer the infamous “1, 2, 3, let’s go b****” fan chant. It’s one of many fan interaction moments on the tour and it began as a video online before catching on with the rest of the fandom, and even Swift herself, during her Reputation world tour.
As Swiftie veteran Renee Thierry says: “It’s interesting that it started as an insular Swiftie thing on Twitter ... and now because Taylor expects it, she would listen out for it … and it’s this moment where [she’s] ... singing to us and we get to contribute as well."
Swift then flexes her vocals on "Don’t Blame Me", a song so powerful and church-like that it’s akin to gospel. "Look What You Made Me Do" closes out this era and is fitted with additional electric guitar instrumentation that noticeably packs a stronger punch than its original recorded version.
Speak Now
In a whiplash-inducing move, Swift trades out the snakes for sparkles when she re-emerges for Speak Now. She floats down the stage in a lilac ball gown for an ethereal performance of "Enchanted".
Notably, "Enchanted" was never made a single during the original release of Speak Now in 2010. But in 2021, it gained virality on TikTok, earning a peak position of 27 on Australian charts. The song’s late emergence is material proof of Swift’s timeless songwriting talent.
After sliding a guitar over her gown, Swift begins "Long Live", the only other song in the set. It’s worth it though. The song occupies a special place in Swiftie hearts, as one written for the fans.
“Long live all the magic we made,” Swift croons, before disappearing once again.
Red
The 90-minute mark is typically where the final bows and encores come, but at The Eras Tour we’re only half way.
Swift ushers in the next era, Red, with the upbeat "22", skipping across the stage with her team of dancers in tow. As a longtime Swiftie and 22-year-old, hearing the song live may be the closest thing I get to a religious experience.
The standout of this era is, unsurprisingly, "All Too Well" (the 10-minute version, of course).
"All Too Well" is significant not only because it is consistently ranked as Swift’s best song, but also because this version is the only ‘vault song’ on the setlist. For those unaware, vault songs are previously unreleased songs added to the re-released versions of Swift’s albums as bonus tracks.
The re-releases have played an understated but crucial role in the viability of The Eras Tour. The "Taylor’s Versions" albums provided Swift with an unprecedented opportunity to introduce her older catalogue to new and younger fans, creating renewed interest in decade-old songs and albums.
Thierry says that without the re-records, a lot of younger and new fans wouldn’t have been introduced to her older albums.
"And the way that she's pieced it all together is just so amazing to me, because she has 15 years of music, and everybody wants to hear every single era.”
In "All Too Well", Swift anguishes over the frozen memories of a failed relationship.
“I was there, I was there,” she sings. For most of the stadium, we remember being there too in 2012, when the song was first released.
But there’s also a toddler sitting in front of me, and while I’m dubious as to whether she was there then, it’s clear that she’s there now.
Folklore
We embark on our Folklore journey in peculiar fashion, with a spoken-word poem (crafted from lyrics) being read out to the stadium. The set presents a lull in pace, allowing many concert-goers, understandably, to take a seated break. However, fatigue is yet to catch me as this is my most anticipated set of the tour.
Swift materialises atop the roof of a mossy wooden cabin to sing "The 1", a song that finds her stoically ruminating on a past relationship.
Unlike Swift’s previous diaristic work, fictitious songwriting is the staple of Folklore.
“Historically, I have tended to write autobiographical songs about my own life … [but] with Folklore I was like … I am going to create characters and they’re going to fall in love and break up and have feelings,” she explains.
Indeed, during Folklore she wears many masks. On the harmonica-laced country tune "Betty", Swift is a teenage boy apologising to his ex-girlfriend. On "The Last Great American Dynasty", she sings from the perspective of a 1950s American socialite, surrounded by dancers dressed for a soiree.
The breezy instrumentation of "August" gets the crowd collectively swaying before Swift transitions into the bridge of "Illicit Affairs". It’s one of the most emotionally raw moments of the concert, with Swift falling to her knees as she fervently calls out lyrics. She keeps the emotional tensions high with the next song, "My Tears Ricochet", which is about betrayal and which she spits out with venomous vigour.
Folklore is as entrancing as a daydream and with the audience captivated, Swift returns to the cabin. She gives us a final glance before turning away and this chapter comes to an end.
1989
The familiar electric guitar riff of "Style" opens the 1989 era, quickly snapping the audience out of their Folklore reverie.
One of her most commercially successful eras, the 1989 set is so dominated by hits that even the most Swift-adverse can sing along. On "Blank Space", she references her famed music video by twirling around a golf club while singing out a warning about boys and torture.
On "Shake It Off", you can palpably feel the MCG quake as the audience grooves to the brass-laden tune.
Finally, on "Bad Blood" she ignites the stage — literally — with a showing of pyrotechnics.
As the lights dim on the 1989 set, there’s a rustle of restlessness amongst the fans, and then we enter Swift's “favourite part of the night”.
Acoustic set
For the most part, The Eras Tour runs like clockwork, with every move choreographed down to a flick of Swift’s hand. But the acoustic set is a moment of spontaneity, where any song can be played and, on extra-special nights, surprise album announcements can be made.
“The surprise songs are a moment where it's just you and Taylor, it's your night, and only those people in the room get to have that experience,” Thierry says.
Swift typically plays two random songs from her extensive repertoire. Our first surprise song of the night is "Red" (the title track of her 2012 album), which receives an approving cheer. Swift then moves onto the piano, but unexpectedly veers off script. She begins talking about the upcoming Tortured Poets’ Department.
“So I was talking to you earlier about the albums …”
The crowd seizes up, could tonight be one of those aforementioned extra special nights?
“I wanted to show you something tonight," Swift says, "because you’ve just been the best that you can possibly be.”
A never-before-seen, alternate cover of Swift’s upcoming album flashes on the screen.
The crowd loses it. While we scream out our disbelief, Swift begins her second song, this time it’s Midnights' bonus track "You’re Losing Me", and it’s the first time anyone has ever heard the song played live.
Unsurprisingly, the shock lingers even after Swift concludes the song.
Midnights
The lightning bolt of madness has injected a burst of energy into the crowd, as we enter the night’s concluding leg. Swift arises for the final time, calm and collected, for her newest era, Midnights. The era is coloured in more mature tones, but still possesses that signature Swift sparkle.
"Lavender Haze" paints the stadium purple while she coolly sings over a pounding bass-line. "Anti-Hero" is kept toned down, but "Midnight Rain" dazzles with an onstage costume change.
Choreography takes centre stage in "Vigilante Shit", with a cell-block tango-esque number during which Swift adopts a more risque persona. For "Bejeweled", the LED stage comes alive with a rainbow of gems for a twinkling candy-pop moment of fun.
After a rendition of "Mastermind", the spotlight finds Swift and we can sense the night coming to an end.
“Melbourne, I’m never going to forget tonight. You are unbelievable," she says. "Do you have time for one more song?”
In equal parts elation and heartache, we applaud Swift’s marathon effort tonight as she begins the final song, "Karma". It’s a triumphant track to leave us on a high.
Above our heads, fireworks burst and confetti rains down. Swift calls out her love for us and we respond with ours for her. There are cheers and tears as she waves her goodbye. The drums crescendo and the lights go wild. And then she’s gone.
When the dust settles, a lyric from "Karma" rings in my ears. Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here. After tonight, I think it’s a rhetorical question.