After months of sleepless nights and a frenzy to secure tickets, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has finally arrived on Aussie stages. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably witnessed parts of the show through a grainy out-of-focus live stream from the other side of the world. If you’re not, congratulations on having a healthy sleep pattern.
From suspicious activity inside a cleaning cart to “the rainiest rain show that ever rain-showed” and ex-boyfriends (literally) backflipping down the stage, we’ve counted days and we’ve counted miles. But let’s count the iconic moments that really “hit different” from The Eras Tour so far.
Plus, we have some predictions for Swift’s upcoming Melbourne and Sydney shows – or as us Swifties would put it, let’s do some clowning.
The very first night
The opening night of The Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, marked the beginning of an entire new era in the Swift universe – the Eras era. We learned a few things that night: The Eras Tour would journey through 17 years of Swift’s music; the setlist comprised an astonishing 44 songs; and the show was over three hours long. It’s safe to say, this was the beginning of something quite enchanted.
Surprise album drops (Taylor’s version)
In Nashville on May 5, 2023, Swift announced during the acoustic set of the show, “I’ve been planning something for a while”. That’s when she dropped the release date of the highly anticipated Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). At her Los Angeles show on August 9, Taylor appeared on stage in a bunch of suspiciously new blue-themed costumes, and announced the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Is it over now? We’ll have to wait and see.
The cleaning cart
On the US leg of The Eras Tour, fans grew suspicious of a particularly large cleaning cart being wheeled to the stage before each show. Jokes spread online about Taylor being inside the cart, and one fan managed to capture evidence of the star exiting the conspicuously inconspicuous transport.
@kaleypett I've never felt so blessed and honored to be so close to this cleaning cart #taylorswift #erastour #tampa #cleaningcart ♬ original sound - Kaley Pettenger
Taylor Lautner (the good ex) appears
At a Kansas City show, Swift surprised the crowd with a live premiere of the music video for I Can See You. She also invited the cast who starred to join her on stage. That’s when Taylor Lautner (yes, the much-loved ex she famously wrote Back to December about) appeared backflipping his way down the stage. We can’t imagine Harry Styles doing that.
Champagne standing ovation
At a show in Los Angeles, Swift received a standing ovation of nearly eight minutes following her performance of Champagne Problems. It was the longest standing ovation of the tour so far, rendering the singer speechless. I reckon we can beat it, though, Australia.
The rainiest rain show
One thing you should know about Taylor Swift is that she loves to perform in the rain. However, at the show in Foxborough, Massachusetts, it rained for the entire three-hour performance, which Swift described as, “The rainiest rain show that ever rain-showed ever, ever, ever”. She added: “No-one ever expects you’re going to perform basically, like, in a shower.”
The “Swift quake”
You probably know Swifties are passionate. But did you know the fans at the Seattle show were dancing so hard to Blank Space and Shake It Off that they caused a literal earthquake? A 2.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded during the 1989 set of the show. Groundbreaking, really.
Bad Blood, security guard remix
At a show in Philadelphia, Taylor spotted a fan and a security guard in a heated exchange during Bad Blood. Midway through the song, she yelled through the mic, “Hey stop” and “She wasn’t doing anything”, somehow without missing a single beat of the song. The “remix” went viral on social media soon after. Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes, and there is definitely some bad blood between Swift and that security guard now.
Lights up for Marjorie
The tour features a song titled Marjorie, a tribute to Swift’s late grandmother who was an aspiring singer. Her grandmother’s vocals can be heard in the song’s backing track, echoing through the stadium as Swift sings, “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were singing to me now”. In the early stages of the US tour, fans banded together to light up the stadium during the performance of the song with their phone torches. Since then, fans have carried on the tradition at each show.
Replacing Invisible String for The 1
Following Swift’s break-up with actor Joe Alwyn, she made a tiny (and arguably sassy) tweak to her Folklore set. Rather than opening the set with Invisible String, which many fans believe to be about falling in love with Alwyn, she replaced it with The 1. Lyrics such as, “It would have been fun, if you would have been the one” led fans to believe the swap was very much intentional, and the song remains on the set list to this date.
Make the friendship bracelets
On Swift’s album Midnights, the song You’re On Your Own Kid became a fan favourite featuring the lyric, “Make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it”. Fans took this literally, and a movement of creating bracelets with Swift-related lyrics and sayings to swap and trade took off. Fans put their (literal) blood, sweat and tears into threading thousands of tiny beads for each show.
And what can we expect at Swift’s Australian shows?
Getaway Car and That’s When
During Swift’s brief-ish romance with Tom Hiddleston, the pair were spotted in Australia while the actor was filming Thor. Getaway Car was (allegedly) written about Hiddleston, and if Swift really did leave him at the motel bar in Australia, my money is on hearing this absolute masterpiece at one of our shows.
That’s When, a track from Fearless (Taylor’s Version), features Aussie star Keith Urban. The song hasn’t been played on the tour yet, so perhaps she’s been saving it for Down Under. (Bonus points if she brings him out on stage.)
Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement
Hear me out. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released on July 7, 2023. Exactly 112 days later on October 27, 2023, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released. And 112 days later brings us to February 16, 2024, the first Melbourne show. Coincidence? Don’t blame me if this theory turns out to be incorrect. But if Swift drops her next album announcement on this leg of the tour, I sure am ready for it.