Taylor Swift’s sell-out four-concert run began in Sydney in front of thousands of fans, including the prime minister, after a surprise late shower cooled the city down. Swift took to the stage at 7.50 pm at Accor Stadium in Olympic Park in Sydney’s west, with a balmy 30 degrees Celsius temperature following a sweltering 36 degrees Celsius earlier in the afternoon on Feb. 23. Heavy rain and lightning just before 6 pm caused parts of the arena to be temporarily evacuated and led to the cancellation of support act Sabrina Carpenter. However, the bad weather passed in time for Swift’s performance, slightly after the scheduled start time of 7.30 pm.
Many eager “Swifties”, some adorned in sparkly official merchandise, arrived early at Olympic Park before the gates opened at 4.30 pm for the Eras Tour. Despite being temporarily stopped from entering the venue due to wet weather, fans like Sophia Nott, 19, remained excited for the show. The stadium, which holds 80,000 people, is expected to host 320,000 attendees by the time Swift finishes the Sydney leg of her global tour. Nearly a third of the audience is coming from outside New South Wales (NSW), with the state anticipating an economic boost of $80 million (US$52.5 million) by the end of Swift’s performances.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the concert on the night of Feb. 23, joking earlier that he might be the least famous person in the crowd. Transport for NSW announced the addition of over 1,200 extra trains and buses over the four days of Swift’s shows to accommodate fans. Ticket prices for the sold-out concerts range from $79.90 (US$52.40) for cheap seats to $1249 (US$820) for top VIP packages. Merchandise pop-ups have also seen thousands of fans lining up to purchase Swift’s memorabilia.
Swift’s partner, NFL superstar Travis Kelce, arrived in Sydney on Feb. 22 to join the excitement surrounding the concerts. With each Australian show expected to bring in around $27 million (US$17.7 million) and Swift personally pocketing about $5 million (US$3.3 million) per performance, the Eras Tour is a massive success. Beginning in March 2023 and ending in December, the tour has already become the best-selling concert tour ever, exceeding $1 billion (US$0.6 billion) in ticket sales.