Accor Stadium, Sydney
Monday 26 February 2024
Reviewer : Justine Grainger
Photographer : Justine Grainger / TAS Rights Management
It’s been near impossible to miss the Taylor Swift juggernaut as it cut its way through the country, regardless if you were a fan or not. Her Melbourne shows were all over the nightly Sydney news programs and daily newspapers, which only raised the anticipation in ticket holders. By the time she reached the NSW capital, it was fever pitch.
Seeing an artist at the peak of their career is something special, walking into a stadium of 84500 people screaming is going to be the closest thing I’ll ever experience to seeing Elvis or Beatle Mania. There’s an element of pure electricity emulating from the stadium. It’s an indescribable energy. To see thousands of teenage girls banding together as one enormous tribe was heartwarming. The outfits & bracelet swapping was a complete event all in itself.
As the countdown on the screen went to seconds I felt like I was being carried up the first incline of a roller coaster. The almighty scream that went out as it clicked over to 0.00 was like the free fall, no turning back now. Hands up, screaming and a full feeling of G (T) force was at an intensity I’d never experienced before, and probably won’t again. Once in a life time that’s for sure
On a personal note, I say to the people that bag Tay Tay out, well, if I had a daughter I’d be happy with them singing along to her music rather than The Radiators (‘Gimme Head’) & The Angels (“No Way, Get Fucked, Fuck Off“) songs I was singing to at their age.
The downside to this entire buildup….the swifties have absolutely NO gig etiquette. Unfortunately they come from a generation that’s so self absorbed it’s embarrassing. They stood up & filmed almost the entire 3 hours on their shitty phones and completely blocked everyone behind. The girl next to me was even shorter than I am, so she saw absolutely nothing. We mainly sat cause there was no point standing. We could not see Taylor even though we were only several rows back, the screen, nor hear much over the constant screaming. Who’d have thought I’d need ear plugs for the crowd & not the band.
That is really an issue for the stadium. If I’d paid $400+ for those seats I’d be absolutely furious. At the Pink concert in Newcastle, they made seated ticket holders sit, and fair call cause I actually was able to see it. If you want to stand, then buy standing tickets.
In saying all that, the twelvies would not care about any of this, they were just stoked to be able to brag to their mates that they were there. They had the proof by filming themselves singing along & blocking everyone’s view.
