It was a rollercoaster of an evening on Friday (Feb. 23) for Taylor Swift because the singer kicked off her four-show stand at Sydney, Australia’s Accor Stadium in entrance of 81,000 soggy, decided Swifties. Earlier than the present may kick off, the stadium flooring and decrease bowl have been evacuated as a result of storms — and a nearby lightning strike — which meant that opening act Sabrina Carpenter‘s set was cancelled with a view to get Swift on stage in time.
“Please observe, as a result of climate, present begin time has been delayed. Keep undercover till additional discover and comply with venue screens and workers directions. Keep protected and keep in mind to be variety to these round you,” the venue introduced on X in describing the delay.
However, in line with the Sydney Herald, the present did go on, with Swift taking the stage simply earlier than 8 p.m. native, and sure, boyfriend Travis Kelce was in the home, accompanied by Swift’s dad, Scott Swift. The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish — carrying an electric blue, wildly patterned matching shorts and t-shirt combo –made his technique to his seats accompanied by the rabid screams and shouts from Swifties on the stadium flooring. Followers additionally obtained excited to see Rita Ora and Katy Perry (in addition to Rita’s husband director Taika Waititi and beloved Australian director Baz Luhrmann) sharing a non-public field and exchanging friendship bracelets with admirers; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was additionally in the home.
On to the present, although. In keeping with the Herald, Swift instantly nodded to the resiliency of her viewers, telling them, “We’ve slightly little bit of a climate state of affairs, slightly little bit of rain however I’ve by no means identified an Aussie crowd that permit something get in the best way!” Later, in what has change into a signature second within the set, Swift picked a nine-year-old named Scarlett — who was identified with an aggressive mind most cancers in October — because the recipient of her black hat throughout “22.”
The present progressed as normal after the storm delay, and the evening’s first shock track was “How You Get the Lady” from 2014’s smash 1989 album. “I form of choose the track for every particular person crowd and hope I get it proper,” Swift instructed the viewers of the track she first performed through the stripped-down portion of the evening in Atlanta final April.
Swift then introduced out Carpenter to assist her on a mash-up of Fearless‘ “White Horse” and Evermore‘s “Coney Island,” with Taylor telling the gang that Carpenter “heroically sacrificed her present, which I feel is a criminal offense in opposition to Sydney.” The singer additionally took a second through the shock piano acoustic part to shout out her new favourite vacation spot: the Sydney Zoo, which she visited the day earlier than with Kelce. “We actually love the Sydney Zoo – we’ve been 100 per cent of our days off right here,” Swift stated of her back-to-back visits. “I don’t suppose you guys don’t perceive how cool kangaroos actually are. They’re so cool, so robust, so bouncy.”
Swift’s Accor stand will proceed with reveals on Saturday (June 24), Sunday (June 25) and Monday (June 26) earlier than transferring on to Singapore on March 2.
