12. The Mastermind
EVERYBODY STAY CALM! Miss Americana is on Australian turf and I MUST speak on her visit here down under. It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Taylor, although that hasn’t always been the case. Much like a lot of the world back in the early 2010s I had a vendetta against Swift and believed the horrible things the tabloids were saying about her. As I have previously mentioned on the blog, I was also a major fan of One Direction (and am still holding out hope for a reunion tour). When Harry Styles and Taylor were dating my hate for her was only fuelled and I was a stroppy teenager who wished she were the one dating Harry. I look back embarrassed at how I viewed Taylor, especially because now I can’t love her any more than I already do.
Taylor’s songwriting is intense, and clever, transcending generations and inspiring many. Honestly, it’s unmatched (see ‘my tears ricochet’). In 2019 I listened to Taylor’s entire discography, immediately regretting my ignorance of the past decade. I listened to her music exclusively, re-watched the Reputation Tour on Netflix, and patiently waited for the day she returned to Australia. On June 30, I purchased tickets to the Eras Tour and cried. Last week the time had come, the best night of my life was nigh.
Naturally, I wore a hot pink, sequined, and sparkling mini dress, took hours on my hair and makeup, self-tanned, and prepared to cry all my hard work away. I attended Melbourne, show two at the MCG along with 96,000 others, and proudly bounced on the floor all night. I’m not kidding when I say that woman is a goddess, I saw it with my own eyes. The show lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes, with barely any breaks in between, a display of pure athleticism, endurance, and outstanding performance.
Although Taylor is in my Pass Basket (a term coined by the Shameless podcast where allocated celebrities can do no wrong), I am aware she is not perfect. The Eras Tour show, however, is utterly perfect. From a performance perspective, the visuals, choreography, lighting, music (obvs), the band and backup singers, the dancers, and the staging, made me feel like I had ascended into heaven.
With Taylor taking us on a journey through 18 years of music and her 10 eras, the costumes are iconic in themselves, excited fans wait to see what colour sparkly set she dons for the 1989 era. If you got the pink set, you know you’re in for songs made of gold in the surprise acoustic set that follows. At my concert, we had just that. The noise in the stadium, that I shamelessly contributed to, was quite simply insane. The love for Taylor in Australia has been enormous, let alone the whole world. Plus she won the Superbowl. Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, and the women taking over the world.
Instead of me blabbering on more about my idol, @cheekmedia.co says it best on Instagram;
“The experiences we’ve had in the last year, between the Tillies and Barbie and Taylor and beyond, should feel this consistently good. Women should have entire industries marketing experiences towards us, we should be empowered to feel good and to have the things we enjoy be invested in. These should not feel like tiny, fleeting moments but that we live in a world interested in telling our stories and dedicating space to our enjoyment. This should be the new normal.”
To be a good writer and approach this more neutrally, see academics exploiting the implications of Taylor’s writing, touring, and existing in society; https://swiftposium2024.com/
