For Annabel Dyson, the opportunity to see Taylor Swift in Australia at the MCG means the world.
“She [Swift] has definitely been a huge presence in my life,” Ms Dyson told The New Daily, after Swift sent her fans into a frenzy with the announcement that her huge The Eras Tour would come to Australia in early 2024.
Although Ms Dyson is a little on edge about securing tickets, she is already co-ordinating a plan on how to get her seats and is ready to go in with “guns blazing”.
“It’s exciting to see that she’s actually not with Ticketmaster. She’ll be with Ticketek for Australia. That I feel great about,” she said.
“I have been chatting to my sister about, ‘What’s the best time? Who’s the best person to get tickets?’. I was already waking my cousin at about seven o’clock this morning to try and see if I could borrow his Amex [card] to try and get presale.”
The multi-award-winning, record-breaking singer-songwriter will play two shows at Melbourne’s MCG and three shows at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
“God, my poor co-workers this morning had to listen to me go on and on and on about how delighted I was,” Ms Dyson said.
Swift will be in Australia from February 16 to 25, before she jets off to Singapore.
On her US leg of The Eras Tour, Swift has performed in front of thousands, with some even gathering outside sold-out stadiums to hear her play.
It has long been anticipated she would bring her tour, which features songs from her entire discography, to Australia, with rumours circulating months ago that she would be performing at the MCG.
‘She keeps things exciting’
Ms Dyson said the tour announcement has been a long time coming, so she was very excited about the prospect of seeing Swift in concert.
She has been keeping up with Swift’s US shows, but thinks each show is different.
“I think she keeps things exciting. Each show has a bit of a special element with her surprise songs, which are awesome, and she’s been changing up costumes,” she said.
“So I feel like sort of there’s something a little bit different to every show.”
Teardrops On My Guitar was released by Swift in 2006 and it was the first song Ms Dyson heard. However, she has never had the chance to see Swift live.
Each album Swift has released represents a different “era” to her and her fans, and with every era there’s new costumes and elaborate set designs.
Jaime Christopher found out Swift would be coming to Australia when a friend messaged him. He said it was nice finding out the news that way, knowing he and his friend would be going together.
“I’ve gone back and looked at set lists [and] she puts in a lot of effort into each set. You get different experiences for each set, not just one simple concept where she’s just up on stage performing,” he said.
Swifties confident about tickets
When tickets for Swift’s US shows went on sale, there were several problems, with people being unable to snap up tickets and Ticketmaster’s site crashing during the pre-sale.
However, Mr Christopher is confident he will be able to get tickets to one of the shows.
“I’m not very keen on [having to be] watching the show from the mosh pit, or the stands, I just want to get tickets and go for the show,” he said.
“I just want to be there because I know I’ve experienced it regardless.”
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Tickets will range from $79 to $379 and there will be a limit of four per person.
Swift has some very loyal Australian fans, and Ms Dyson says it’s almost infectious to be a Swiftie.
“I am definitely a big fan of Taylor Swift, but I feel like I’m even a bigger fan of fans of Taylor Swift,” she said.
“It’s just like community and their enthusiasm is really, really exciting and kind of infectious to be a part of.”
