Taylor Swift: The Eras tour Melbourne show review – eye-popping spectacle from a generous performer

Taylor Swift at the first Australian Eras tour show in Melbourne at the MCG on 16 February. ‘What other musician has inspired this level of fanaticism since, dare I say it, the Beatles?’ Photograph: TAS Rights Management

When Taylor Swift first played in Melbourne 15 years ago, it was to an audience of 900. This week in the city, the US megastar performs for a quarter of a million.

Love her or hate her, there’s no denying it: Australia is in the thick of Swiftmania. Leading up to the hotly anticipated Australian leg of Swift’s Eras Tour, Melbourne was lit up with it all, from a Swift-themed academic symposium to a pop-up merchandise stand at Crown, to a projection on Flinders Street Station welcoming Swifties to town – with the clock striking 13, naturally.