Taylor Swift announces Melbourne and Sydney shows - has New Zealand missed out?

Taylor Swift has today announced she is set to tour Australia as part of her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, but Kiwis have quickly raised the most important question - is she going to come to New Zealand? 

The pop star announced at 4am today she has added tour dates in two major Australian cities. 

Between February 16 and February 25 next year, the Blank Space singer will perform two shows in Melbourne and three in Sydney. 

While the announcement has resulted in plenty of excitement for her Australian fans, her Kiwi fans wonder if a NZ announcement is on its way, or whether the country has been left off the list entirely. 

NZME radio station, ZM posted about the tour on social media this morning and many fans flocked to the comment section to share their thoughts. 

One said, “Does this mean we’re going to Sydney?” While another wrote, “Next year’s trip??” A third Kiwi fan added, “Only two cities in Australia? Surely more places going to be announced. But also I think I just died a little on the inside.” 

However while many fans appeared to be making plans to head across the ditch for the shows, most comments speculate that a New Zealand tour date - or dates - could be the next announcement from the 33-year-old singer. 

One person commented, “She’ll come to NZ I’m certain, and I’m going!”, another observant fan wrote, “surely that five-day break in the middle in NZ”, a third added, “Omg it’s getting close, it’s happening”. 

Unfortunately, fan hopes for a Swift and NZ reunion may have been crushed as a Frontier Touring representative replied to the Herald’s request for answers this morning, stating that there are no New Zealand dates for the hit tour. 

Photo / Getty

Swift is performing The Eras Tour - her first in five years - and it is on track to become the highest-grossing tour of all time. Recent predictions anticipate the shows will make US$591 million ($942m) for the US leg alone. 

What makes the show so special is its 44-song strong setlist that takes fans on a journey of Swift’s “eras”, from her first album to her last - including Lover, folklore, evermore and Midnights, which she has never performed before. 

Coming in at just over three hours, the concert is roughly twice the length of an average pop stadium show and is split into 10, non-chronological “eras” for each of her albums. 

As it stands, the star begins with Lover (she performs six songs from this album), then moves onto Fearless (three songs), evermore (five songs), reputation (four songs), Speak Now (one song), Red (four songs, including the 10-minute version of All Too Well), folklore (seven songs), 1989 (five songs), Taylor Swift (one song) and concludes with seven songs from Midnights. 

Photo / Getty

The multi-Grammy winner’s set also includes multiple costume changes to fit the aesthetic of her respective “eras”, with reputation considered her more edgy phase, while folklore represents bohemian whimsy. Some shows repeat costumes, while others have never-before-seen costumes. 

Variety reviewed Swift’s debut show in March, praising the cutting-edge use of technology including a “media-Cinemascope screen” that directly mirrors what’s happening onstage. 

Swift has visited Aotearoa three times before, first in 2012 as part of her Speak Now Tour, the second in 2013 as part of The Red Tour and most recently in 2018 as part of her Reputation Tour. 

Each show was at Auckland’s Vector Arena, now Spark Arena. More than 10,000 people attended each performance, which earned glowing reviews and fan fever. 

Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour - Melbourne and Sydney: February 16-25.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and republished here with permission.