Taylor Swift Has Her Sights Set on Breaking Ed Sheeran’s Australian Concert Record
When Australians woke to the news Wednesday morning (June 21) that Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour would head Down Under next February, one detail jumped off the page – her two shows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Swift’s run opens with concerts Feb. 16 and 17, 2024 at the MCG, followed by dates at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Feb. 23, 24 and 25.
The imposing stadium is the biggest of its kind in these parts, and has more history than a subscription to National Geographic. Built in 1853, the venue hosted the 1956 Olympic Games, and is used year-round. During the winter, it’s AFL and soccer, during the summer, cricket. And sometimes, concerts.
Few acts in the world can fill the MCG. Ed Sheeran can, and he did it twice during his visit to the Victorian capital in March for his The Mathematics Tour, setting a swag of national records.
The English pop superstar broke the Australian record for attendance at a ticketed concert with the first of those dates, with upwards of 105,000 tickets sold. The following night, he lifted the bar again when 109,500 Sheerios filled the stadium.
The combined attendance across those two shows, at almost 215,000, will take some beating, Billboard noted at the time.
Swift, with concerts at the same venue, over consecutive nights, could be the one to beat the record set by her bestie, Sheeran. Frontier Touring produced Sheeran’s tour of these parts, and is also behind Swift’s forthcoming trek.
As it stands, the two-city itinerary is a break from a typical Swift visit to Australia. Her last long haul, the Live Nation-produced Reputation Tour, visited stadiums in five cities across Australia and New Zealand in 2018, including Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.
TayTay’s return is bound to be a blockbuster; she smashes chart records here for a jolly.
Along the way, she became the first artist to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ARIA album, single and national airplay; and she has landed the most debuts in the top 10 of an ARIA Singles Chart with 9 of the top 10. Her most recent album, Midnights, was Swift’s 10th No. 1 album in Australia. Following its release last October, Midnight became the most streamed album in a week in ARIA history, while notching the biggest vinyl sales debut ever, selling over 10,000 vinyl units in week one.
American singer and actress Sabrina Carpenter is special guest artist on Swift’s tour of Australia.
The general on-sale starts Friday, June 30, and pre-sales open from Wednesday, June 28; VIP packages will be available from Monday, June 26.
Taylor Swift’s 2024 Australian dates:
Feb. 16 — Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Feb. 17 — Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Feb. 23 — Accor Stadium, Sydney
Feb. 24 — Accor Stadium, Sydney
Feb. 25 — Accor Stadium, Sydney
Lars Brandle
Billboard
