The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift fans are famously passionate people, as demonstrated in that viral video of one Swiftie sobbing over the pop star’s surprise song performance of “Exile” at one of her Eras Tour shows in Sydney.

But while some people may criticize such displays of emotion, especially where celebrities such as Swift are concerned, Madison Blackband — the fan featured in the clip — feels no need to apologize for being herself. “There’s no point letting it upset me,” the 20-year-old Brisbane local told Rolling Stone Wednesday (Feb. 28) of the negative reactions she’s encountered since going viral. “I reacted the way I reacted.”

“That’s just me,” she continued. “I’m just a passionate person. The opinion of people thinking that it’s embarrassing and stuff doesn’t mean anything to me because I never thought it was and I’m not going to think it is now just because someone says I should. I understand why people are laughing at it. I laughed at the video myself once I first watched it back.”

In the video, which has since been critiqued and repurposed into various memes countless times on X, Blackband sits outside of Accor Stadium between two friends. When she hears Swift play the opening notes of her Folklore Bon Iver duet, she collapses into one friend’s lap and starts bawling loudly and uncontrollably.

“My reaction to Taylor singing Exile (also known as the song that saved my life),” she captioned the video, which she originally posted on TikTok Sunday (Feb. 25).

“I posted it intending it for like 200 people, not millions,” Blackband explained to the publication. “[Exile] means a lot to me. It’s a song I’ve listened to when I needed anything, as a distraction or to keep me focused. It’s like a safety blanket.”

Swift wrapped up her four-night stint in Sydney Monday (Feb. 26), closing out the Eras Tour‘s Australian leg, which also included three shows in Melbourne the week prior. Next up, the “Anti-Hero” singer will set up shop in Singapore for six nights beginning March 2 at National Stadium.

In a recent Instagram post, Swift reflected on her stay in Sydney, which she described as “a whirlwind of endless magical moments.” “I’m so grateful that we got to be the first tour to play Accor Stadium 4 times,” she wrote. “I’ll never forget singing with Sabrina [Carpenter], the chaotic acoustic mashups, and the crowds that were louder (singing AND screaming) than I thought humanly possible.”

See Blackband’s viral video below.

The Australian leg of the Eras Tour was just as memorable for Taylor Swift as it was for fans. 

A couple days after closing out her final show in Sydney, the 34-year-old pop star showered the hundreds of thousands of Swifties she performed for at Accor Stadium with gratitude in a heartfelt Instagram post Wednesday (Feb. 28). “Sydney, Sydney, Sydney, Sydney…,” the star began, sharing a carousel of photos of her and her dancers performing onstage. “What a whirlwind of endless magical moments with you.” 

“I’m so grateful that we got to be the first tour to play Accor Stadium 4 times,” she continued. “I’ll never forget singing with Sabrina, the chaotic acoustic mashups, and the crowds that were louder (singing AND screaming) than I thought humanly possible.” 

Swift’s Feb. 23-26 string of shows was certainly full of surprises, from her announcing “The Albatross” version of The Tortured Poets Department to the “Anti-Hero” singer’s sweet “White Horse” duet with opener Sabrina Carpenter. And, as she pointed out, the musician’s batch of surprise songs at Accor was truly chaotic, with the 14-time Grammy winner melding tracks from her early albums with deep cuts from her more recent works almost every night. 

For instance, Swift mixed her Fearless fan-favorite “Forever & Always” with Midnights track “Maroon” on Feb. 26. (Some fans are convinced that her seemingly random selections are actually hints that the many bonus versions of Tortured Poets will represent the five stages of grief, a theory that emerged on social media during the musician’s time Down Under.) 

“I want to thank all of the Aussie fans for being so positive and passionate, so funny and wild and FUN,” Swift added in her post. “Love you forever.” 

Outside of her performances, Swift also took time to enjoy the city. She went to the Sydney Zoo twice, and was joined on her second visit by Travis Kelce, who later watched one of his superstar girlfriend’s shows alongside Katy Perry and Rita Ora. The tight end also accepted friendship bracelets from fans and passed out guitar picks to the crowd. 

Swift’s four-night stint in Sydney followed the Eras Tour’s three shows in Melbourne. Next, the “Karma” artist will set up shop in Singapore for six shows beginning March 2 at National Stadium, where Carpenter will again serve as opener. 

Taylor Swift was full of new surprises in Sydney, Australia.

On Saturday (Feb. 23), the second night of her Eras Tour stint at Accor Stadium, the pop superstar — who at each tour date performs two tracks that are not often heard during the show — delivered another pair of mashups during the acoustic section of her set.

For her first surprise track of the evening, Swift performed a mashup of “Should’ve Said No,” from her 2006 self-titled debut, and “You’re Not Sorry,” from 2008’s Fearless. The second mashup featured the singer sitting down at the piano for a medley of Reputation‘s “New Year’s Day” and “Peace” off Folklore.

Friday’s show also found Swift announcing a third edition of her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, titled “The Albatross,” which features a limited bonus song of the same name. She dropped the news during her nightly surprise song section before bringing out opener Sabrina Carpenter to assist in singing a mashup of “White Horse” and “Coney Island.”

These aren’t the first mashups Swift has performed during the surprise songs portion of her Eras Tour concerts. The first unexpected medley arrived during her Feb. 17 show at Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground, where she gave a three-song mashup of “Getaway Car,” “August” and “The Other Side of the Door.”

“I just really want you to be happy because you’re making me happy,” the pop star told Swifties before the medley. “So I figured you might want to hear this one, let me know though.”

The following evening, Swift combined “Come Back… Be Here” from her Red era with Lover closing track “Daylight” at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

During the Feb. 18 show, Swift also issued a PSA about getting “creative” with the surprise songs. The singer previously told fans she’s given herself permission to repeat songs she’s already played this tour for the trek’s international leg, which she’s currently on. But she’s still set on bringing some element of chaos to her nightly song choices.

“That was to challenge me to really get to all the ones that I just don’t naturally gravitate towards, and I feel really proud about having done that,” Swift said at the Melbourne show, referring to her original plan to avoid surprise song repeats throughout the tour.

“But this is sort of a public service announcement to everyone who might be anywhere else on the tour, or whatever, or watching this — we have a lot of people, we’re very lucky to have a lot of people watch this on the internet and care about these shows if they’re not here,” she continued. “I’ve just been kind of rethinking, and I’ve been thinking I want to be as creative as possible with the acoustic set moving forward.”