TONIGHT, the biggest pop star in the world will play her first Australian The Eras Tour concert in Melbourne, and Bendigo fans have been getting excited.<\/p>\n
The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift has never been more celebrated, and several of Swift\u2019s albums took all top five spots this week on the Australian Recording Industry Association\u2019s list of Top 50 Albums.<\/p>\n
Donna Bridgeman said the star has been a topic her family has bonded over for more than a decade, starting with her going to Swift\u2019s Fearless tour in 2010 with her then 10-year-old daughter and her daughter\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two of them just screamed along with 2000 other girls at the first concert,\u201d said Ms Bridgeman.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been to every concert since. It\u2019s been a long drought, over five years waiting for the next tour, so many albums released and no tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Bridgeman said it was a battle to get tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sort of been the hardest work we\u2019ve ever had to do to get tickets. For the other five shows it definitely wasn\u2019t as contested,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery lucky to be going to a number of shows in Melbourne and Sydney which is pretty fantastic, one of them being on my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Bridgeman said she was a big admirer largely due to a combination of Swift\u2019s engagement with fans and \u201cincredible\u201d shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just an absolute spectacle,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019ll go through the crowd, and she\u2019ll be hugging people, which is like a total security nightmare I\u2019m sure, but she\u2019s just a really giving sort of person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another local fan, Mary Rose, said she wasn\u2019t able to get a ticket through Ticketek but was lucky enough to get one another way.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my friend\u2019s mums got through and then decided she didn\u2019t want to go anymore, so I just have her ticket now,\u201d said Ms Rose.<\/p>\n
Rose said her adoration for Swift started when she was a young child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was obsessed with the song Love Story when I was really little, I didn\u2019t know the actual name of the song, so I would always be like \u2018Mum, put on the Romeo and Juliet song\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso I grew up being a dancer, so Taylor Swift was very much included in some dances we did. I pretty much grew up with her in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Rose said she believes Swift\u2019s remarkable success comes down to the lyrics and meaning in her songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it kind of sticks out because a lot of people can relate to the things she sings about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TONIGHT, the biggest pop star in the world will play her first Australian The Eras Tour concert in Melbourne, and Bendigo fans have been getting excited. The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift has never been more celebrated, and several of Swift\u2019s albums took all top five spots this week on the Australian Recording Industry […]<\/p>\n