Taylor Swift has fans yearning to jet off to Australia for The Eras Tour. At her Melbourne concert on Saturday, February 17, Swift, 34, unveiled a fresh twist for her surprise song segment, kicking it off with a mash-up of three tracks, starting with “Getaway Car” from her album Reputation.
“I want to play one that you really want to hear, I want you to be happy,” she said to the crowd, per social media footage.
Swift seamlessly segued into “August” from Folklore before concluding with “The Other Side Of The Door” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Notably, the Grammy winner also delivered “This is Me Trying” from Folklore. While Swift has previously blended two of her tracks during the acoustic segment, Saturday marked her debut by incorporating a third into the mix.
Keen-eyed Swifties noted on social media that all three selected songs touch on themes of infidelity in relationships. In “Getaway Car,” Swift reflects on the complexities of being entangled in a situation involving “the three of us,” likening it to a “sideshow.” Meanwhile, “August” delves into the nuances of a teenage love triangle.
“The Other Side of the Door,” meanwhile, features the lyric, “And I broke down crying, was she worth the mess?”
Swift inaugurated her Eras Tour, commemorating all her past albums, in March 2023. The show meticulously dedicates sections to each record while also incorporating a set for two rotating additions.
“One thing we said about the Eras Tour: ‘You think you can just go online, you think you can just scroll and know the setlist?’” Swift said during her concert in Arlington, Texas, that March. “You think you can just come prepared with little flashcards [that list the song order and my outfits]? Let it be said about the Eras Tour, we’re tricksy. That’s what we are [and] we enjoy a good, healthy setlist hijinks.”
Swift wrapped up the initial U.S. and South American leg of Eras in late 2023, only to triumphantly return to the stage earlier this month.
“I decided that in 2024, when we go back on tour, I’m just gonna open back up all the songs for surprise songs,” Swift noted at her Brazil concert in November 2023. “I feel like, for one year, we’ve really gotten through a lot of songs, so I’m just gonna make all the songs fair game when we go back on tour.”
She continued,
“There’s some songs that I still really, really wanna play, so I’m gonna try and get through all of them.”
Swift emphasized that songs from “Midnights,” her 2022 album, are also up for grabs to be repeated throughout the tour. Additionally, with her next record, “The Tortured Poets Department,” slated for release in April, Swift will be on the road.
While it remains uncertain whether she intends to introduce a dedicated section for “TTPD” in the setlist or incorporate snippets into her surprise song segment, anticipation for her evolving musical journey is palpable.
