Swiftmania hits Sydney as Taylor Swift mural pops up in Surry Hills (2024)

Taylor Swift is coming to Sydney with three shows starting on Friday.

And the Harbour city is already in a frenzy over the pop superstar's arrival, with a huge mural popping up on one of the city's busiest streets last week.

The enormous artwork, on Crown Street in Surry Hills, depicted the Shake It Off hitmaker staring down at passersby while wearing a crimson red dress.

An image of the mural was shared by the @sydney_explained Instagram account on Sunday night - and immediately attracted a flood of negative comments from locals.

'I hope someone goes and paints something else over this poor quality graffiti piece as soon as Swift leaves the country,' wrote one critic.

'Oh dear it looks like a Married At First Sight wife,' joked another.

However some defended the work, with once commenting, 'Wow - did not expect the really negative comments here. A young woman who is incredibly successful and talented and tries to be kind to people. What is not to celebrate.'

'I think it looks great. Couldn't name one of her songs but I can appreciate that she is amazingly talented,' added another.

It comes after fans around the world were left outraged by Australia's perceived special treatment at the hands of the pop superstar.

International Swifties vented on social media after Swift treated Melbourne fans to an extra special surprise song in the form of a mashup of her tracks Getaway Car, The Other Side of the Door and August.

'WHAT POSSESSED HER TO DO THIS?' exclaimed one fan on Twitter.

'Does Taylor owe Australia money or something wtf is this,' vented another.

Another shared a meme of a stone-faced NFL player during a tickertape parade, along with the caption, 'the rest of the world watching melbourne getting getaway car x august x the other side of the door mashup'.

Fans at Taylor's first Melbourne Cricket Ground concert were also treated to a world-first announcement by the songstress that the special edition of The Tortured Poets Department would feature a new song called The Bolter.

The outrage comes after one diehard fan miraculously scored a ticket toSwift's Eras Tour concert after an act of goodwill from a punter who had to leave the concert early.

In a video shared on TikTok, one of the thousands of ticketless fans who waited outside the MCG managed to get into the concert thanks to the kind Swiftie.

The short clip shows stunned fans watching the concert goer send the ticket to the fan, before they hug and the woman runs into the venue.

According to the comments, the exchange happened towards the end of the three-hour concert during the final Midnights Era of the show.

In the background 'Vigilante S**t' can be heard playing.

The TikTok user who took the video wrote: 'A diehard fan has miraculously scored a ticket to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert after an act of goodwill from a punter who had to leave the concert early.'

In the comments, the Swiftie behind the kind act commented: 'Punter praised for kind act during Eras Tour, with users commending her for the kind act.

'Punter praised for kind act during Eras Tour,' one wrote.

'BLESS YOUR SOUL!! GOOD THINGS ARE HEADED YOUR WAY,' shared another.

'You're a gem. This was so incredibly sweet!!'

With three shows slated for Melbourne this weekend, thousands of fans who missed out on tickets gathered outside the MCG singing and dancing to Swift's hits.

The international trend has garnered the term 'Taylor-gating,' despite warnings from the MCG urging fans to only attend the venue if they have ticketholders.

Ahead of the concert on February 6, the venue said there would be 'no activations' in Yarra Park or live screening of the show, and reminded fans of the rules against drinking and setting up tents, marquees or BBQs.

Swift mania will then hit Sydney the weekend after, with the pop star set to perform at four shows from Friday, February 23 to Monday February 26.