It is the moment Melbourne, if not the world, had been waiting for.

US pop megastar Taylor Swift strode onstage in front of what’s believed to be the biggest crowd of her career, an audience of 96,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday night.

“This is the biggest show we have done on this tour, it’s the biggest show we have done on any tour ever” she told the MCG crowd.

Swift said she was starstruck and overjoyed.

“If I seem a bit like I’m losing my mind it’s about the fact that there are 96,000 people here tonight – it’s true,” she said.

The opening number of The Eras Tour, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince, from Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover, had the audience in raptures from the first bars.

Of course, no one was calming down with the crowd singing every word with Swift.

“Just a few songs in you are making me feel phenomenal,” she said.

After a rendition of champagne problems, which she played sitting at a moss-covered grand piano, the concert came to a halt with the crowd screaming and chanting, “Taylor Taylor Taylor”. 

The US superstar stood for some minutes laughing and shaking her head.

“I really miss coming to Australia I gotta say,” she said.

The 14-time Grammy winner has a special relationship with her fans, and thousands came dressed according to the varied phases of the star’s career, from her Speak Now album to Reputation and the more recent Midnights.

Many fans who have grown up with Swift’s music feel it has been the soundtrack to their lives.

They had dozens – if not more than a hundred – friendship bracelets on their arms to swap with fellow Swifties, marking a night to remember.

It almost goes without saying that on Friday, they were singing along to every word.

The stadium has been transformed by a bank of massive screens and a central runway, which has a luminous surface of LED screens itself for Swift and her backup dancers.

Crowds at the MCG are tipped to reach 260,000 across three nights, followed by four sold-out concerts at Sydney’s Accor Stadium from next Friday.

Stadium operators have previously pleaded with fans who don’t have tickets to stay away from the parkland around the MCG, over concerns people would gather and cause safety issues.

A crowd in its thousands quickly gathered from early on Friday, with ticketholders waiting for entry and others attending merchandise outlets.

Melbourne has welcomed Swift, with Flinders Street Station lit up with images of the star, and dozens of Swift-themed events and parties across the city.

When tickets went on sale last June, approximately four million people stopped what they were doing and jumped online to try and secure a ticket to one of her seven Australian shows.

Yet there’s still a slim – very slim – chance of a small number of tickets being sold on show days, according to hints from tour organisers.

Swift’s Eras Tour started in March 2023 and has more than 150 shows across five continents.

The 34-year-old jetted into Melbourne on Thursday from the US after watching her boyfriend Travis Kelce win the Super Bowl with his Kansas City Chiefs.

Her concerts are expected to provide an economic boost for Victoria and NSW, with Swifties from interstate and overseas booking flights and hotels.

This post was originally published on Michael West.