Live Photos + Review: Taylor Swift, Broods, Charli XCX - Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland

Friday evening saw Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium light up with wonderment, adoration and DIY purpose-built concert-outfits for the only New Zealand instalment of US pop-giant Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour. Roving tunes-enthusiast Fluffy was there to absorb the vibes and, hopefully, not get consumed by the sold-out crowd and building-sized inflatable cobra.

Computer music darling Charli XCX opened proceedings with her impossibly memorable and feature-heavy set of absolute bangers. One hundred points for the green, alien planet-esque stage pieces that her accompanying musicians’ synthesisers were placed on. She romped through sing-along tunes ‘I Love It’, ‘Boys’ and ‘5 In The Morning’, though I did get the impression she was saving her saucier, Number 1 Angel and Pop 2-centric material up her sleeve for the titanically FOMO-inducing K Rd afterparty, organised by Fanau Spa member Brown Boy Magik. Closing bop ‘Fancy’ conjured well deserved smiles on the visage of even the most jaded of chaperoning dads and dragged-along boyfriends, as she left as quickly as she came.

Having local two-piece Broods follow such international party anthems with their more airy, pad-focused brand of pop music seemed like something of an odd choice, but frontperson Georgia Nott held her own on the surreally oversized and X-shaped stage. With the assistance of her brother Caleb Nott rounding out their comparatively-diaphanous tracks, punters eagerly ate up their hometown-advantage performance.

At this point, I’m going to level with you, dear reader. I’m not what you would call the most dedicated fan of Taylor Swift, but this did not, in any sense, impede me from marvelling at what can only be described as leviathan levels of production on this show. The skyscraper-sized audio visual rig, the lighting which could undoubtedly be seen from space (or, at very least, lit up surrounding buildings in industrial Penrose) and the part-of-the-concert-experience wristbands (which were distributed to each attendee as they entered the arena) that synchronised to said light show meant that even punters wearing factory-grade earmuffs would teeter toward the edge of enjoyable over-stimulation. The pyrotechnics were hot enough to sizzle my skin to a medium-rare crisp and this was not my first stadium-sized gig-going barbecue.

Even the audience members way at the back could marvel at Tay Tay and her merry accomplices via the small space station-sized screens serving as a backdrop, which were assembled by what must have been a small army in the days leading up to the big show. T-Swizzle performed mega-hits ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Love Story’, ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, ‘End Game’ and a bunch more material from her world-conquering 2017 album Reputation and beyond. But honestly, I was just as transfixed by all the explosions, backup dancers and two-story tall inflatable snake which reared its head two songs in.

Click on the images below to view Connor Crawford's photographs of the event...