Taylor Swift’s Australian Eras tour is over. What were your favourite bits? – open thread

Getting tickets
On Tuesday last week, I wrote a piece for Guardian Australia about missing out on tickets to the Eras tour. My Swiftie daughter had introduced me to Taylor Swift and we bonded together over her music and at her concerts. 1989 in particular – a groundbreaking record for Swift – had a pivotal role in our lives: it was released just before I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and soundtracked that moment in my family’s life. As I recovered from major surgery, her song Out of the Woods was on repeat.

Reliving those memories with my daughter as we lined up online made missing out all worthwhile. Until something happened that was even better: a member of Taylor Swift’s team read the piece, reached out to my editors and gifted us two tickets to the Sunday night concert in Sydney. “Oh my GOD!!! I cannot believe this is happening,” I wrote in an email, ecstatic. “How is this even happening!!!” We packed our bags to make the long drive to Sydney from Bendigo for the show. It felt unreal – such a generous gift – and the show was incredible. It was so heartening to see all the parents with their young daughters; the mums and dads wearing glitter, getting into the spirit. There was so much love in the stadium that night, not just for Taylor, but also for each other. –

The hype before the show
For me, it was all the moments surrounding the concert. Overhearing Irish backpackers talking about how amazing all the Taylor Swift Australia hype is while floating in the ocean near them. Or my sister sending me pictures from her night shifts at the hospital where nurses had made her friendship bracelets. The little girls dressed in sparkles and cowboy hats with 13 written on their hands, running around excitedly outside Accor Stadium, just like I did when I was their age attending my first Swift concert.