Taylor Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter. Don Arnold/TAS24/[SOURCE] for TAS Rights Management
Sydney Swifties got an extra special treat during the acoustic section of Taylor Swift’s Friday, February 23, concert: a mash-up and a duet.
Swift, 34, kicked off her four-night streak at Accor Stadium on Friday with opener Sabrina Carpenter, who was forced to cancel her set at the last minute due to a rain delay and lightning strikes.
“She heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney,” Swift told the crowd while sitting at her piano.
Carpenter, 24, walked out on stage after Swift’s heartfelt introduction, also taking a seat at the piano.
“We were talking, I think it might have been one of the times we were at the zoo. We’ve [spent] 100 percent of our days off here,” Swift, who took boyfriend Travis Kelce on a separate trip to the Sydney Zoo after his arrival in Australia, quipped. “I don’t think you guys understand how cool kangaroos are. They are so cool, so strong, so bouncy.”
Taylor Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter. Don Arnold/TAS24/[SOURCE] for TAS Rights Management
While on their zoo outing, Carpenter revealed that Swift’s song “White Horse” was “really important” to her growing up. In celebration, the two women performed the Fearless (Taylor’s Version) song for the crowd. Their rendition of “White Horse” was seamlessly mashed up with “Coney Island” from Swift’s 2020 record Evermore.
taybrina singing a mash-up of “white horse” and “coney island” at the piano #SydneyTSTheErasTour 🥲🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/KFJPHem2lS
— ❥ (@dailytaybrina) February 23, 2024
Swift’s first surprise song of the night was “How You Get the Girl” from 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which she performed solo on her guitar.
Swift kicked her Australian Eras Tour dates earlier this month, with Carpenter returning as the opening act. (She previously took the stage during Swift’s tour stops in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.)
Taylor Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter. Don Arnold/TAS24/[SOURCE] for TAS Rights Management
“I’m not gonna say I peed my pants because that sounds really graphic and maybe not sanitary, but I think it really just caught me off guard,” Carpenter told Who What Wear in January of getting the call to join the 14-time Grammy winner on the road. “It was very much a childhood dream come true. I still probably have not processed it if I’m being completely honest with you.”
Swift and the “Nonsense” singer’s bond goes beyond Eras.
“I have older sisters, so if anything, it felt like that type of a relationship,” Carpenter added to Who What Wear, noting that she was 17 years old the first time she met Swift. “To work with someone [who] cares about you as a person as well as an artist … that’s been the biggest gift for sure.”
Carpenter, who begins her Eras set with throwback footage of herself singing Swift’s “Picture to Burn,” previously joined Swift at a number of Kelce’s NFL games this season.