Taylor Swift to play stadiums on Australian Red tour Taylor Swift has wowed fans in the US with her Red tour, playing to sold-out stadiums across the country. The mega-selling artist is heading to Australia in December. TAYLOR Swift is set to become the first female act since Madonna to play stadium shows in Australia. The country/pop superstar will tour stadiums in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth this December, playing to around 180,000 Australian fans in just ten days. It is the biggest Australian tour by a solo female performer since Madonna's 1993 visit. Swift's meteoric rise in popularity in Australia has seen her accelerate from club shows in 2009 playing to around 1000 people to stadium venues of up to 50,000 fans just four years later. Swift's four albums have sold over one million units in Australia since 2008. Australia is the first country outside of the US where Taylor Swift will play stadiums as part of the Red tour. "It's a sign of the achievements of Taylor Swift and the loyal fanbase she's built up that she will be the first woman to play stadiums nationally here since Madonna," promoter Michael Gudinski said yesterday. Swift was thrilled with the news. "That's mindblowing and a real honour," the singer, 23, said. "One of my favorite things about the connection between myself and the fans on this tour is that it's a very emotional one," Swift said. They're there because they've felt the same things I'm singing about at one point in their lives. They're singing all the words. When you look out at a sea of people in a stadium and 60,000 people are singing back to you it's an incredible connection. Australia is the first territory outside of the US where Swift will play stadiums as part of her Red tour. "In order to get Taylor to Australia with her commitments around the world she's playing stadiums, but this show has been built for stadiums," Gudinski said. It's an enormous production. But Taylor and her people have insisted on the ticket price being very reasonable. Apart from some VIP packages the ticket prices are around the same as her last arena tour here. A lot of artists have a say in their ticket prices and Taylor is one of them. The amount of love she gives to her fans, and what she gets back from them, is quite unique. The respect and communication between her and her audience comes from the fact she's so brave and open in her lyrics. Tickets will range from around $85 to around $150, with the pricing of VIP moshpit packages yet to be confirmed. Due to Swift's young fanbase, Frontier will put seating on the ground at each concert. Swift's US tour, with collaborator Ed Sheeran as opening act, will wind up in late September. The country star will take a break while the production is shipped from the US in time for a show in Auckland on November 29. Swift then plays Sydney's Allianz Stadium on December 4, Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on December 7, Perth's NIB Stadium December 11 and Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on December 14. Tickets go on sale 9am on May 21, with a presale beginning on May 14. Swift's latest album Red has sold over six million copies worldwide since its release last year, spawning the crossover hits We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I Knew You Were Trouble and 22. Her next single, Everything Has Changed, is a duet with Ed Sheeran. Swift will celebrate her 24th birthday - on December 13 - during her Australian visit. Full details frontiertouring.com.au