Glittering Taylor Swift fans filled US Bank Stadium with glitter on Friday for a concert that marked not just a major cultural moment, but an intimate, shared experience – between mothers and daughters, longtime best friends and, after the exchange of bracelets, new friends.
All day, they formed long lines outside the venue, exchanging compliments on outfits and predictions about which tunes Swift might choose for the night’s so-called “surprise songs”.
They had arrived to see the Eras Tour concert, which had been going strong for weeks. Swift sold out two shows at the stadium, which holds 60,000, after an infamous Ticketmaster debacle disappointed those who didn’t get in. unofficial name change of the city to “Swiftieapolis”.
Her fans, famous for their devotion and attention to detail, wore elaborate outfits, many of them bespoke, that not only referenced Swift’s “eras” but also specific lyrics, quotes and jokes.
Abigail Greenheck and her friend and former college roommate Chelsie Flatness surprised their 7-year-old daughters with tickets and matching sequined red jackets. The pandemic has brought Greenheck and her daughter, Sidney, “together in the Swiftie Nation,” she said. Together, they devoured albums, documentaries.
“Now it’s a shared love between us.”
Fans can relate to Swift’s different genres and eras as they too go through phases of their own lives, Greenheck said, her cheeks glistening with silver glitter. “There is a commonality in what I think is intergenerational.”
Outside in the square, two women in their twenties wearing bright red lipstick and heart-shaped sunglasses performed “All Too Well” on their harps.
“We are the unlucky ones,” said Hannah Flowers, 27, as her friend and fellow harpist Anna Maxwell, 29, laughed. Unable to find tickets they could afford, the couple decided to perform for Swifties.
One girl apologized for not having money to tip them, instead offering a bracelet with letters spelling out “August”, a song from “Folklore” and “Bejeweled”, from “Midnights”. Their tip basket contained dollar bills and some temporary butterfly tattoos.
A mum queuing to enter the stadium thanked the couple for lowering her blood pressure.
“We’re happy to help,” Flowers said.
The fans came from the suburbs, from Iowa, from Manitoba. Susie Imhof and her mother, Annie, came from Denver to celebrate her 18th birthday. Friday’s show would be the fourth time she’s seen Swift on this tour.
“We can’t stop,” said Annie Imhof. “We are addicted now.”
Dozens of fans started their day at the Mall of America, which offered free wristband-making and face painting in the North Atrium, as well as $13 rides on yellow school buses to downtown Minneapolis.
Anaya Sierra strung green beads on a rubber band, spelling out “Our Song”.
The 27-year-old has loved Swift since 2008, when she first heard the tune on the radio, she beamed. She and her sister, Marcella, 20, traveled from Mason City, Iowa, on Thursday with their mother, Raquel Ponce, to see Swift for the first time.
The sisters love how Swift is true to herself, fights for her fan, and appreciates her mother. In them, Ponce sees herself as a young music fan in love with Prince. “To me, she’s like Prince,” she said of Swift. She writes her own songs, does her own thing and “is on her level”.
“I’m so happy to see them so excited,” she said of her daughters, taking photos of them on her phone.
Just as Anaya Sierra fastened her bracelet, the DJ played “Our Song”. The sisters screamed, then sang as they swung their hips.
On the bus to the stadium, fans exchanged friendship bracelets, a trend based on the lyrics to “You’re on Your Own, Kid” – “So make the friendship bracelets / Take the moment and taste- THE.” Emma Pufahl, 23, made smaller friendship rings after spotting them on TikTok. As someone streamed “Cruel Summer” on their cellphone, a few people debated possible “surprise songs.”
Hailey Willson, 21, predicted “Exile,” a song featuring Bon Iver, aka Justin Vernon, who is based near Eau Claire, Wis.
“If Bon Iver walked out, I would crumble,” she said with a dramatic sigh.
Tickets for the day went on sale, Willson refreshed Ticketmaster from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. She was about to give up when four tickets appeared. “I sobbed hysterically,” she said. Willson, of St. Cloud, has been a fan “since birth,” she said. Sitting next to her, her mother Katy Dols, 42, explained, “I’m the OG Swiftie.”
Her wrists were covered with colorful bracelets the couple had made the night before. The mother-daughter couple had seen a lot of gigs together, Dols said, but “this is the most special.”
Her voice cracked and tears formed. “She’s my best friend, my partner in crime.”
After battling Ticketmaster and traffic, spectators smiled after finally entering the stadium, taking selfies and singing songs.