After demand for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour overwhelmed Ticketmaster’s system, fans across the country who were left empty-handed are gathering in the next best place. At a park outside Soldier Field, where Swift was performing, hundreds of fans came together Friday to create their own concert experience.
The sold-out tour has packed venues night after night, and broken attendance records at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. A disastrous Ticketmaster presale last year left fans frustrated and desperate, tickets are now selling at thousands above face value and prices have only increased since opening night in March. With tickets out of the question for many, fans have gotten creative.
As one fan was overheard saying to a friend, you just can’t stop Swifties.
Jane Kennedy, 8, was on a "Taylor Swift playdate" Friday night with her friend Estelle Bohn, 7, who is also a Swiftie. The girls were decked out in colorful sequins, waiting for Swift to start the show with their moms, who were old school Taylor Swift fans.
"We tried and tried and tried to get tickets, and earlier this week my husband said, 'you know it's going to be a once in a lifetime atmosphere,'" Kelly Kennedy, 40, said. "You can't be inside but maybe you can go sit outside and still be part of the experience."
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Kennedy and Estelle's mom, Kristen Bohn, said that Swift's celebrity has manifested something positive beyond the music: a community for their daughters to feel part of. Older fans have been "so friendly" to introduce themselves to the two girls and even made friendship bracelets with them, a nod to a lyric from Swift's "You're on Your Own, Kid."
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