Taylor Swift haze descends on Detroit. 'It's a once in a lifetime experience'
Forget the haze from the Canadian wildfires or lavender haze. The real haze in downtown Detroit Friday was the building hysteria for the first of megastar Taylor Swift's two sold-out shows at Ford Field.
"I'm expecting to faint," said Paris Lajoie, 19, of Windsor, Ontario. "I'm going to lose my voice and be so tired all weekend."
Taylor Swift fans from all over descended onto downtown Detroit Friday and made their presence known with crowds of thousands of fans outside Ford Field, buying merch and "Taylor-gating" before the first concert.
Lajoie was one of the many fans who went to Ford Field early Friday afternoon to purchase merchandise from the Taylor Swift Eras Tour merch truck and trade friendship bracelets she spent hours making with her friend, Maddy Piehler, 19, of Windsor.
"We made 22 bracelets each for the concert. It took about five to six hours, over a couple of days," Lajoie said. Piehler said she saw the friendship bracelets on TikTok and said, "We have to do them." The gifting of friendship bracelets between fans has become a tradition at the Eras Tour concerts, among other concert-going fads such as dressing up.
Swift-mania bubbled up in downtown Detroit as thousands gathered on Madison and Brush streets near the stadium. Many fans dressed in colorful outfits reflecting the different "eras" of Swift's career. Ciara Richardson, 25, of Lake City called it "a once in a lifetime experience."
"It’s usually, you get an album or a new song, but she’s giving us everything," said Richardson, who spent about $700 for her resale ticket from SeatGeek and expects it will be worth it. Ticket prices ranged from $250 to $1,000 or more, depending on the sale and the website. On top of the merch, fans were fine with spending more money before and during Swift's concert.
Christine Dang traveled from Toronto for the show. The 23-year-old waited for 3 1/2 hours to get merch Friday and spent $50 on different items. Dang and and her friends rented an Airbnb for the concert weekend.
"We chose Airbnb, we bought the tickets the release day and the Airbnb basically right after," said Alex Thepsouranh, Dang's friend, also from Toronto.
Even Gov. Gretchen Whitmer weighed in on the action, welcoming Swift with a personalized message about the state that tied into many of Swift's songs and album titles.
"This is our place, we make the rules," she said, a play on a lyric from the artist's song, "Lover."
She ended the message, saying she's "personally in her 'Reputation' era" and asked the fans, "Are you ready for it?"
Last November, Swift announced she was returning to Ford Field for her Eras tour, her first in five years. Described by the superstar as "a journey through all of my musical eras of my career," the 20-city tour kicked off March 18 in Glendale, Arizona, and wraps Aug. 5 in Los Angeles.
Bethany Mcquiston, 26, of Livonia said Taylor Swift's lyricism and how she shares her life experiences with the audience is something that contributes to her love for the entertainer.
"She's like a poet, almost, for music," Mcquiston said. "Her music always connects with me in ways that other music doesn't. It's always so real and so different. So much music is just about like relationships and all that, but hers is about life and I really like how different that is."
Mom-daughter concert trip
Shannon Clausen, 48 of North Bay Ontario drove 6 hours to with her daughter Cassy, 15, to get to the concert.
“(The drive takes) 6 hours with no stops. Right now, it would take about 7 hours and 28 minutes (to go back)," Clausen said.
The mother-daughter duo were enjoying the daytime merch sales and listening to music. Songs playing in the streets include "The Great War" and "Love Story" among others from a 99.5 WYCD booth.
“I got tickets as soon as they came out last November. We got them the first try. They were about $250 for the lower bowl seats," Clausen said.
Fans are expecting the special songs tonight to be "Back to December" because actor Taylor Lautner, who dated Swift, is from Grand Rapids; "King of My Heart" because of the Motown mention; or "Me" for Pride Month. But Cassy's dream song she hopes to be played is "You're On Your Own Kid." This is also Cassy's first concert.
Family has followed Swift since she was 16
Heather Gaston, 40, of Muskegon came to Detroit with her two daughters for this weekend's show.
“As a mom, I joined one of the Facebook pages for Detroit Swifties, so I’ve learned a lot," Heather Gaston said. "Been following (Taylor) because of my daughter.”
Heather's daughter Marilyn, 15, donned gold sunglasses and a gold sequined dress with tassel shoulder pads, while Heather wore pink as they stood in a long line to buy merchandise.
Marilyn attended her first Taylor Swift concert at age 2.
“Taylor Swift came to Muskegon and played at the summer celebration. Taylor was 16 at the time opening for the opener,” Heather Gaston said.
Marilyn has been following Taylor ever since.
“I just love her music so much," Marilyn said. "I’ve just loved her for so long. I grew up with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story." I’ve followed her career and it feels like her music is part of my childhood. I can’t explain it. I like her music but it’s even more than that.”
The day brought fans of different generations and phases of life together for the concert.
A celebration of life
Chloe Jankowski, 20, of Southgate said coming to the Taylor Swift concert Friday is a celebration of life.
"She’s (Taylor Swift) been there for me my whole life," Jankowski said. "The first time I used a computer, I watched the "Love Story" music video. She’s been there for me since I’ve been 5 and now I’m 20 years old. I just turned 20 on Monday, so I just want to celebrate the decade with her and her music that has followed me my whole life.”
Jankowski has been to multiple Taylor concerts over the years – the Red, Fearless and Speak Now concerts.
For the Eras Tour concert today, she decided to wear a purple maxi dress, similar to Taylor's dress in the Folklore era.
“I am dressed as folklore. This is inspired by the folklore purple dress that she wore during her tour," Jankowski said.
Hoping for tickets and cash
Things were getting desperate for some fans as time moved closer to doors opening.
Sierra Pauley, 26, of Port Huron and her best friend have gone to all of Swift’s concerts over the years, except this one.
“We’ve been trying since the presale. We almost got tickets two days ago, but it fell through," Pauley said. "The tickets are expensive now through TicketMaster, so we’re out here seeing if people will donate a dollar to us. We did over 20 giveaways, radio contests, and… drove in a car here with a sign saying Honk for Taylor and to Venmo us."
But if her attempts to nab tickets come up short, said she would buy cheaper tickets halfway through the concert. “We’re going to try and at least catch the surprise songs," she said.