Island Living: The Odyssey of a “Swiftie” – and how I became one

We love Hatteras Island for so many reasons: the water, the beach, outdoor activities, the food etc. You can also find excellent food, beautiful art and great local music. What you can’t find here might be big box stores, lots of fast food, and major concert tours.

With school returning, summer ending, and a return to more regular schedules, the summer concert season is also coming to a close. It was a record-breaking year for tours and though many islanders sought out tickets to the biggest shows, the travel time, cost and availability of tickets was a challenge.

If you have been following entertainment or financial news this summer you probably have heard of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. It has been ground-breaking in several ways.

There is a mania for this tour that has been compared to that caused by Elvis and the Beatles. Few anticipated how popular this tour would be. But if you had asked any of her fans, there would not have been a doubt about how important it was.

Taylor Swift’s tour is estimated by the Federal Reserve Bank to help the economy by adding almost $5 billion. According to QuestionPro that is the GDP of 50 countries combined. Appropriately, cities have shown their gratitude and seen shocking results: Glendale, Arizona’s mayor renamed the city for Swift on the day the tour kicked off,  Tampa’s mayor gave her a key to the city and made her mayor for a day, Chicago’s all-time hotel record was broken with 44,000 hotel rooms booked and revenue of $39 million; her multi-night stop in Los Angeles gave a $320 million boost to the city’s GDP. According to Bloomberg.com, Swift herself is making $13 million per show.

Although I wasn’t one just a few months ago, I now call myself a fan— they call themselves, Swifties.

The Queue

My journey began November 15 just before 10 am. I received a frantic call from my daughter who was away at college. She was crying and upset because she was in line and ready to buy her Taylor Swift tickets with her pre-sale, Taylor Swift, fan code, when the system crashed. It would not accept her code, it would not allow her to proceed, and she had to go to class. That is when the quest became mine.

She gave me her code and I took over. I made the call so that she could go to class. I am no rookie at getting concert tickets, and I have waited in line or on hold for hours before— that’s how it always was with Ticketmaster. You just had to be patient. Or so I thought.

Like millions of other people, I got in line. I set up my phone with the lock screen off because that apparently could take you out of line.  For hours, I worked through the day and kept looking up at my screen, but it kept reading the same thing “You are now in the Queue; 2000+ People ahead of you.”  Later, as I was heading home, I was still glancing at the screen every now and then as I drove. It became a challenge to keep going and “beat” the game.

I was about to hit Pea Island, an area with poor cell service, when suddenly the queue dropped to 150+ people.  I pulled over. Should I wait and hope? Should I proceed and risk losing my chance and crushing my daughter’s heart? So I waited.  And waited. As I was about to give up, the queue dropped to 50, then to 10 and then I was in.

I could see the diagram for the stadium and the seats that were still available. Our plan was to buy six. That was not even an option. It was set at two tickets and in just seconds I watched as seats available disappeared. There were just a few left so I clicked on something, hit purchase and it went through! Our plans were to buy more, but that opportunity never came again—unless we were willing to pay thousands in the secondary market.

I felt like Rocky when he ran triumphantly up the stairs in the movie. I called my daughter and told her she had tickets to the show. She was thrilled. I later learned that very few fans were able to do that. According to Bookie.com, fans had a 2% chance of getting general sale tickets or odds of 1 in 50. Ticketmaster said that Swift broke the record for the most ticket sales in one day. There were 3.5 billion requests for tickets.

Music, costumes, and travel

Part two of the Taylor Swift journey was planning the trip that was necessary to the location; we chose Pittsburgh. My sister lives an hour from the venue. I imagined we would come in, watch the show, spend the night then go to her house. We have done that before when arriving late so I chose our usual hotel in the downtown, a Marriott. When I went to book a room, I found that the usual $120 per night room was priced at over $1000! I imagined Uber would be impossible after the show. So we rearranged the timing to leave after the show instead of staying overnight there for it.

The next few months for me were about preparing. I was not a Taylor Swift fan. I didn’t know her music and was more a fan of independent genres. My daughter informed me that once I had the music down, I would be able to decide on my outfit. She said that the record I liked most would help me decide. We could not just wear normal clothes to the show but needed to be in honorarial costumes ourselves. There were also bracelets to make, set lists to study and tour news after each show that could change everything—such as when Taylor broke up with her boyfriend of six years soon after the tour began.

By May, I was pretty familiar with the music. It wasn’t my style, but I definitely appreciated her artistry. It was also at that time that friends from the island and Outer Banks began sharing their stories from the shows they had attended. I knew someone who went to Houston Texas. Another group attended in Nashville. Some were in  Atlanta. And friends of ours from Hatteras drove up to the Philadelphia show on May 12.

That group had to drive nine hours, book an Airbnb, plan and purchase costumes, make bracelets, order see-through purses, and get Instagram ready.

If you have seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you might understand that there are expectations of the audience during the show. Although no one threw bread as in the movie theater, the exchange of friendship bracelets is standard.

Michelle Pallazollo, owner of Gypsy Fleur in Buxton, created these bracelets over the winter in her shop. She said customers often would come in, knowing exactly what she was doing, and wanted to buy them. She said that her favorite of the show was trading the 87 bracelets she made with other concertgoers.

Of the show, Pallazollo joked that: “It was the best day of my life. better than my wedding and the birth of my child!” Her son Nino looked a little shocked at first, then laughed.

Jess Nonnamacker traveled with Palazollo and other friends, husbands, and some children up to the Philadelphia show.  Understandably, she was anxious about the traffic. But said that was managed well.

Nonnemaker explained that months went into the planning for their Philadelphia show. They took several cars, booked an Airbnb, arranged child care by bringing a few dads along for the drive, and then had to get themselves ready. When then they finally arrived, being at the show after so much build was surreal. “It was like a fever dream. There was so much anticipation leading up to that one event,” Nonnemaker said.

They had a great time and said that Taylor performed for three hours.  I couldn’t imagine sitting through a concert plus opening acts for that long.

The performance

Finally, our turn was approaching. I still didn’t have an approved “outfit,” but I packed some dresses and off we went. After visiting with my sister for a few days, we made our way to Pittsburgh. Some of the hotels had dropped their rates at the last minute so we found a room. The wait in the lobby was even unusual. I have never stood in a hotel check-in line for an hour. It snaked through the lobby and down past the restaurant. There were stuffed animals, box fans, costumes, coolers, snacks, and lots of glitter. It reminded me of tailgaters for a football game, but much more glamorous.

Seeing those fans, from six years old and all the way up to grandmothers, was inspiring. They were all happy, despite the long lines, and smiling. There were some devoted Dads sprinkled in, a few boyfriends, but overall a very small percentage of men to be found. This was without a doubt a girl-powered, positive energy, love one another, and revere Taylor festival. I was continually in awe.

To begin our trek to Heinz Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, we boarded a packed train. Once there, it was a carnival atmosphere with people selling water and memorabilia outside. All around the stadium were girls dressed in their favorite motif. There were the Cowboys, glitter, and sequins, a few in all black, but it was predominantly pink. We joined the masses and walked up level after level. We passed hours-long merchandise lines to where our coveted seats were.

I am not fond of crowds, and have never been in the top level of a stadium before. I was hesitant to make the last level climb when I saw some fans standing at an open balcony on the press box level. Security was very tight, but we walked over and took an unobstructed spot ourselves. I crossed my fingers that no one would tell us to leave.

Standing in those spots meant we couldn’t leave or we would lose them. I glanced back behind me, and it was four rows deep! It was 6 o’clock, and I knew I would have to stand there for at least five hours if the stories were true. It was still hot, and mid-afternoon, as the stadium began to fill.

The first act, Owen, performed a 40-minute set. Girl in Red was next; they were both very good and mentioned Taylor swift’s name to garner loud screams. The tour introduced many different opening acts to stadium-sized audiences. It was Taylor’s Midas touch.

As the energy was building in the stadium, any little movement near the stage caused a wave of excitement and gasps. When a countdown clock appeared on the giant screen, the sound was almost as loud as when Taylor herself appeared.

As the countdown reached zero, the screams were deafening, but it was still a couple of minutes before the curtains opened. When it did, dancers costumed in giant wings, proceeded down the long stage. I have been to many concerts, but had never seen a stage set up like that. The wings or flower petals opened together to reveal Taylor Swift. The screams and applause drowned out the music. My daughter’s screams necessitated me covering my ears.

I don’t believe I will ever see a show again like that one. It was not a rock concert. It was not a pop singer’s performance. It was more like a Broadway musical. The stage, the backdrop, the costumes, the choreography, the lights and the artistry still have me in amazement I felt that way after seeing Hamilton, but this was even more so.

Based on the crowd response, you would expect that most performers would be very cocky and self-congratulatory. Taylor was, in fact, gracious and endearing.

She made comments about being loved, and credited the audience for the show. She also announced that she had checked with the city, and never before had so many people gathered for one event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Not for a Steelers game, not for a parade, not for a baseball game. It was the largest gathering ever. I hope Pittsburgh thanked her appropriately.

Throughout the show, I tried to take pictures, and short videos of each song she did because there was a new costume, or a new set, or some noticeable change in the performance. But there was just too much. She fulfilled every girl’s fantasy with gorgeous ball gowns, High slit dresses, rhinestone-covered one-piece outfits and her mastery of the stage.

She rose out from below the floor, appeared to dive and swim under the walkway, and disappeared into the many intricate set designs.

When she sang, the whole stadium sang with her. It was probably only for the first few beats of each song, before fans knew which song might be coming, that she alone could be heard. Throughout the entire show, she was accompanied by virtually every person in that stadium.

Initially, when we had entered, we were given wristbands that looked almost like smart watches, with plastic bands. As the show progressed, I realized that each band was color-coded to a Wi-Fi light signal that turned a designated color. Every section of the stadium was color-coordinated by the light. There was nothing left to chance and everything was perfect.

As there was no break in the show, I took a quick exit towards the end to run to a merchandise stand. My daughter had wanted a canvas bag. I had to go to stands on all four levels before I found one. I hurried back up before the end of the song. I don’t know where Taylor Swift gets that energy, but the show culminated with fireworks, laser lights, and appreciative screams and applause.

Eventually, after three hours and 15 minutes, 90,000 people began exiting. But there was no chaos; there was no pushing; there was no anger. In an orderly, calm fashion, everyone descended upon the streets. If you were in a car, waiting for an Uber, or just unlucky and driving near the stadium at that time, you were not going anywhere because the pedestrians were in charge. The police didn’t even try to stop anyone. We just stayed with the masses, crossed the beautiful Andy Warhol bridge that spans the River into the downtown and walked the mile or so back to our hotel.

The hotels and restaurants stayed open, there were food trucks along the way, knock-off T-shirts for sale, and merchandise was displayed on some of the many smiling fans. No one was ready to go to sleep. But unlike at other large events, the Swifties behaved with grace, kindness, and manners. Sadly, the next morning, it was time to end our journey.

I may not have been a Swifty when this began, but I certainly am now! And just as Taylor is about to depart for the international leg of the tour, she announced more North Merican dates for the fall of 2024. All are multiple dates in each city; New Orleans, Toronto, Miami, and Indianapolis are the lucky beneficiaries of her visits. Toronto had a record 33 million fans register for the shows there.

We have our fingers crossed. But if 33 million people registered for the Toronto show and there are only 600,000 seats for all the performances, then we don’t even have a 1% chance of success.

But we still have to try.

And if nothing else, I and millions of others will now become football fans while tuning into Kansas City Chiefs games and hope to get our Taylor-fix in this fall as her love life with Tight End Travis Kielce plays out.

I think getting tickets to those games might start to get very difficult.