While many Bobcats are excited to spend time with friends and family over fall break, the Swifties of campus eagerly await the release of "Taylor Swift: the Eras Tour," which premieres in theatres across North America on Oct. 13.
In the Eras Tour, Swift journeys through her musical "eras," performing 44 songs from her extensive discography.
Swift's tour spans over 146 sold-out stadium shows worldwide. The Eras tour was met with unprecedented ticket demand as millions of Swifties flooded the presale. After major technical difficulties, long wait times and no remaining inventory, Ticketmaster canceled the general sale for the U.S. leg of the tour.
Ticketmaster commented on the situation: "This time, the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn't have codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak. During the U.S. presale, over two million tickets were sold, the most tickets ever sold in a single day by an artist."
AnnMarie Palombi, a freshman studying English, was unable to secure tickets to either leg of the U.S. tour due to Ticketmaster's glitch.
"My friend was in the line as soon as it opened and she was in the thousands of the queue," Palombi said. "Once she got through, she clicked on seats, and they would sell out before her eyes, or the map would crash and put her to the back of the queue."
Due to the historically high demand, many Swifties found creative ways to attend the concert if they were shut out of purchasing a ticket. Thousands of Swifties gathered outside stadiums each night of the tour to watch and listen from afar. Some resorted to buying resold tickets, but sellers on StubHub and SeatGeek charge up to $13,000 each, sometimes more.
Ticket demand was unprecedented not just because of Swift's huge fan base but also because this is Swift's first tour since the 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. Nearly a month after the Reputation tour concluded, Netflix released the "Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour" concert film, recorded at the last show of the U.S. leg in Arlington, Texas.
Emily Meckler, a freshman studying forensic chemistry, recounted her experience at the Reputation tour.
"I actually went to the Reputation Tour which was awesome because we won tickets," she said. "My sister couldn't come, so when we found out there was going to be a Netflix documentary of it, we sat down and watched it over and over again so she could experience it for herself."
For Swifties who couldn't attend the current Eras Tour, the concert movie allows fans to experience the magic of the record-breaking show in theaters. However, getting movie tickets for "The Eras Tour" movie was unsurprisingly difficult, much like the demand for the tour itself. The film was announced Aug. 31, and Swifties flocked to AMC websites to buy their tickets for opening weekend but were met with a queue, similar to Ticketmaster, to buy tickets.
AMC Theaters said Friday that "Taylor Swift: the Eras Tour," "shattered records for single-day advance ticket sales revenue," and $26 million of movie tickets were sold on the day of its announcement.
Many fans are treating the film's opening weekend as if they were attending the tour. Swifties are heading to theaters in costumes of their favorite Taylor Swift era, a trend that was popularized with "Barbie," where fans dressed in all pink to see the movie.
Julia Arend, a freshman studying social work, is excited to get glammed up for the movie. "I think it's going to be a lot like the 'Barbie' movie- that was kind of like the start of girls going to the movie theater and dressing up in costumes and stuff," Arend said. "I think people are literally going to be wearing costumes or their concert outfits. I'm wearing my full 'Reputation' outfit from the concert, and I hope people bring friendship bracelets to the theaters."
Swift posted to Instagram: "Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged." While some Swifties are excited about the festivities, some fans are worried that the enthusiasm of some Swifties might get out of hand.
"They had done a Billie Eilish movie at some point, and I heard there were mosh pits, so theaters had to shut it down," Arend said. "I feel like there's a very good possibility that could happen again."
Hopefully, Swifties can experience the show with all the traditions and festivities that come with the Eras Tour, especially those who couldn't see the pop star live. Luckily for Bobcats, if they can't make it to theaters over Fall Break, the Athena Grand is showing the movie, which is just a short drive from campus.
One should not be surprised if they see some Swifties strolling down Court Street decked out in their "1989" or "reputation" costumes because Swift's "Cruel Summer" isn't over just yet.
