What To Expect When Taylor Swift Comes To Town

Things change when Taylor Swift lands in your neighborhood. People act differently. Renaming Pittsburgh “Swiftsburgh” for the June 16, 2023 and June 17, 2023 weekend of Swift’s two sold-out shows at Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh mayor Ed Gainey proved that even elected officials are enchanted by the singer-songwriter with a dozen Grammys and millions of fans. Why not? Swift broke records in Pittsburgh. Her June 17 sold-out show packed in a crowd of 73,117 making it the largest ticketed event in Pittsburgh history besting Garth Brooks’ 2019 concert by 230 tickets.

Swift’s Eras Tour has been breaking records before she even hit the stage. On November 15, 2022 she sold the most tickets (over 2 million) for an artist in a single day on Ticketmaster. But not every fan could snag a ticket or even get close to trying via the Ticketmaster site. Now, one stadium or arena at a time, cities are facing the power of Swift’s music and fanbase and it is nothing short of fascinating to watch.

What should you expect when Taylor Swift comes to town? Here’s what I learned from living in Pittsburgh during The Eras Tour.

FOMO

Fear of missing out has been acknowledged by psychologists and defined as “pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.” Originally observed on social networking sites, FOMO (also known as FoMO) was introduced as a psychological phenomenon in 2004 but has quickly become a hot topic for the general public. FOMO is rampant in the days leading up to a Taylor Swift concert. Disappointed by the Ticketmaster fail in the fall? Lukewarm about the idea of shelling out cash for a crowded concert? The endless enthusiasm and social media and community buzz, amplifies envy and regrets making even the strongest susceptible to flashes of FOMO.

Visitors

Be ready for visitors and a big boost to local economy. Taylor Swift crowds include locals but thousands travel long distances to see the singer-songwriter and spend money in the area. One fan told local reporter Chandi Chapman that she and her children drove 13 hours to see the show in Pittsburgh. Hotels and Airbnbs sold out before the concert and price tags soared early for lodging options. Restaurants were packed and retail foot traffic shot up exponentially.

Detours, Traffic Jams, Closures, Parking Shortages

Those commuting near an Eras Tour venue should plan for delays and, if possible, buy parking passes early. Check other venues for schedules. In Pittsburgh, Shannon Jeffcoat, Director of Membership and Annual Giving for Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh reminded members that The Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Science Center would be closed on Saturday, June 17 due to heavy traffic on the North Shore where Acrisure Stadium is located.

The Outfits

Get ready for creative couture. Many attendees dress for the event, channeling a Swift album or an era. The shifts in styles highlight Swift’s journey in a way that is as unprecedented as the artist herself. Then there’s the humor. My favorite—a t-shirt a friend’s son received from his wife. Emblazoned on the front—It’s me, Hi. I’m the husband. It’s me.

The Bracelets

Homemade beaded friendship bracelets are in high demand prior to the concert. The friendship bracelet exchange, presumably inspired by the lyrics of “You’re on Your Own, Kid” (“So make the friendship bracelets, Take the moment and taste it…) is a trend that most Eras Tour attendees embrace. Acrisure Stadium offered this Taylor-made concert tip on their website. “Friendship bracelets will be permitted for trading inside the stadium. The selling of friendship bracelets is strictly prohibited.” That tip’s a first.

Attending Versus “Attending”

No tickets? That didn’t thwart fans from enjoying the show in whatever limited capacity they could grab. Acrisure Stadium stands along the Ohio River and boaters were out in full force enjoying their Taylor moments. It was estimated that about 1,000 people gathered at Point State Park on the opposite shore of the Ohio River on Friday to hear the concert. Acoustics were loud enough from places like the park and Mount Washington that some people reported hearing every word to “Shake It Off.” Lighting effects from a distance were spectacular and photo-worthy.

Subtle PR Side Effects

Even the day after the concert, there’s a strong Taylor Swift buzz that is likely to inspire the clueless to explore the artist’s work to learn more. New fans mean more record sales. And more people jumping on Ticketmaster when the next opportunity arises.

Swift, 33, landed on Forbes list of America’s Self-Made Women 2023: Self-Made Celebrities following Rhianna, Oprah, and Kim Kardashian with a net worth jump of $170 million from last year to $740 million credited in part to the Eras Tour fever. That’s understandable, especially if you’ve watched that fever swirl around your city.

And when the Pittsburgh concerts were over and the buzz softening, Swift tweeted this love letter to the city—

“Pittsburgh thank you for making me feel sooooo at home in my home state. I mean… You broke the all time attendance record and we got to be the first tour to play your stadium twice. Thank you so much for everything this weekend. You were a mesmerizing crowd, like beyond…”

Has Taylor Swift created a Beatle-mania kind of concert phenomenon?

“During the Beatles’ most memorable concert, the biggest in show business history to that date in ’65, the screaming was so loud, no one heard a note, not even the band themselves. Hundreds of girls fainted and had to be carried out,” says Laurie Jacobson, author of Top of the Mountain: The Beatles at Shea Stadium 1965.

“I remember camping out overnight for Rolling Stones’ tickets in ’72. And driving downtown to a concert in the ’80s, I passed a street sign on the 101 S that someone spray painted to change Spring St. to Springsteen. Woo! He was in town and everybody was going! But Taylor Swift is more…everything is bigger: the technology, the media, her social presence, the arenas, the merch! It’s all a finely tuned machine that adds to the enormity of her events…positively seismic!”

Seismic. Sounds like an appropriate tour name for next time.