Heather Roy says that when she and her 12-year-old daughter Harper attend Taylor SwiftB次元官网网址檚 second show in Vancouver on Saturday, someone else will be with them B次元官网网址� HarperB次元官网网址檚 big sister Evelyn, who died of cancer in 2020 at age 11.
B次元官网网址淔or us, it just feels like so much more than a concert,B次元官网网址� Roy said.
SwiftB次元官网网址檚 music provided comfort to Evelyn during treatment for neuroblastoma. SheB次元官网网址檇 play SwiftB次元官网网址檚 upbeat 2012 hit B次元官网网址�22B次元官网网址� to get her through the uncomfortable task of changing the dressing on her main intravenous line.
Now, Swift is a connection to Evelyn for her mother and sister, who won their tickets in a giveaway and will be travelling to the show from Calgary.
B次元官网网址淲hen you donB次元官网网址檛 get any more memories, to have something and somebody that makes you feel like you get something new from a person thatB次元官网网址檚 no longer here is very profound,B次元官网网址� Heather Roy said through tears.
The RoysB次元官网网址� experience is singular but the intensity of the connection fans feel to Swift and her music is the driving force behind the immense success of the Eras Tour, which ends its 149-show run around the world in Vancouver on Sunday night.
Experts in the phenomenon, including Brock University cultural history professor Elizabeth Vlossak, say the level of superfandom is near unique, fuelled and defined by relationships with fellow devotees as well as the one-sided B次元官网网址減arasocialB次元官网网址� relationship with Swift herself.
Some Swifties have been getting permanent commemorative tattoos. Others have been quitting their jobs to follow the tour across multiple cities and countries. And host cities have thrown themselves into the moment.
B次元官网网址淭he cities become completely devoted to Taylor Swift being there,B次元官网网址� said Vlossak. B次元官网网址淭he only thing that I think has really ever come close to that is Beatlemania in the B次元官网网址�60s.B次元官网网址�
Vancouver is no exception. Light installations around the city pay homage to the singer-songwriter, and businesses ranging from tattoo parlours to gyms to fashion retailers are hosting various Swift-themed events.
Tourism organization Destination Vancouver has said Swift will bring an estimated $157 million to the city this weekend, including $97 million in direct spending on things including accommodation, food and transport.
An estimated 160,000 ticket holders will watch the sold-out Vancouver shows, ending a tour that became the first to take in more than $1 billion in revenue, according to music trade publication Pollstar.
B次元官网网址淭here really is no comparison (among previous events),B次元官网网址� said Vlossak, B次元官网网址渂ecause just the sheer scale of this tour and the numbers of people coming to them is nothing like what we even saw in the height of Beatlemania in B次元官网网址�64 to B次元官网网址�65,B次元官网网址� she said.
Harvard University English Prof. Stephanie Burt, who has taught a literary course on Swift, agreed. She said the Beatles had not expected Beatlemania, and did not have the desire or technology to perform in such loud stadiums, B次元官网网址渟o they stopped touring.B次元官网网址�
Swift, on the other hand B次元官网网址渒new and wanted to be famous in this way,B次元官网网址� said Burt.
What separates Swift from other incredibly famous solo artists, she said, is her songwriting.
B次元官网网址淯nderneath all of this success is her at a guitar or at a piano, with or without a collaborator, writing a song.B次元官网网址�
WHAT MAKES A SWIFTIE?
Marissa Regole, a longtime Swiftie from Arizona, has already been to 10 Eras Tour shows and is capping that with the final night of the tour in Vancouver on Sunday.
She credits Swift for connecting her with like-minded fans from across the United States who have since become her best friends, meeting up for concerts and listening parties.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 even know any of these girls before the Eras Tour started, but now we talk every day,B次元官网网址� she said in an interview.
University of Kansas sociology professor Brian Donovan, a self-described B次元官网网址淪wiftologist,B次元官网网址� said thatB次元官网网址檚 the main marker for how SwiftB次元官网网址檚 superfans separate themselves from the casual fan B次元官网网址� their relationships.
Donovan said membership can be most easily observed in how the fans speak to one another, something sociologists have coined a B次元官网网址渇anilect.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hen Swifties are talking with one another, they have this ability to kind of lace in these Swiftie references that bond the fandom together B次元官网网址� you feel connected through that shared language,B次元官网网址� Donovan said.
He also highlighted the phenomenon of fan-led projects, such as the trading of friendship bracelets or organizing chants during specific songs during shows.
B次元官网网址淭here are these very unique fan practices that are organic to the fandom,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not directed by Taylor herself. ItB次元官网网址檚 not directed by powerful people on social media. They have kind of grown organically.B次元官网网址�
In Vancouver, for instance, fan forums are filled with plans to surprise Swift including by singing Happy Birthday on the final night of the tour. Swift turns 35 on Dec. 13.
Twelve-year-old Elly Serrano, from Seattle, Wash., has her own project in mind.
She and her mother Elisha Serrano have a goal of collecting friendship bracelets from all 149 Eras Tour shows. They are heading to Vancouver this weekend as they close in on their goal.
They came up with the idea this summer, after a Swift concert included the surprise song B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e On Your Own, Kid,B次元官网网址� which references making friendship bracelets and launched the phenomenon of fans making and trading the jewelry.
The mother-daughter duo have amassed more than 46,000 followers on the TikTok account where they document their quest.
B次元官网网址淲e just never lost the Swiftie spirit here at our house,B次元官网网址� said Elisha Serrano, a fan since Swift debuted in 2006 and who has imparted Swiftie culture to her daughter.
Swift has been re-recording her first six albums because of a dispute over master recordings with her former label. Elisha Serrano said the re-recordings have allowed her to bond with her daughter in a way that she hadnB次元官网网址檛 dreamt possible.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 TaylorB次元官网网址檚 age and her life kind of matched up with my life,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think Taylor truly understands how incredible it is for us parents to go through re-releasing her music again. Reliving that again and getting to do that again with my kids is incredible,B次元官网网址� she said, tearing up.
Donovan said that this kind of multi-generational appeal is another aspect to SwiftB次元官网网址檚 starpower.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 mainly women and itB次元官网网址檚 a cross-generational experience where mothers B次元官网网址� are bringing their daughters into the fold and taking them to the shows,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd because it is such a woman-dominated space, it feels safe.B次元官网网址�
Sometimes the fandom transfers the other way.
B.C. fan Becky Mercereau said she was converted by her 14-year-old daughter. They are attending SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 show together.
B次元官网网址淵ou can play one second of the start of the song, and she knows it. She is bonkers,B次元官网网址� Mercereau said of her daughter.
They take part in monthly Taylor Swift themed events with other fans in their B.C. Interior community of HudsonB次元官网网址檚 Hope, population 841. Members range in age from seven to over 50.
Donovan said part of the cross-generational appeal is that SwiftB次元官网网址檚 image, unlike that of other pop stars like Britney Spears or Madonna, does not cater to the male gaze.
Burt, the Harvard professor, agreed that SwiftB次元官网网址檚 public image sets her apart among most other fan-celebrity relationships.
B次元官网网址淪he is the biggest English-speaking artist with a fan army and her fan army differs from the kind of fan armies, or really intense groups around other pop stars, in that weB次元官网网址檙e not trying to sleep with her,B次元官网网址� Burt said.
B次元官网网址淲e see ourselves in her, and we look up to her, and we see her as simultaneously as an imaginary friend and as a kind of emotional authority, a trustworthy (authority).B次元官网网址�
THE COST OF SUPERFANDOM
Superfandom doesnB次元官网网址檛 always come without sacrifice.
Mara Mozie, from New London, New Hampshire, has a ticket for FridayB次元官网网址檚 show in Vancouver.
But her employer denied her time off to attend. So, she quit.
B次元官网网址淵ou do what youB次元官网网址檝e got to do. ItB次元官网网址檚 a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,B次元官网网址� said Mozie. SheB次元官网网址檒l be attending with a friend who secured the tickets.
Donovan said the high cost of some aspects of superfandom has fuelled conversations around consumerism as well as class.
B次元官网网址淭here is a kind of status or cultural capital that comes with having seen Taylor live multiple times,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 also a status that comes with specific pieces of merch.B次元官网网址�
Tickets can cost thousands of dollars, hotel and short-term rental prices have soared in Vancouver, and the megastarB次元官网网址檚 merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories. Resale prices can be much higher.
But Swift B次元官网网址渄idnB次元官网网址檛 invent capitalism,B次元官网网址� Donovan said, she just found ways to harness it.
B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 just maximizing a situation that has existed before her and will exist after her,B次元官网网址� he said.
Burt, who went to the show in Edinburgh, agreed.
B次元官网网址淚f you think it adds nothing of value and shouldnB次元官网网址檛 exist, think about how many other capital-intensive performing arts events you are also condemning,B次元官网网址� she said of the concert.
In any case, such considerations matter little to the true superfan B次元官网网址� the experience of a Swift show is priceless to devotees like the Roys of Calgary.
Heather Roy said she and her daughter Harper have already planned their outfits for SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 show.
Harper will be wearing an outfit inspired by SwiftB次元官网网址檚 sparkly B次元官网网址淟overB次元官网网址� era, and her 2019 album of the same name, while HeatherB次元官网网址檚 will reference the song B次元官网网址�22B次元官网网址� that her late daughter Evelyn loved so much.
Around her neck, Harper will wear a necklace with a picture of Evelyn.
And Heather Roy will be wearing a ring containing EvelynB次元官网网址檚 ashes.
