Heather Roy says that when she and her 12-year-old daughter Harper attend Taylor Swift91裸聊视频檚 second show in Vancouver on Saturday, someone else will be with them 91裸聊视频� Harper91裸聊视频檚 big sister Evelyn, who died of cancer in 2020 at age 11.
91裸聊视频淔or us, it just feels like so much more than a concert,91裸聊视频� Roy said.
Swift91裸聊视频檚 music provided comfort to Evelyn during treatment for neuroblastoma. She91裸聊视频檇 play Swift91裸聊视频檚 upbeat 2012 hit 91裸聊视频�2291裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淲hen you don91裸聊视频檛 get any more memories, to have something and somebody that makes you feel like you get something new from a person that91裸聊视频檚 no longer here is very profound,91裸聊视频� Heather Roy said through tears.
The Roys91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频減arasocial91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淭he cities become completely devoted to Taylor Swift being there,91裸聊视频� said Vlossak. 91裸聊视频淭he only thing that I think has really ever come close to that is Beatlemania in the 91裸聊视频�60s.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淭here really is no comparison (among previous events),91裸聊视频� said Vlossak, 91裸聊视频渂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 91裸聊视频�64 to 91裸聊视频�65,91裸聊视频� 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, 91裸聊视频渟o they stopped touring.91裸聊视频�
Swift, on the other hand 91裸聊视频渒new and wanted to be famous in this way,91裸聊视频� said Burt.
What separates Swift from other incredibly famous solo artists, she said, is her songwriting.
91裸聊视频淯nderneath all of this success is her at a guitar or at a piano, with or without a collaborator, writing a song.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淚 didn91裸聊视频檛 even know any of these girls before the Eras Tour started, but now we talk every day,91裸聊视频� she said in an interview.
University of Kansas sociology professor Brian Donovan, a self-described 91裸聊视频淪wiftologist,91裸聊视频� said that91裸聊视频檚 the main marker for how Swift91裸聊视频檚 superfans separate themselves from the casual fan 91裸聊视频� their relationships.
Donovan said membership can be most easily observed in how the fans speak to one another, something sociologists have coined a 91裸聊视频渇anilect.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淲hen Swifties are talking with one another, they have this ability to kind of lace in these Swiftie references that bond the fandom together 91裸聊视频� you feel connected through that shared language,91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淭here are these very unique fan practices that are organic to the fandom,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not directed by Taylor herself. It91裸聊视频檚 not directed by powerful people on social media. They have kind of grown organically.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檙e On Your Own, Kid,91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淲e just never lost the Swiftie spirit here at our house,91裸聊视频� 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 hadn91裸聊视频檛 dreamt possible.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 Taylor91裸聊视频檚 age and her life kind of matched up with my life,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 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,91裸聊视频� she said, tearing up.
Donovan said that this kind of multi-generational appeal is another aspect to Swift91裸聊视频檚 starpower.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 mainly women and it91裸聊视频檚 a cross-generational experience where mothers 91裸聊视频� are bringing their daughters into the fold and taking them to the shows,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淎nd because it is such a woman-dominated space, it feels safe.91裸聊视频�
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 Saturday91裸聊视频檚 show together.
91裸聊视频淵ou can play one second of the start of the song, and she knows it. She is bonkers,91裸聊视频� Mercereau said of her daughter.
They take part in monthly Taylor Swift themed events with other fans in their B.C. Interior community of Hudson91裸聊视频檚 Hope, population 841. Members range in age from seven to over 50.
Donovan said part of the cross-generational appeal is that Swift91裸聊视频檚 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 Swift91裸聊视频檚 public image sets her apart among most other fan-celebrity relationships.
91裸聊视频淪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 we91裸聊视频檙e not trying to sleep with her,91裸聊视频� Burt said.
91裸聊视频淲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).91裸聊视频�
THE COST OF SUPERFANDOM
Superfandom doesn91裸聊视频檛 always come without sacrifice.
Mara Mozie, from New London, New Hampshire, has a ticket for Friday91裸聊视频檚 show in Vancouver.
But her employer denied her time off to attend. So, she quit.
91裸聊视频淵ou do what you91裸聊视频檝e got to do. It91裸聊视频檚 a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,91裸聊视频� said Mozie. She91裸聊视频檒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.
91裸聊视频淭here is a kind of status or cultural capital that comes with having seen Taylor live multiple times,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 also a status that comes with specific pieces of merch.91裸聊视频�
Tickets can cost thousands of dollars, hotel and short-term rental prices have soared in Vancouver, and the megastar91裸聊视频檚 merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories. Resale prices can be much higher.
But Swift 91裸聊视频渄idn91裸聊视频檛 invent capitalism,91裸聊视频� Donovan said, she just found ways to harness it.
91裸聊视频淪he91裸聊视频檚 just maximizing a situation that has existed before her and will exist after her,91裸聊视频� he said.
Burt, who went to the show in Edinburgh, agreed.
91裸聊视频淚f you think it adds nothing of value and shouldn91裸聊视频檛 exist, think about how many other capital-intensive performing arts events you are also condemning,91裸聊视频� she said of the concert.
In any case, such considerations matter little to the true superfan 91裸聊视频� 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 Saturday91裸聊视频檚 show.
Harper will be wearing an outfit inspired by Swift91裸聊视频檚 sparkly 91裸聊视频淟over91裸聊视频� era, and her 2019 album of the same name, while Heather91裸聊视频檚 will reference the song 91裸聊视频�2291裸聊视频� 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 Evelyn91裸聊视频檚 ashes.
