Swift Mania

TAMPA, Fla. — Did you hear concerning the girls who hid all night time beneath the truck?

Rumors have been flying outdoors the Raymond James Stadium greater than 36 hours earlier than Taylor Swift took the stage of the 75,000-seat web site on Florida’s west coast.

They went from individual to individual, as in a kids’s recreation of phone. However the strains outdoors the stadium final week have been made up of followers of all ages keen to place up with hours of discomfort to purchase souvenirs tied to the singer’s Eras Tour. A lot of them arrived properly earlier than dawn.

When phrase went out that sure prize objects is likely to be bought out, some Swifties spoke darkly of resellers with suitcases who had purchased up bins of T-shirts and sweatshirts at earlier tour stops. There was additionally discuss that a few girls had spent the night time beneath a merchandise truck.

That turned out to be true. One of many girls, Larisa Roberts, had the selfies to show it — grainy pictures exhibiting that she and a buddy had spent hours taking shelter from the rain underneath the official Eras truck.

“Nobody was right here,” Ms. Roberts, an inside decorator from Trinity, Fla., mentioned of the scene outdoors the stadium when she arrived between 2 a.m. and three a.m. on Wednesday. She added that she deliberate to purchase sweatshirts for her daughters, Lilly and Daisy.

Shirley Vogler, a nurse in Tampa, mentioned she had made it to the Eras truck at 10 p.m. the night time earlier than. Like different early arrivals, she had been moved from spot to identify by safety guards within the wet predawn hours. At 5:45 a.m., she was among the many lots of of individuals camped out on a sidewalk subsequent to the six-lane West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Ms. Vogler, 31, was seated on the bottom towards the entrance, chatting with two different girls whom she had befriended.

Followers have been in a position to purchase merchandise contained in the stadium on every of the three nights that Ms. Swift would carry out on the dwelling of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So why trouble ready all night time within the rain? Ms. Vogler, who had tickets to a present, mentioned it was due to what she had seen on social media — particularly, “the TikToks about how dangerous the entire arenas are with the merch strains and the visitors.”

A number of different followers talked about having seen posts by Bailey McKnight-Howard, one half of the dual influencer duo @brooklynandbailey, an Instagram account with almost 9 million followers. Just a few days earlier, Ms. McKnight-Howard had put up photos of herself ready outdoors AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

She had additionally modeled a newly bought blue crew neck sweatshirt, the most-sought after merchandise amongst followers. Practically each particular person outdoors the stadium on Wednesday morning was making an attempt to purchase one, or two, or as many as they have been allowed to have.

There was nothing flashy about it. The sweatshirt had no sequins or embroidery or hidden pockets. It was simply your common on a regular basis sweatshirt, with Ms. Swift’s title and “Eras Tour” printed throughout the entrance and the tour dates and the titles of her albums on the again. For those who closed your eyes and conjured a blue crew neck sweatshirt with some writing on it, your psychological picture would in all probability match up with this in-demand merchandise.

One factor that made it particular was the truth that, not like another tour souvenirs, it was not out there within the “merch” part of taylorswift.com. It was additionally, notably, the uncommon garment on the market that day with out Ms. Swift’s face printed on it. Within the weeks because the begin of the Eras Tour, followers had elevated this unexceptional article of clothes to cult standing.

“Each Swiftie needs the blue crew,” mentioned Debbie Losee, a 60-year-old instructor who mentioned she was ready in line on behalf of her daughter.

The apparently restricted provide made it much more prized. “The resale on the sweatshirts is $300, Jake!” one fan was heard shouting into her telephone. She was right. The sweatshirt is on the market on eBay for greater than 4 instances its $65 record worth.

“I’ve been having nightmares about getting this crew neck,” mentioned Emily Rottkamp, a 20-year-old worker at Disney World. “I haven’t been sleeping.”

Alyssa Misay, a private damage specialist from Land O’ Lakes, Fla., joined the road earlier than 5:30 a.m. She mentioned her teenage niece had given her strict directions: “‘The sweatshirt, the sweatshirt!’”

“Social media simply makes issues an even bigger deal than what they’re — like, virtually unattainable,” Ms. Misay, 36, mentioned. “Like, for those who don’t have it, you’re not cool at school.”

Close by, Venisha Jardin, a sophomore at Wiregrass Ranch Excessive College in Wesley Chapel, Fla., wore a hooded plastic poncho to guard her from the rain. Within the hours earlier than dawn, the glow from her telephone illuminated the world round her. “I’m lacking faculty for this,” she mentioned.

Her mom, Chrys, was sitting in a close-by parked automotive.

“I used to be like, ‘There’s no method I’m lacking merch simply to go to high school,’” Ms. Jardin mentioned, describing how she had managed to persuade her dad and mom. She added that she deliberate to purchase at the least 5 objects, together with the what.

Regardless of the nippiness within the air and the regular drizzle, spirits have been excessive. Gina Delano, 27, walked up and down the sidewalk telling individuals she had a cooler filled with free snacks and drinks. Carrying a cardigan that had gone on sale at taylorswift.com on the time of the singer’s 2020 album “Folklore” (which incorporates the track “Cardigan”), Ms. Delano mentioned she had traveled from her dwelling close to Buffalo.

“The climate might undoubtedly be higher,” she mentioned, “but when that is what it takes to get merch, then that is what we’ll do.”

Elsewhere within the line, Jess Montgomery, a marriage photographer from Dade Metropolis, Fla., cradled her 7-week-old son, Denver, in a blanket. Standing beside her was her 11-year-old niece. “I’ll be 40 subsequent yr,” Ms. Montgomery mentioned, “and when she’s my age I would like her to look again and say, ‘My aunt was tremendous cool.’” She added that she had struck out in her makes an attempt to attain tickets for any of the three sold-out Tampa reveals.

The individuals outdoors the stadium included youngsters who had by no means recognized a world during which Ms. Swift wasn’t a global celebrity and girls who had grown up alongside the 33-year-old singer. The hours of ready gave them an opportunity to really feel at dwelling amongst lots of of others who shared a love for Ms. Swift’s songs about highschool bullies and first loves, about heartbreak and loss.

“The worst sort of particular person is somebody who makes somebody really feel dangerous, dumb or silly for being enthusiastic about one thing,” Ms. Swift mentioned in a 2019 interview. It’s a line that her followers have usually quoted on social media in reply to the haters.

Shortly after 7 a.m., Matt Langel, a Tampa resident, was sitting on the sidewalk decked out in Pittsburgh Steelers gear whereas his daughter, Alexis, filmed the scene for her mom. Ms. Swift’s music had change into a lifeline for the household, Mr. Langel mentioned, including that his spouse was disabled. “My spouse, since she’s been bedridden, just about Taylor is what received her by means of,” Mr. Langel mentioned.

At 8 a.m., two hours earlier than the merchandise was to go on sale, stadium staff opened the parking zone. Some followers tried to respect the present line as others rushed towards the entrance. As a result of many individuals had been ready at completely different areas, there was a scramble. Followers who tried to abide by an honor system discovered themselves roughly out of luck.

“Everybody began working from all completely different instructions,” Ms. Roberts, the lady from underneath the truck, mentioned after she had managed to safe a spot close to the entrance of the road.

Farther again, some individuals squabbled with these making an attempt to chop in. “Again of the road or I’m going to must put you in jail,” an officer with the Tampa Police Division could be heard saying in a video of the scene recorded by a fan and reviewed by The New York Instances. Some individuals cheered as a number of of the obvious line-cutters obeyed his order.

As 10 a.m. approached, native TV information crews confirmed as much as interview followers, and a helicopter whirred not far above the merch truck. Sturdy winds whipped throughout the lot, stirring up mud. Tears streamed down Haylee Lewis’s face.

“I simply really feel like tenting in a single day is a little bit a lot,” mentioned Ms. Lewis, a 21-year-old faculty scholar who lives in Orlando. The road was already over 1,000 individuals lengthy when she had arrived at 8:30 a.m., she added. “I perceive it, possibly, for live performance tickets, however for the merch line it’s really insane,” she mentioned.

There turned out to be two vehicles promoting merchandise. Subsequent to the Eras truck, which was patterned with pictures of Ms. Swift’s face, there was a plain black truck topped with an indication studying “COOL STUFF” in large pink letters. Each vehicles bought the identical objects.

Contained in the vehicles, gross sales individuals ready for the push, unpacking bins of shirts, tote baggage, mild wands and posters. They wore black Eras Tour T-shirts, the identical ones they’d be promoting for $45 apiece. (On-line, some followers have complained that sure shirts fade noticeably after washing.) There was one rule for the day: solely two blue crew neck sweatshirts per buyer.

At 10 a.m., the road lurched ahead. A pair of AirPods flew into the air and landed on the bottom, their proprietor seemingly oblivious. Issues progressed slowly because the followers who made it to the very entrance requested to see varied sizes and mulled their choices. The temper was tense however jovial.

Lower than an hour later, the vibe shifted as phrase circulated that the prize sweatshirts had bought out. Anna Avgoustis, a 26-year-old fan, received one of many final ones.

“By the point I received to the entrance, they have been taking them off the wall,” she mentioned. “I used to be like: ‘Please give me the final one. I’ll do something for you. I’ll run you guys Starbucks.’” Just a few hours later, true to her phrase, she returned with coffees for the gross sales crew.

Kristi Kall, 38, and her daughter, Kaylee, 11, mentioned they’d attempt to purchase a sweatshirt on the live performance. “I simply want they’d have had a little bit bit extra, as a result of they knew that’s what all people wished,” Ms. Kall mentioned.

“I’m a little bit upset,” mentioned Kaylee, who purchased an Eras Tour-branded water bottle as an alternative.

Within the afternoon, Laura Gavagan, a 33-year-old fan in Baltimore who had come instantly from the airport, joined the road outdoors the truck, her suitcase rolling behind her. “I’m getting some appears to be like,” she mentioned.

Jaclyn Quinn, a highschool English instructor from Joliet, Ailing., mentioned that Ms. Swift’s work got here in useful in her classes. “We use ‘The Man’ to show vital lenses and discuss concerning the feminist lens versus the genderqueer lens,” she mentioned. “We use her track ‘Dangerous Blood’ to speak about metaphor.” She purchased an Eras Tour wall tapestry for her classroom.

As 5 p.m. approached, the salespeople started straightening up the vehicles and peeling off the tour T-shirts. When requested in the event that they received to maintain the shirts that they had worn that day, one of many staff mentioned, “No.” As a substitute, they folded them and returned them to the stacks to be bought to the following day’s followers.

“Isn’t that so gross?” the salesperson mentioned. “Don’t inform.”