BRUSSELS.- When two swifties of the Netherlands tried to organize a night two years ago to fans of Taylor Swiftthe club owners contacted were reluctant, because they doubted that the megastar would be a hit with the modern public.
“They didn’t like the idea,” Alexa Fischer, 25, a Swift fan, told AFP. Europa.
“We couldn’t even put the names of the venues on our social media because they were embarrassed to host Swift’s party,” recalled her friend Femke van Splunter.
However, that first party was an instant success: all 200 tickets were sold out in one day.
Eighteen months later, once-reticent clubs are now looking to him to organize fixtures for themselves.wifties, having understood the magnitude of the phenomenon in Europe.
The Eras Tour
Taylor Swift kicks off on Thursday, May 9, with a concert in Paris, the European leg of the gigantic Eras tour, which ends on August 20 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
In the Netherlands, where Swift will perform on July 4, 5 and 6 in Amsterdam, the first event was motivated by the release of the hit album Midnights, in 2022, and the need to meet with like-minded fans to celebrate it.
“We thought there were a lot of excited people, but we didn’t know where they were,” said van Splunter, 30.
With a similar experience, the Portuguese Joana Lopes says that swifties They are used to having their devotion belittled, since even the singer-songwriter herself has been the object of disdain for lyrics that largely revolve around her ex-partners.
“A few years ago, we couldn’t talk about Taylor without being judged or made fun of,” Lopes said.
Community
However, fans told AFP that the sense of community is very real.
Fischer and van Splunter, for example, host an eclectic mix of groups on WhatsApp, including one with videos of Swift’s concerts and another where fans gather to talk politics.
In Lisbon, Lopes and her friend Ana Carmo, 29, belong to a WhatsApp group with dozens of swifties who live in different cities, and who helped them get tickets to see their cone.
Beyond the sense of belonging, Swift has provided many fans with comfort in difficult times.
After Fischer lost her father at the age of 16, she remembers feeling supported by a song: “about Swift’s own journey with cancer and her mother.”
Music also helped Lopes mourn the loss of her grandmother. “It was the same day Taylor became a part of my life,” said the 33-year-old, who adds that Swift’s lyrics are “what I value most.”
In Brussels, Clara Garcia said Swift makes her fans feel seen, and for analysts it is part of her overwhelming success.
“Swift has created a community and positioned herself as someone who could be a friend to her fans,” said Georgia Carroll, a fan culture expert, who noted that the singer-songwriter is now: “more popular than she’s ever been.” “.
Taylor Swift’s heat
Swift’s appeal as a songwriter may not be obvious on a continent where few speak English as a first language, but that’s no obstacle for her fans.
“I started listening to his songs and thought, ‘What the hell is he saying?'” Lopes recalled. For this reason, “I began to read his lyrics and translate them, to understand them,” he added.
Carmo, meanwhile, pointed out that with that same procedure: “I am learning new words, I am learning new meanings of things.”
Alessia Faranna, 25, who lives in Brussels, said Swift helped her a lot with her English. “I fall in love with the way she expresses her feelings,” he reinforced.
In addition to Paris and London, Swift’s tour includes concerts in Stockholm, Lisbon, Madrid (at the Santiago Bernabu stadium), Lyon, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff, Dublin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Milan, Gerlsenkirchen, Hamburg, Munich, Warsaw and Vienna.
The Eras tour will culminate on December 8, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada.
FUENTE: AFP
