Long Island Taylor Swift fans gear up for a MetLife concert to remember
Kayla Donahue, left, a New Hyde Park native, poses with performer Taylor Swift in 2010. Credit: Kayla Donahue
Caitlyn Tumino can close her eyes and the flashback starts: She’s 11 years old at the album release party for “Fearless,” Taylor Swift’s second album, in 2008. She’s approached by someone who she can only describe as a “goddess.” (In retrospect, Tumino notes, this could be simply because the person is front of her was nearly 6 feet tall.)
It was Taylor Swift.
“She came up to me and signed my booklet from the first album, and she looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Thank you so much for buying my first album! I hope you buy my second one,’ ” says Tumino, of Huntington.
“I was hooked,” says Tumino, who now works in social media marketing. “ ‘Fearless’ was a big thing for me as an 11-year-old, and then for the rest of my life.”
Now Tumino, along with many other Long Island-based Swift fans, is heading to MetLife Stadium on Memorial Day weekend for the Eras Tour. These are not only the biggest shows of Swift’s career — the tour has potential to become the top grossing of all time, according to Forbes. All three shows are sold out, and with this being the hottest ticket in town, crowds are expected to be “larger than at a normal concert,” says MetLife Stadium’s director of marketing and communications, Helen Strus.
Tumino, now 25, has tickets to two of the three shows. Those will mark her 12th and 13th (the latter known to be Swift’s lucky number) times seeing her favorite artist live.
“I’m going with my best friend for the first night, and with my mom for the other,” she says.
Many fans, who call themselves “Swifties,” are dressing up in the style of Swift’s eras for the occasion. After treacherous experiences with Ticketmaster, other fans will roll the dice and try to score last-minute seats.
But whether they have tickets or not, Swifties have been following the “Mastermind” herself around the country and seeing her perform every weekend since March — thanks to the power of TikTok.
‘Make the whole place shimmer’
Caitlyn Tumino of Huntington paid tribute to Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" era with her costume at opening night of the Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17. Credit: Caitlyn Tumino
From the loud colors and sparkles from “Lover” to the black leather and snake imagery of “Reputation,” fans have plenty of material to choose from when crafting their Eras Tour looks.
Swift has marked each era of her career aesthetically, either with the clothing she wore in the music videos or album art of the time, or fashion she sported during previous tours. So Swifties have taken the opportunity to look back on some of her most iconic looks, and recreate them for their big night.
Tumino attended the first night of Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17. As a tribute to “Speak Now,” she nabbed a gold fringe dress and knee-high boots, and curled her hair. At MetLife, she’ll honor Swift’s “1989” era with a sparkly two-piece set. Both outfits reflect Swift’s looks during the respective tours for the albums, and Tumino found all the clothing through the company Fashion Nova.
Shayla Lewandowski, 22, will also dress up when she heads to the first show of the weekend at MetLife.
“I’m planning to do a ‘Lover’ theme,” says Lewandowski, of Wading River. “So there’s a lot of pink. I went shopping and found a pair of pink shorts, and I’m struggling to find a shirt, but I know my vision.”
Kayla Donahue, 26, is making her outfits for when she heads to MetLife two nights in a row: The first will be a shirt that includes Swift’s name and her opening acts, then a joint costume to pay homage to “Invisible String,” a song from the 2020 album “Folklore.” The song depicts a mystical force, characterized as an "invisible string," that has connected Swift to a partner throughout various stages of their lives before ever meeting.
“Me and my partner are going to wear all white outfits with golden ribbon wrapped around ourselves, like the invisible string,” says Donahue, a New Hyde Park native.
With the outfits selected, there’s the next order of business: Getting from Long Island to New Jersey. Tumino and Lewandowski will drive, instead of trying to take the Long Island Rail Road to New Jersey Transit.
The same goes for Avery Weiss of Jericho. She plans to stay at a hotel in New Jersey the night of her MetLife show.
“I have to look into parking; it’s making me very nervous,” says Weiss, 24, with a laugh.
Donahue, who lives in Astoria, Queens, will travel by train. After seeing Swift’s “Reputation” tour three times at MetLife in 2018, she thinks it’s the better option.
“I've done it before, and leaving the stadium takes a few hours,” she says.
But what about Swifties who aren’t guaranteed an “Enchanted” evening just yet?
‘Would’ve been right there, front row’
Avery Weiss of Jericho at Taylor Swift's "1989" concert tour in Nashville, in 2015. Credit: Avery Weiss
After facing technical difficulties and being ejected from the virtual queue twice during the presale last week, Gabby Harvey, 26, became a "Lucky One." During her workday at Paramount, she got a text from Ticketmaster.
"I was in a meeting and I got a text that said, 'Hurry, limited amount of tickets for Taylor Swift,' " says Harvey, a Glen Cove native. "I thought it was fake. I was like, 'Am I being 'Punk'd' right now?' "
Ticketmaster has been releasing limited quantities of seats leading up to several shows during the Eras Tour. The MetLife sale on May 16 was limited to "verified fans" — those who had received an entry code from Ticketmaster.
Harvey, a longtime Swiftie, enlisted the help of a co-worker who had managed to snag tickets to two MetLife shows during the presale. Together, they scored Harvey three seats for the final show of the weekend.
"We were screaming," said Harvey. "I think everyone on our floor knew that I got Taylor Swift tickets."
Paige Felice, 10, is a huge Swiftie. She and Swift even share the same birthday, Dec. 13.
“She’s kind of her role model,” says her mother, Grace Felice, 41.
But trying to get Eras Tour tickets has been a “nightmare,” she says. Felice, who works as a school nurse, was unable to secure seats during the presale. Now, she’s resorted to scrolling reseller websites, community Facebook groups and Twitter accounts.
“I’ve been trying for the past month or so to find tickets on StubHub and SeatGeek, but the prices are astronomical,” says Felice, of Miller Place.
And resellers on Facebook can be suspect.
“Close to 30 different people have tried to scam me out of money,” she says. “It’s pretty ruthless out there.”
Felice has learned to spot some of the red flags: If a seller doesn’t accept payment via PayPal goods and services or will not send a photo or screen recording to show proof of the tickets, she's learned to stay away, she says.
Kenny Fajardo, 22, has yet to see Swift in concert. He had tickets to her last stint, called Lover Fest, which was canceled due to the pandemic. He was supposed to see Swift at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts in the summer of 2020.
After a “very easy” ticket purchase back in 2019, Fajardo’s experience with Eras Tour tickets was the opposite.
“This time, I was having trouble just getting in the queue,” Fajardo, of Huntington, says of the Ticketmaster sale. “Me and two other friends were trying on different accounts. Altogether it was not a good experience at all.”
Both Fajardo and Felice are also aware that Ticketmaster has been releasing a limited quantity of tickets for the shows as they get closer, but haven’t had luck there, either. They are both willing to travel to another stadium besides MetLife if it means they’ll get to see Swift.
“The other night I got through and had floor seats in my cart for Nashville,” Felice says. “Then the seats were just gone. Another fan beat me to it.”
“I know they’re opening up obstructed view seats,” says Fajardo. “At this point, I would do that.”
In the meantime, there’s always the livestreams.
‘A tiny screen's the only place I see you now’
Paige Felice, 10, is still hoping to get tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium. Credit: Grace Felice
Since the Eras Tour began, many fans have been broadcasting the show live from the stadium by going live on TikTok. By just including Swift’s name or “Eras Tour” in the caption, these livestreams have amassed thousands of viewers.
“Every weekend, I’m always watching,” says Fajardo.
Lewandowski is too: She has loved seeing livestreams and other videos online, even if that meant “spoiling” the show for herself before she sees it live this month.
“I see everything, every night,” she says. “It’s impossible not to.”
Something else that has set the fandom ablaze: Swift has incorporated “surprise songs” into each show. At every performance, she sings two songs that aren’t on the set list, playing one on acoustic guitar and the other on piano.
Swift has said she won’t perform a song more than once unless she makes a mistake, like flubbing a lyric or chord. (She also said she will play surprise songs off her most recent album, “Midnights,” more than once.)
But with each passing performance, Swifties have begun to keep track of songs they’ve “lost” leading up to their own shows.
One of Lewandowski’s favorites, “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve" from "Midnights (3am Edition)," was played recently in Nashville.
“I woke up to that news and felt devastated, really,” she says.
Swift has also played Weiss’ favorite, “Mean,” as a surprise in Tampa, Florida. So now, her fingers are crossed for a different song.
“I never got to hear ‘You Are In Love,’ ” says Weiss, referring to a bonus track on the “1989” album.
Regardless of what she plays, Swifties are just excited to see Swift spinning in her highest heels during the 3½-hour set.
And fans like Fajardo aren’t losing hope of getting a ticket.
“I hope I’m able to be there; I’m manifesting,” he says. “Even if I don't get to go, I’m still very excited to watch the livestreams and see everyone together. [Swift] has been waiting for this for so long, and a lot of other people have been, too. For her to finally show off her work in the way she wanted to originally, I think that’s enough for me.”
What the music means to me
When she was a sophomore in college, Avery Weiss was invited to a “secret session.” This is something Swift did pre-pandemic: She’d invite a select group of fans to her home to hang out, take photos and preview music from an upcoming album.
Meeting Swift at her Rhode Island home among other die-hard fans was “everything I ever imagined it would be,” Weiss says.
But not too long after this, Weiss was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 19 years old at the time. Weiss says Swift’s music helped her through a challenging time, during which she had to take a year off from college. She wore a Swift shirt to every surgery and chemotherapy treatment, she adds.
Fortunately, Weiss says she responded well and is now doing much better. And she feels an additional connection to Swift because of it: Swift's mother, Andrea Swift, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Weiss' mother will attend the Eras Tour with her. “We’ve always loved her. She was very sweet at the secret session and she wants to tell her that I went through this, too.”
Weiss became a Swiftie in high school, when she was having a “hard time socially” and found comfort and hope in her lyrics, such as the song “Mean,” which proclaims: “Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me.”
“I love her music, but what made me a true fan was her as a person,” she says.
Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.
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