MINNEAPOLIS — For the first time since 2018, Taylor Swift arrived in Minneapolis on Friday to play the first of two shows at U.S. Bank Stadium on The Eras Tour.
The excitement is difficult to put into words.
"It's going to be an out-of-body, existential experience, to be sure," said Morgan Machaj. "It's just going to be such an emotional roller-coaster and experience with her."
Hours ahead of Friday's concert, fans from all over the Midwest crowded the gates of U.S. Bank Stadium in anticipation of Swift's appearance, with lines stretching across South Sixth Street all the way past the Metro Transit light rail station.
Julia Bogusz came from Chicago, where she couldn't get tickets to the previous Eras Tour stop at Soldier Field, while others came from nearby metro areas like Sioux City, Iowa, or Des Moines.
Larissa Unseth came from the small town of Cashton, Wisc., about three hours southeast of the Twin Cities, just to get a glimpse of Swift.
"We've been rained on, we've had the sun beating down on us. It's fun!" Unseth said after standing in line for a few hours outside the stadium. "I think everybody kind of loves her."
Why is that, exactly?
"Oh, she's just incredible. Her music just spans so long and all her songs hit on different things," Allegra Sciacciotta said. "She's such a great performer."
Clare Stoddart added: "She was my first CD and I've been listening to her ever since."
Or, as Morgan Machaj puts it: "It's the magic of growing up with her, and her albums have come out as we're going through the same things as her. And just being able to connect with her lyrics so well. It's mesmerizing. I just love her."
One of the youngest fans at the show -- a nine-year-old named Makenly -- said that Taylor Swift's show was her first concert ever.
"I like that she makes nice music," she said, "and has lots of fans."
She's got that right.
"I didn't think Taylor Swift knew Minnesota existed. She's in there, right now," Addie Johnson said, pointing to U.S. Bank Stadium. "That's insane to me!"
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