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Locals plan on ‘a marvelous time’ at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Pittsburgh

8 min read
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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Kierra Cannon incorporates Taylor Swift lyrics into her literature classes at Calvary Chapel Christian School, where she teaches grades 6 through 8. During study hall, she helped students make friendship bracelets, an homage to Swift’s newest album, “Midnights.”

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Photos: Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

One line in a Taylor Swift song, and friendship bracelets are bigger than ever. Fans pay homage to the song “You’re on your own, kid” by making and sharing bracelets with other Swifties at Eras Tour concerts; Kierra Cannon can’t wait to hand these out next weekend.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

It’s giving T.S. vibes. Kierra Cannon, who will attend the Eras Tour in Pittsburgh next weekend, sips coffee in her “folklore” cardigan, one of many pieces of Swift merch the Rices Landing fan has acquired over the years.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

When “Midnights” dropped in October 2022, Swift also released her most “Mastermind” merch to date: four vinyl albums that, when put together form a working clock. This clock is part of Kierra Cannon’s growing collection of Swift home décor; she’s also got disco balls, a nod to “mirrorball,” in her house.

Tuesday, Nov. 15, will live in Taylor Swift fandom as “sad, beautiful, tragic.”

That morning, hundreds of thousands of Swifties nationwide spent hours waiting in virtual line to score tickets to Swift’s Eras Tour, the singer’s first tour in five years.

Demand exceeded Ticketmaster’s capacity, booting some fans out of or offline. Many ended the day “not fine at all,” “bruised like violets” and ticketless.

“I didn’t think we were going to get tickets,” said Amy Shever Rush, a Swiftie from Hopewell Township. “I was following Facebook, and everybody else that I knew was like, ‘Oh my gosh, the site crashed.'”

When her daughter, Kelsey Rush-Walko, sent a celebratory text, “I’m like, there’s no way,” Shever Rush said. “I can’t believe we got these tickets. I was really excited.”

Shever Rush’s fandom predates the Christmas that Swift’s concept album “1989,” released in 2014, appeared beneath her tree. While she was singing along or getting down to Swift’s sick beats, Shever Rush’s Millennial daughter was stubbornly shaking off fandom.

“I’m going to be real: At first, I wasn’t sold on Taylor Swift. I was kind of, like, a hater,” laughed Rush-Walko, whose 4-year-old daughter Eloise Walko is a third-generation Swiftie who will sing along outside the stadium on Friday; her mom and grandma are attending Saturday’s concert. “But then Reputation came out and Reputation is, like, such a great album.”

Eras Tour costumes are social media eye candy, and Rush-Walko is “ready for it:” She plans to wear a Reputation album-themed outfit to the show.

Kierra Cannon, a Rices Landing Swiftie, is still deciding how to “dress,” but she’s got most everything else about concert day planned. She and her boyfriend are returning home a day early from vacation to prepare for the concert, including packing snacks and water for the drive home, in case they hit traffic.

Cannon’s boyfriend – not a Swiftie – will serve as the evening’s documentarian and merch-purchaser so the lifelong Taylor Swift fan can focus on screaming her heart out to the artist’s discography.

“I’ve watched the Reputation Tour (on Netflix) and all the other things like a million times. We didn’t really have a lot of money growing up, so I never was able to (see her in concert). I’m so thankful that she’s going through every single era because I’ve not been able to afford it my whole life, and now I’m an adult and I can finally see all of it in one show. She’s written a song for every pivotal moment in my life. She doesn’t realize how healing it is for all of us older, generational Swifties,” Cannon said.

Cannon’s been busy making friendship bracelets (a nod to the song “You’re on Your Own, Kid”) with her students at Calvary Chapel Christian School, where she teaches literature to grades 6 through 8.

“My favorite thing is when someone tells me she only writes songs about boys. ‘Seven,’ I use that song to teach my middle schoolers about end stop line in poetry,” said Cannon. “We read ‘King Midas’ with my seventh-grade students. I was telling them about the Midas touch reference in the song (champagne problems): ‘Your Midas touch on the Chevy door.’ She thinks everything he touches turns to gold because love blinds you. They understand it more.”

Shever Rush enjoyed early Taylor, but it was the 2020 Netflix documentary “Miss Americana” that helped her better understand the performer’s artistry.

“I had a new appreciation for her and the amount of effort that she puts into everything she does as far as writing, composing. I realized how terrible the whole music industry had treated her. The control that they tried to have over her, that ultimately she did not let them have. I have a lot of respect for her,” Shever Rush said. “She has a brain, she knows what she’s doing.”

The Connellsville Police Department knew what it was doing when Detective Tom Patton and former department Officer Jake Cavanaugh hopped in a “getaway car” and pressed play on the track, “Look What You Made Me Do,” as part of a nationwide police department YouTube Lip Sync challenge in 2018.

“Our mayor wanted to do a video and, to be quite honest with you, I wasn’t down for it. I was just like, man, we’re going to look like idiots,” said Patton. “There’s looking like idiots in a good way and there’s looking like idiots in a bad way.”

“So it goes” that the music video features Connellsville officers not looking like idiots at all, lip syncing flawlessly to Swift’s song while cruising in their cars. The video ends with a choreographed dance fit for “America’s Got Talent.”

Within 36 hours, CPD’s “Reputation” video garnered about 200,000 views, Patton said.

“It was a pretty big deal. The news came down. 100.7 radio played it. I thought there was a good, legit chance we were going to get to meet her, and I’m not someone who thinks that way,” Patton said.

He was actually disappointed when the department didn’t meet Swift, who was in the area for her Reputation Tour, because at the time, Patton was a super fan.

“Is my Swiftiness still as strong as it was in 2018? No. I feel like my peak fandom was the ‘Red’ album, ‘1989’ and ‘Reputation.’ ‘Blank Space,’ that’d probably be my favorite favorite. That’s a good song to sing. I like ‘Style;’ it’s sneaky catchy,” Patton said, joking he secretly wants to be a pop star. “Bachelor me would’ve been going to the (Eras) concert. Married with kids me, no. I can’t justify paying $1,000, $2,000 for a night out. I’m not afraid to pay money … but that’d set us back.”

Patton and his wife, Amanda Patton, still listen to Swift – Amanda likes the new “Midnights” album, he said – and it’s the “invisible string” of music that bound them together.

“That was a prerequisite: Backstreet Boys and Taylor Swift and there was a 2000 mock boy band named Together. That’s when we knew we were meant to be together, when she knew who they were and she was a fan,” Patton laughed.

What makes Taylor Swift so appealing, Patton speculates, is the girl-next-door vibe that made her famous.

“She started off as that everyday girl,” he said. “You grow up with her. You start off liking her when you’re 8. Here we are 15, 20 years later and she’s still going.”

Brittany McGary has, like many fans, grown up with Swift. In fact, she saw the megastar at Wild Things Stadium in 2006.

“She was on tour with Lonestar. It was obviously a small venue. They had meet-and-greet stations. Lonestar’s line was long, so I went, I met Taylor Swift, I got her autograph and everything,” recalled McGary, who is attending the Eras Tour Friday with four of her best friends, all dressed as a different era. “But I’m 8 years old, I don’t know the importance of new artists. I went home, I was like, I don’t know who this girl is. I threw her autograph away. It’s crazy.”

McGary’s love for Swift’s work has waxed and waned over the years; today, the Washington, Pa., native is “forever and always” a fan.

“There’s times where things have happened in the media with her, I was like, I don’t know if I like her as a person but I like her music,” said McGary. “As I’ve gotten older and I’ve actually been able to relate to her music, it’s just been really cool. Even going back to some of the older albums I didn’t relate to back then, I relate to now. I’m flabbergasted how somebody has the ability to write these powerful, lyrically beautiful songs at such a young age.”

Swift’s storytelling ability has “enchanted” since she first began penning often autobiographical lyrics as a preteen. Her writing, singing and performing abilities are more refined today, and although she’s had to “begin again” after media fiascos in the past, it’s her dedication to the craft and fans that make them “stay, stay, stay.”

“There’s a song for every segment of life. She has a song for everything,” said Rush-Walko. “She’s so talented. I will continue to listen to her music forever. She’s just an inspiration, and I feel like she’s such a good role model for Eloise. So many of her songs are so uplifting and encouraging. She’s just so relatable.”

Relatable, too, is the panic on ticket-buying day late last year and the overwhelming joy in the days leading up to Eras Tour concert day.

“I’m just excited to belt the songs. I know I’m not going to have a voice the next day,” laughed McGary.

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