New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium parking lot was a parade of sequins, sparkles, cowboy hats and fringe on Friday, as Taylor Swift fans arrived for the first day of the pop star’s three-night run.
They – and the potential for traffic jams in and around East Rutherford — will be back Saturday and Sunday. The New Jersey Department of Transportation warned Saturday heavy traffic was expected on the New Jersey Turnpike, Routes 495, 3, 17 and 120, the area of the Lincoln Tunnel and the area of the George Washington Bridge.
About a quarter-million ticket-holding fans alone were expected to attend the tour in East Rutherford this weekend. Even after last-minute price drops, tickets for remaining shows remained at more than $1,000 each on VividSeats.com. That's even though some fans reported Ticketmaster was opening up a handful of open seats even as Friday's concert began.
Among those who had a ticket was Patty Schablick from Kinnelon, New Jersey.
MetLife Stadium asked Taylor Swift fans without tickets to stay away this weekend, but Friday night, countless Swifties — ticketed and otherwise — filled MetLife's parking lot to celebrate her Eras Tour.
“My youngest daughter is obsessed with Taylor and my older daughter is graduating from college,” Schablick said. “I will go anywhere and spend any type of money to spend time with her before she goes away to school.”
They were joined by her best friend, Tiffany Fairchild, from San Diego, California, who had flown out with her daughter just for the concert.
Fairchild said she’d tried and failed multiple times to score tickets before she called her friend in New Jersey with a plea: “If you get Taylor Swift tickets, I need them desperately.”
Erica Schablick, 18, was thrilled to be there. She said she loved Swift growing up, but as she got older, she started paying more attention to the lyrics than the music.
“I think that no matter what hard situation you're going through, listening to Taylor Swift, you always find lyrics that just help you relate to it and feel like someone else is going through it too,” she said. “So it helps a lot when you're going through something.”
When you go to see Taylor Swift, you go in style. Swifties gathered outside MetLife Stadium for her first appearance of a three-night run there Friday.
Sal Rinaldi, a Middletown resident and owner of an electrical company, said he couldn't name a single Taylor Swift song. But He gathered with several other dads — all there so their daughters could enjoy the show.
"All the dads let the girls go in, and the guys are hanging out, enjoying the music and the food," he said. There were 27 daughters in the group overall.
MetLife Stadium had asked fans without tickets to stay away, warning they wouldn’t be admitted to parking lots for tailgating.
“Our parking lots and public transportation will be at maximum capacity and are only for guests who have tickets,” MetLife wrote on Facebook Thursday. It said violations of the policy might result in ejection from the property and being banned from future events.
Still, there were at least hundreds, maybe thousands, of apparently ticketless fans hanging out in the parking lot when the concert started. Several said they took the New Jersey Transit train right to the stadium. Some said they drove in without an issue.
Taylor Swift fans are nothing if not enthusiastic. They screamed, cheered, and of course sang outside MetLife Stadium Friday night.
Many also tailgated in the nearby American Dream mall parking lot. The mall positioned itself as a pre-party destination for Swifties with its “Tour Next Door” activities. Every day this weekend at 5 p.m., it’s giving away tickets to the Eras Tour in a sweepstakes, but winners must be on-site to collect the prize.
American Dream also planned to have a DJ on hand playing Swift’s hits, karaoke, and Taylor-themed photo opportunities. Stores were taking part in what the mall’s promotions described as a “fashion journey that celebrates the fearless and fabulous style of Taylor Swift.”
Swift herself gave fans another enticement to come to East Rutherford Thursday, when she announced she was releasing the song Karma, featuring Ice Spice, as part of a new “Til Dawn” deluxe edition of her “Mightnights” album. A special edition CD would be available only to fans onsite at the MetLife concert, with never-before-heard track, “You’re Losing Me.”
MetLife Stadium said tailgaters were welcome, but it didn't have a blank space for anyone without a ticket to Tailor Swift's Eras Tour this weekend.
New Jersey isn’t the first state to take on the enthusiasm of the Taylor Swift fandom. Tens of thousands of ticketless fans swarmed South Philly’s Lincoln Financial Field and the surrounding area earlier this month, trying to get in on the tour’s excitement. Many gathered in the parking lot to sing along.
MetLife, for its part, said Saturday on Facebook it was “still in a lavender haze” but ready for more.
There are a few options for getting to the remaining shows. Stadium lots, including drop-off lots, open at 12:30 p.m. each day of the show. Parking is $40 per car, or $160 per bus, RV or oversized vehicle. Coach USA Bus Service will take fans from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, starting at 3:30 p.m. each day. Return service will run for an hour after the show ends. NJ Transit is offering rail service starting at 4:07 p.m. from Secaucus.
Music and joy were in the air outside MetLife Stadium Friday, as Taylor Swift began her three-night run there.
Parents dropping off children with tickets would be allowed to drive onto the property – so long as the ticket-holding children were in the car – then stay on site until the show was over. MetLife allows tailgating, but says attendees can’t use additional parking spots.
Fans should be prepared for security screenings. Only small purses and clear tote bags of limited size will be allowed.
The Eras Tour began March 17 and runs through Aug. 9. Swift heads to Chicago next.
Aristide Economopoulos and Kerry Shaw contributed reporting.
