Sequins, cowboy boots and souvenir Taylor Swift popcorn buckets were the accessories for those attending Thursday night’s screening of the singer’s highly anticipated film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”
While the film was set to officially premiere on Friday, Swift revealed in an Instagram post on Wednesday that, “due to unprecedented demand,” Thursday night screenings would be available in the U.S. and Canada, and tickets They will go on sale at 10 am. the same day.
At the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, before the weekend sold out, fans trickled in, but that didn’t stop some Swifties from showing off their “Eras”-inspired wardrobe.
“I was so excited that Taylor actually opened it up so we could see it today,” said Tasha Lynch, who was visiting from Florida. Lynch, 31, is a nurse visiting New York before a trip to Paris this weekend, but as a true Swift fan, she just so happened to be prepared. She showed up to the movies alone in a bright pink dress influenced by the “Lover” era and completed with a bag of friendship bracelets inspired by Ms. Swift’s lyrics.
As more fans showed up, most wearing the official gray Eras Tour T-shirt, Seana Slattery and Riley Keohane, friends from Marymount Manhattan College, opted for a more elegant but somber look in dresses that reflected the music found on the albums . Folklore” and “Reputation”.
“I’m giving a ‘Mirrorball’ moment, which is a ‘Folklore’ song (Track 6), it’s my favorite song from that album,” said Keohane, who didn’t get a chance to see this tour live (blame the pre-sale fiasco from Ticketmaster last year), but attended the screening.
Some die-hard fans showed up just for the chance to be one of the first to collect official Taylor Swift memorabilia at the concession stands.
Liam Speranza and Derek Mong didn’t come to see the movie (they just finished a SoulCycle class), but they wanted to get their Taylor Swift merch before it sold out.
“This is probably going to be gone this weekend, so we had to get it,” Speranza said while juggling a bucket and a cup of popcorn. She had already bought tickets to the film’s Sunday screening when the first batch was initially released last month.
Although the Times Square megaplex is used to being a hub of activity, the last-minute announcement of earlier times (and the fact that many had already purchased tickets for the weekend) made attendance feel more like a party. private. And Swifties took advantage of it.
Marco Zefi, an engineer from Queens, and Liz Burg, a user interface designer who lives in Lower Manhattan, made sure to take a photo in the lobby before entering the auditorium. The two opted to wear gray, as Ms. Burg was wearing a “Reputation” era t-shirt and Mr. Zefi was wearing his “Speak Now” era t-shirt. He also brought a Taylor Swift tote bag from her reissue of the “Red” album.
The friends said they met nearly 10 years ago at Swift’s New York apartment after gaining entry to a secret listening session ahead of the release of her album “1989.” They recently arrived at the tour’s opening night this spring in Arizona.
“Taylor had just released ‘Shake It Off’ and ordered us all pizza,” Ms. Burg said. “It was around that time that she became pop and New York was such a big part of her album. Since then, Marco and I have been friends and have traveled together to see most of his tours.”
