Three Taylor Swift Concerts in One Week
Foxborough, Toronto night 1, Toronto night 2
How far do you go to see a concert? Literally halfway around the world? We crossed over 12 time zones to get from Singapore to Boston, Massachusetts and Toronto, Canada to see Taylor Swift. Three times.
Along the way, we found a new appreciation for what we thought were uncomfortable long-haul airplane flights. Our trip from Singapore to Toronto, a 40-hour transit if we were to include our waiting time in Singapore airport beforehand and the 12 hour layover in Manila), was so much better than our subsequent overnight bus ride from Toronto to Boston.
We had good WiFi in the airports and had a row to ourselves on the plane, so were able to lie down and sleep. On the overnight bus we also had a row to ourselves but the bus constantly rocked back and forth and other passengers in the back were really loud. We didn’t realize how often the 15-hour overnight bus from Toronto to Boston would stop, but it ended up being every 2 hours or less. This meant that we were constantly being woken up and couldn’t get a good night’s rest.
Our week-long trip to Boston was solely for the purpose of attending one of our three planned Taylor Swift concerts at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Gillette Stadium is important in the Swift universe because it was her first headlining stadium and Taylor also played an unforgettable show in a rain storm.
We went because we were able to get cheap nosebleed seats. They weren’t great seats, but after seeing the concert in Toronto twice from the floor it was interesting to have had three different perspectives. In Foxborough we were at the highest and furthest part of the stadium, so for most of the show we were watching the huge TV screens behind the stage, as well as the lights from light-up wristbands everyone in the crowd wore. We were disappointed that no one near our section was into the music as much as we were, and that people were leaving throughout the concert.
In contrast, we were on the floor on our first night in Toronto and up close to the stage. We could see Taylor Swift in all her glory and were surrounded by superfans who screamed all the songs.
Our second night in Toronto was also spent on the floor, but slightly further back. It was still close enough to the stage to see Taylor— but not close enough to feel like you were right by the stage. This night, we were surrounded by more phone-wielding Instagramers who only knew the chorus to the most popular songs and seemed more interested in documenting the concert than enjoying it. Since the tickets were so expensive, I thought that the floor would be packed with Swift super fans (“Swifties”) but this wasn’t the case.
Yuki started a Twitter fan account specifically for the Taylor Swift fandom back in May and had gathered quite a following. Like over 2,000 followers. It was awesome to be walking around the stadium before the show and have people come up and introduce themselves to Yuki, who they recognized from Twitter. I lost track of how many people came up to her at Foxborough (maybe around 10?) and the count was well over 30 in Toronto. She even got messages on Twitter from people who saw her but couldn’t or were too shy to come up and say hi.
It seems that the photoshoot in Seoul, two in Okinawa, and one in Singapore made quite an impact on people, which we’re both very proud of.
My most memorable part of the three-night concert experience was before the shows, when we got to meet other Swifties from Vancouver, Quebec, China, and other countries — even Israel. It was awesome to meet people that all had something in common to rally around. This, more than the moving stage screens or Taylor Swift flying over the audience in a light-up gondola or the giant inflatable snake props, was what made the concerts memorable for me.
For Yuki, the most memorable moment was on the third night. We happened to score seats right in front of Club Meridith, the private lounge for Taylor Swift’s family. Yuki got a hug and photo with Andrea Swift, who is Taylor Swift’s mom. She is a star in the fandom for her sweetness and generosity.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Yuki as happy and into something as much as the Taylor Swift concerts. She danced and sung all night and by the end she had no voice.
