On Friday afternoon, a seemingly limitless parade of Taylor Swift followers sporting flowery clothes, sparkly cowboy boots, sequined T-shirts and handmade friendship bracelets made their strategy to East Rutherford, N.J., turning the huge asphalt parking zone at MetLife Stadium right into a pop-up efficiency area, a vogue runway and a gathering floor for associates, previous and new.

Two months and 25 exhibits after the pop megastar’s career-spanning Eras Tour started, the present arrived within the New York space for 3 weekend dates — her first concert events close to (however not fairly in) her adopted hometown in 5 years.

“I actually, actually missed you!” Swift informed the sold-out crowd of greater than 72,000 individuals.

They usually had missed her.

One younger girl introduced that she was crying tears of pleasure as she strode down a tunnel resulting in the parking zone. Two followers with tickets to Saturday’s live performance who had traveled from Costa Rica got here hoping to see Swift on Friday as nicely. A girl in an “I ❤️ T.S.” shirt refused an interview request, admitting that she teaches at a public faculty and was not imagined to be on the stadium on a Friday afternoon.

Even stepping into the parking zone required dedication — and a probably dear ticket.

Six months after ‌a Ticketmaster presale stuffed with snags, a single seat on the present on Friday was accessible on the secondary market for a minimum of $1,000. The astronomical prices led Swift’s loyal followers, referred to as Swifties, to band collectively to assist one another discover tickets at honest costs.

Charlie Tokieda, 39, of Brooklyn, acquired face-value tickets to Friday’s present by ready on-line in the course of the presale, and he purchased one other pair of tickets on the secondary market to a present in Denver to have fun his birthday in July.

“We did get an important deal, and that nice deal may have purchased a fairly good used automotive,” he stated.

On Friday afternoon, safety guards in orange shirts stood close to the gates that shaped a fringe across the parking zone and demanded to see proof of admission earlier than stepping apart. It was a part of an effort to crack down on “Taylor-gating,” — hanging out within the lot and listening to the live performance with no ticket — which MetLife Stadium stated wouldn’t be allowed.

Maria Naeem, 32, who arrived through Uber round 9:30 a.m. and slipped into the parking zone unnoticed, was among the many smattering of followers and chaperones who remained exterior as Swift was making ready to go onstage. Naeem, a physician, had requested two colleagues to cowl her shift and pushed from Virginia in hopes of shopping for a ticket at will name.

“They’re not promoting, and the whole lot on-line could be very costly,” she stated, dissatisfied.

Lots of Swift’s most devoted followers wearing D.I.Y. costumes, resembling the singer throughout completely different moments of her profession. One fan draped herself in a pink-and-white “Taylor Swift 2024” flag. Others sported skirts that featured snakes, a reference to Swift’s 2017 album, “Repute.”

Robert Pszybylski, 19, of Lengthy Island, wore a flowery shirt impressed by Swift’s 2021 Grammys gown, roughly custom-made for the live performance.

“I saved Googling ‘3-D embroidered floral material,’” he stated. “I ordered off Etsy from China. It took a month to get right here.”

Even those that weren’t lucky sufficient get tickets discovered different methods to participate in Taylor Mania.

For months, followers with and with out tickets have been obsessive about procuring live performance merchandise, typically tenting out in a single day to get first dibs on probably the most coveted gadgets. Maybe in anticipation of a mad rush to distributors, MetLife Stadium’s flagship retailer started dishing out merch a full day early.

However these efforts did little to shorten the traces on Friday, when, along with a prized blue crew neck sweatshirt, followers had been hoping to take dwelling a brand new particular version “Midnights” CD (sure, a CD!) that included a remix of the ‌track “Karma,” that includes the up-and-coming Bronx rapper Ice Spice.

Close to the tip of the present, Swift premiered the remix’s video starring Ice Spice, saying that whereas within the studio, she “not solely fell in love along with her, however simply determined she’s the whole future.” The rapper later joined Swift onstage to debut the remix and shut the present. Cue a recent spherical of frenzied screaming.

Although she has performed about 40 of the identical tracks throughout every three-hour-plus set, Swift has additionally unveiled a handful of “shock songs” to maintain delighted followers on their toes.

On Friday, she invited her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff to carry out “Getaway Automobile,” a fan favourite from “Repute,” then took a seat at a piano for “Maroon” from “Midnights,” the newest of the 4 albums she has launched since her final tour.

The LP, she stated, was about “nights all through my life,” “issues that saved me up” and “reminiscences you retain going again to.”

“Maroon,” she stated, was a few reminiscence from — you guessed it:

And I misplaced you
The one I used to be dancin’ with
In New York, no sneakers
Regarded up on the sky and it was maroon