New Orleans braces for 'next-level' Taylor Swift fandom. Meet Louisiana's Super Swifties.

In Beth Anne Merida’s math classroom at Mount Carmel Academy, Taylor Swift fandom runs deep.

Olivia Benson, Taylor’s cat, offers weekly testing tips from the bulletin board. Students are in their “calculator era,” according to a posted list of computing shortcuts. While 10th graders solve equations with rational exponents, Swift’s latest album plays softly in the background.

Merida, a longtime fan since Swift’s country music days, has outfits planned for each day the world's biggest pop star is in town this weekend. Last weekend, she made Taylor-themed jewelry with her best friend, who flew in from Texas.

As for a ticket, she’ll be refreshing resale apps from outside the stadium all weekend, “living for the hope of it all,” in the words of Taylor Swift.

“We're just going to hang out in Champion Square, trade friendship bracelets, and enjoy the experience,” said Merida, 43. “Hopefully, after the opening act starts, we'll be able to snag some last-minute tickets.”

'Next-level'

On Friday, Swift will rise from the belly of the Superdome for the 135th rendition of the Eras Tour. The show, which began in Glendale, Arizona, catapulted the 34-year-old to billionaire status. It has spanned five continents and will conclude in Vancouver in December.

Swift, meanwhile, has become a cultural icon, known for her narrative style of music and an ability to connect with fans — Swifties — on a deeply personal level. 

The singer and her fans have serious influence. If Taylor Swift wears a particular article of clothing or lipstick, it's almost guaranteed to sell out within a day. Her shows have given an economic jolt to the cities that host them, thanks to fans who travel from all over the country to fill hotels, bars, restaurants and stadiums over multiple days. 

The U.S. Travel Association estimated the average Taylor Swift concertgoer spent $1,300 on the U.S. leg of the tour. The tour itself grossed more the $1 billion in sales, the highest ever, and that doesn't count resales.

On sites like StubHub, nosebleed seats for the New Orleans concerts start at $1,800. 

Swift has sway in other areas, too. The debacle resulting from overwhelming demand for tickets for the Eras Tour sparked a congressional investigation into Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation. Swift's endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris resulted in a spike of 400,000 visitors to Vote.gov, a federally run voter registration site. 

Across Louisiana, Swifties with and without coveted tickets are gearing up for the concert, expected to draw around 150,000 visitors to New Orleans. For three nights, Swift will perform to a crowd of over 50,000, but many more, like Merida, are looking to be part of the experience.

“This is next-level compared to anything we’ve had in our city,” said Georgia Wilson, owner of The Bead Shop on Magazine Street.

Trading handmade friendship bracelets has become a staple at Taylor’s shows, inspired by a line from her 2022 album "Midnights." The Bead Shop is doing four different pop-ups at local businesses over the weekend. Over the last month, the store has seen many first-time customers making their own friendship bracelets.

With Taylor Swift comes a fanbase bubbling with positivity, said Wilson, eager to say yes, spend money, and make a weekend of the show, whether they’ll see Swift or not.

A chaos-inducing ticketing process required a pre-sale code that few had access to. Louisiana was initially left off the tour due to renovations at the Superdome in preparation for the Super Bowl. By the time dates were announced in New Orleans, demand had reached a fever pitch.

Ramie LeBlanc, a 16-year-old from St. Francisville, was one of the fans who didn’t get a code. LeBlanc was homeschooled from fifth through tenth grade because of a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Like many teens, she understands high school heartache.

“High school breakups can be the worst,” said LeBlanc. “She can honestly help you a lot.”

On Monday, LeBlanc thought Children’s Hospital had found a cure for her kidney disease when they urgently asked her and her mom to drive to New Orleans. Instead, the CEO played “Shake It Off” and presented her with tickets and a sparkly pink jacket. Honestly, said LeBlanc — who has been in remission with few symptoms after a difficult transplant — she was more excited about the tickets.

“I just started bawling,” said LeBlanc.

'She has a hold on people'

Children’s Hospital is sending LeBlanc, a handful of patients, and 17 nurses to Swift’s shows, thanks to a donation of tickets from Servpro New Orleans, a cleanup and restoration company. Donated tickets from various sources raised $700,000 for the hospital through raffles.

Another 26 Servpro tickets went to local schools, raising $150,000 through similar raffles. Servpro, which owns a suite at the Superdome, had access to dozens of tickets over the three nights and began receiving calls about them as soon as word got out.

“She has a hold on people,” said Lindsay Marks, a market development representative for the company. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s insane.”

Swift headlined tours annually from 2009 to 2015 and performed in New Orleans during her Reputation stadium tour in 2018. In 2020, she was scheduled to play at Lover Fest in Los Angeles and Boston, but the shows were postponed and eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, Swift released two new albums and two documentaries in 2020, followed by two re-recordings of previous albums as part of her effort to reclaim her music rights in 2021. She also released a short film that year and her "Midnights" album in 2022.

Pent-up demand

By the time Swift announced the Eras Tour in late 2022, there was significant pent-up demand for her music. Julia DeLois, an events producer in New Orleans, tapped into that demand post-pandemic with Swiftie dance parties, roller skating classes, karaoke, trivia, and bingo. Now, she’s hosting events all weekend at the House of Blues, including a Swiftie roast and drag burlesque brunch.

DeLois, who has seen the Eras show in two other cities, compared the fan turnout to “the freaking Pope coming.” Although she doesn’t have tickets in New Orleans, her events will keep her busy. She’s been a fan since around 2017, when a long-running feud with Kanye West culminated with the "Reputation" album, a narrative that focuses on themes of betrayal, public perception and reclaiming control. 

“I love her rising-from-the-ashes narrative,” said DeLois.

Swift has matured alongside her fans, from a country singer experiencing heartache for the first time to a pop and folk artist exploring themes of loss and identity. As a result, her fanbase spans generations. 

"I grew up listening to her," said 15-year-old Macie Galiouras, one of Merida's students. Her mom found resale tickets through a Facebook group. 

For many fans, the draw of Taylor Swift lies in the connection. Merida, the math teacher, said that while posting a “calculator era” sign may seem silly, it makes students excited. It's something she can talk about with students and bond over with long-distance friends. 

“The world we live in is difficult,” said Merida. “There are so many divisive things, and this is something everyone can rally around.”