Thousands Of Taylor Swift Fans Gather At SoFi For Pre-Show Merch Sale

By Jenna Peterson

Published Aug 2, 2023 4:35 PM

A young woman sits on a folding chair at the center of the photo wearing a black hoodie. Three other women in folding chairs are on either side of her. Behind them are metal barriers and others sitting in chairs.

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Friendship bracelets galore were traded and tracks from different eras of Taylor Swift's musical journey blared from speakers outside Sofi Stadium as roughly 2,000 Swifties gathered early Wednesday morning for a pre-show merchandise sale. Swift kicks off her Eras Tour run at SoFi on Thursday.

At the front of the snaking line, staff members hurriedly unpacked boxes upon boxes of Swift merch — from sweatshirts to T-shirts to quarter-zips. Fans found any shade they could on this hot Los Angeles morning, sitting in camp chairs and designating members of their groups to go on coffee runs.

A massive stadium with a curved roof held up by giant pillars. The structure has no sides and is open to the air. Below, the trees are dwarfed by its height. In front are big block letters in blue and white that read "SoFi Stadium" and in the foreground is an expansive pool.

SoFi Stadium seen on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.

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Claire Fogarty

LAist

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A line of people form alongside a body of water. Some people are holding umbrellas to shade them from the sun. Behind them is a white building and a construction crane in the far distance.

People began lining up as early as Tuesday night to purchase Eras Tour merchandise at the merch pop-up.

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Claire Fogarty

LAist

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Wednesday’s event was the first of two pre-show sales, the second happening on Sunday — the only day out of the next seven that Swift isn’t playing a show.

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The first person in line, Blanche Yang, got there at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, early enough to hear sound checks for Thursday’s show. She wanted to purchase merch before work on Wednesday.

“When I was in high school, I used to go to these sample sales, and so I knew in order to get a good place in line I should come early,” she said. “I thought there would be a lot of people in line before I got here, but I ended up being the first one.”

Young women sit cross-legged on the concrete around a pink plastic tray with compartments full of colorful beads. One is stringing beads onto a string. A pair of scissors rests on the ground. Around them many other people are standing or sitting.

Some attendees were just there for moral support.

“My girlfriend over here got here at probably 5:30,” said Owen Martin. “I just came to drop off food at like 8:45 and she just sucked me into staying with her.”

The most coveted piece of merch was a blue Eras Tour crewneck. There’s merch at the shows, but some fans wanted to avoid waiting for hours in lines on the day of the show. Also, the sale was open to the public — meaning people who couldn’t secure a ticket for the tour could still go.

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close up of a necklace that spells out "swiftie."

A Taylor Swift fan wears a bejeweled golden "Swiftie" necklace to a pre-concert merchandise sale at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 ahead of the pop star's Eras Tour.

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Claire Fogarty

LAist

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A person's wrists are held up to show off bracelets made of white circle beads with letters on each — three bracelets on the right wrist and four on the left. Not all of the words formed by the letters can be made out, but one reads "Lover," another reads "Fuck tickets" (with a heart shape instead of a "U"), and another reads "Damn its seven."

A Taylor Swift fan shows off friendship bracelets while waiting to buy merchandise outside SoFi Stadium ahead of the pop star's Eras Tour in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.

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Claire Fogarty

LAist

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Christy Castillo Butcher, senior vice president of event programming and booking at SoFi, donned a “Swiftie” necklace of her own, and said that this tour is unlike events she’s worked on in the past.

“The demand is very different, I think the show and this tour are unprecedented,” she said.

A variety of black, white, and beige t-shirts hang above a table with boxes of the same items. The t-shirts have Taylor Swift's face and her concert tour dates printed on them.

The L.A. leg of the tour is the last one in the United States, so fans going to this show have had a long wait since the tour was announced in November.

“I just wanted to experience the excitement, the anticipation of waiting for months for this day for so many Swifties,” said Elizabeth Pollock. “And it’s finally here, like it’s really worthwhile. I mean, yeah, I’m exhausted and tired, but it’s totally worth it in the end.”