SEATTLE — Taylor Swift fans from all over the country came to Seattle for the ‘Eras Tour’ as complete strangers are now lifelong friends.
It’s a lot of work to bring 24 strangers together, but not for Swifties, or Sarah Andrews.
“We tried to get tickets and like everybody else we really couldn't,” said Andrews, a Swift fan from Coeur D’Alene.
For three months post surgery, Andrews was stuck in bed and what got her through was watching TikToks of Taylor Swift concerts and she knew she had to get to one.
“I saw TikTok, and it said, can you imagine trusting 24 Strangers enough to buy a suite at a stadium? And it kind of panned on all these people that looked happy and I thought, yeah, I think I could do that,” Andrews said.
Andrews called Lumen Field about a suite. There was one available for $40,000. Andrews said her husband gave her the green light and pulled the money out of savings knowing she’d get it back in 24 hours.
She then got to work to find other Swifties on Facebook.
“It was about midnight, when I saw this random post in a Swiftie Facebook group and I said, if anybody is looking for tickets, would you be interested in the suite? and I thought, this is fake. this is so fake.
Turned out, it wasn’t and Katie Lorton is one of 24 strangers that took a leap of faith.
“I felt like this is it. This is the one time I'm gonna get to see her, so let's just go for it,” Lorton said.
“This friendship that we've created where a lot of my friends aren't Swifties the way I am. So it's been nice to geek out and just be able to be excited about something just thoroughly excited,” said Lorton.
Meghan and Hannah Habel saw the same post. They also took the chance.
“Everyone is so nice and it's so fun to bond over something that's really important,” Habel said.
The twin sisters have been to several Swift concerts together, and with them now living in different states, the Eras Tour is bringing strangers and sisters together.
“When we saw Red together it was right before we each separated for the first time to go to college so it was kind of a really meaningful experience for both of us,” Habel said.
Complete strangers now meeting in Seattle Saturday for the first time.
“None of these people knew each other this morning and they were having drinks together and staying together, it's cool to see lifelong friendships being made,” Andrews said.
The group is prepping to see Taylor Sunday with friendship bracelets and repping their favorite era, but Andrews said it’s much bigger than that.
“There isn't one person that can't relate to something she has to say in her song, or something that she embodies. I feel like this is the first thing in a really long time that has really brought a ton of people together,” Andrews said.
Andrews also said what started out as a way to get through surgery recovery now became life changing.
“I do think the group will continue way past the concert. I do think we are hopefully friends for life,” Andrews said.