TORONTO – The big day has finally arrived for thousands of Swifties, including several Quebecers, who will finally be able to see their idol during the first of six concerts of the tour Eras at the Rogers Center on Thursday in Toronto.
Ariane Grenier, Arianne Lavertu, Kassandra Lamothe and Audrey Proulx, four friends from Trois-Rivières, Victoriaville and L’Islet, were tired, but feverish when they packed their bags in the Queen City on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, they made friendship bracelets until midnight, then they got up very early to take the Montreal-Toronto train.
“We’ve been planning this for a year, but now it’s finally happening,” confides Kassandra Lamothe.
Ironically, it was their love of another famous pop artist, Halsey, and the supportive spirit typical of Swifties that got them tickets.
“We are really lucky because we never thought we would go there. We didn’t have any codes. A girl we know a little from X, who likes Halsey, got two codes and bought them for us. At $190 per ticket, it’s reasonable,” submits Kassandra Lamothe.
To Toronto without a ticket
Noelle Christine, a Montreal musician and Taylor Swift fan, does not have a ticket, but she still made the trip on Wednesday in the hope of finding a place for the first concert.
She is confident.
“I had shows booked with my band in California in the summer of 2023, at the same time as she was there, hoping to get tickets for one night. I had three. On the other hand, I was always behind the stage and I really want to see his face,” says the woman who set up, a few months ago, Long Live, a tribute group to her favorite artist.
Noelle Christine arrived in Toronto on Wednesday.
Photo CÉDRIC BÉLANGER
Noelle Christine isn’t ready to pay crazy prices, though. “I don’t want resale. They charge $3,000 for $70 seats behind the stage, it’s obscene. I only pay the original price.”
So she’s constantly monitoring whether any new tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster between now and the concert, and she’s on the lookout in case other Swifties have a ticket on sale at the last minute.
Thousands of dollars
Others agreed to make their credit cards suffer a lot more. This is the case of Quebec show promoter Karl-Emmanuel Picard. After a year of trying everything to get tickets, especially from his contacts in the music industry, he decided on Tuesday to buy tickets for Friday’s concert for his two children and him.
Out of modesty, he kept quiet about the amount. He prefers to say that it cost him “a few thousand dollars,” but anyone who has consulted the resale sites can guess the amount of the bill.
“We’re going to go and experience it 100%,” he said. “I see it as research and development for my career as a promoter. To see such an imposing singer motivates us to work hard to leave a mark like she does.”
