Are you ready for it? Swifties in Argentina on Sunday lined up for their second shot at watching Taylor Swift’s international tour, after her Friday tour got rescheduled due to weather.
That meant many US fans who’d traveled for her show suddenly found themselves dealing with airlines to change tickets, booking new accommodations and calling out of work. But it’s Taylor, Swifties told The Independent, it’s worth it — and just another sacrifice on top of ones they’d already made to be there.
“I quit my job for Taylor Swift,” Anna Unruh, 28, of Wisconsin, told The Independent, outside the El Monumental stadium on Sunday.
The former chemist wanted sufficient time to travel South America, beginning with a stop in Buenos Aires for Taylor. So, she resigned.
Anna Unruh dancing outside the Swift concert in Buenos Aires on Sunday— (Andrea Cavallier / The Independent)
Then on Friday night, she found herself lined up for the second night of Taylor Swift’s international tour – even as the rain poured down in buckets.
“We just all came together for her,” said Unruh.
Fans huddled together in ponchos that clung to their soaking wet skin and soggy sequined outfits, as the water pooled in their combat boots.
“The rain was so bad,” said two fans who traveled from Hawaii specifically for the Friday concert, who asked to remain anonymous. “We stayed until they told us to leave.”
Swiftie waiting in the rain before Taylor’s cancelled concert— (Andrea Cavallier / The Independent)
The pop sensation had never canceled or rescheduled a show on her extremely popular Eras tour so Swifties held on until the final announcement was posted on her Instagram account.
“I love a rain show but I am never going to endanger my fans or my fellow performers and crew,” Taylor wrote on her Instagram story on Friday.
“We’ve rescheduled tonight’s Buenos Aires show for Sunday due to the weather being so truly chaotic it would be unsafe to try and put on this concert,” she continued.
Taylor Swift performing on her first night in Buenos Aires— (AP)
By then the soaked crowd let out a collective cry of disappointment with a sigh of relief at the same time. How exactly were they going to manage their travel? The Independent was not immune and had to reschedule its flights home from vacation several days later, filing this story in exchange for not missing the concert.
The Swifities from Hawaii faced the same dilemma: go home on the original flight or fork over money for new flights (some airlines did offer free changes but many fans had already bought new flights).
“But we had to make it work,” the Swifties from Hawaii said, surrounded by people handing out friendship bracelets before Sunday’s show. “We were able to change our flights thankfully.”
Swifties trading friendship bracelets on Sunday night before her rescheduled concert— (Andrea Cavallier / The Independent)
One family of 10 — John Riordan and nine women in his family — had traveled to Argentina from all over the United States including New York, Arizona, and Colorado, and scrambled to figure out what they would do after Friday’s storm. Some of them begin to accept that they would not be able to make the Sunday show.
One was worried about getting fired from her job if she stayed longer, as she’d have to take an extra two days off just to get back to the US. Another had spent all her money to get here and with payday not until later in the week, she did not have extra money for flight changes.
In the end, only one person from that family ultimately decided that she had to get back to her job before Monday.
Riordan, who’d purchased the concert tickets for his family, had recovered from the Friday reschedule and was ready to enjoy the Eras tour, after celebrating his birthday that weekend in a way that Taylor, queen of the squad, would appreciate.
“I was able to spend it with the nine closest women in my life,” he said.
