On eve of opening night of Minneapolis Taylor Swift concerts, fans camp out to score tour merch
MINNEAPOLIS – Caitlin and Whitney Maloney were all smiles Thursday afternoon outside U.S. Bank Stadium, which will host two nights of Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" this weekend.
But they weren't excited for the show. They were excited for the merch.
"It's very funny. It reminds me when I was growing up and my mom did this for me with New Kids on The Block," their mom, Sara Maloney, joked. "I'm very sad we didn't get tickets. We've tried really hard. But this is the next best thing."
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The Maloneys were among the many fans who waited in long lines outside the stadium for T-shirts, posters, and special edition CDs of her latest album "Midnights." A trailer carrying tour merchandise opened at 10 a.m. Thursday and fans camped out early, waiting for hours for the first chance to purchase the Swift gear.
Lines didn't let up all day.
"I love that [the concert] is such a big thing, especially because it's happening where I'm from and I've just loved her my whole," said Harper Runnigen, 14, who was there with her mom and sister. "I know she's really famous, but it's still cool to see."
Local businesses are embracing the Eras Tour arrival with special experiences and promotions for fans. Half a million people are expected downtown for the back-to-back Swift shows, the Twin Cities Pride Festival and other events in the city.
Marusia Kachkowski drove to Minneapolis from Winnepeg, Canada, with her family. Her two children are big Swifties, she said, and they bonded over her music during the pandemic.
"Why go to Disneyland if you can drive eight hours and have a family outing that's gonna beat anything?" she said.
But with the influx of visitors, city leaders want the weekend to go smoothly, calling the safety plans "Operation Swift Summer." Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander said during a press conference Wednesday he communicated with 50 law enforcement agencies -- local, state, regional and federal -- to inform them of their protocols.
"While this is not the first major event to take place in Minneapolis, the level of coordination and collaboration among our partners this weekend is unprecedented," Alexander said. "The [Office of Community Safety] has coordinated and prepared 911, our emergency management, our police and fire, along with our department of neighborhood safety."
There will be law enforcement and first responders will be present in the downtown neighborhoods where the major events are, he added, but he assured all city residents police and emergency services won't be disrupted. Minneapolis Police told WCCO there would be a "Multi-Agency Command Center" up and running.
"It's just not a law enforcement function," Alexander said. "This is an entire community engagement weekend, and we've treated it as such."
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Officials are also eager to highlight a Minneapolis on the mend post-pandemic, touting lower crime rates in the city by most markers compared to last year.
City data from the first police precinct, which includes U.S. Bank Stadium, show gunfire reduced by 47% in the last year and robberies by 38%. But the decline is uneven: car thefts and vandalism crimes are up.
"Do we look at this weekend as an example that hopefully we can replicate? Absolutely," Mayor Jacob Frey said. "When you have approximately half a million people coming to downtown…we want them to go out and spread the good message."
In other cities where Taylor Swift has performed, the concert spilled over into parking lots, with fans who didn't get a ticket listening and singing from outside. U.S. Bank Stadium "strongly discourages" fans from doing the same outside the Minneapolis shows.
For fans lucky enough to get a ticket, Metro Transit is offering extended service.