Kayla Neuhaus stayed up until 4:30 a.m. making friendship bracelets to swap and share at Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Like many of her fellow Swifties, Neuhaus was embracing the preferred bonding ritual of the tour’s guests: finding beads with meaning to the singer’s audience and stringing them into bracelets to give away.
The idea seems to have originated with a lyric from “You’re on Your Own Kid,” a song from Swift’s current album “Midnights,” in which the artist encouraged listeners to “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.”
Famous Swift fans including Jennifer Lawrence, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have taken to social media to show off bracelets they’ve received from strangers.
Neuhaus, 31, said as someone close to Swift in age, who has been a fan since the singer’s debut album came out in 2006, she wants to connect with younger fans by sharing bracelets. She added that she made bracelets in a range of sizes for fans of all ages.
Swift’s The Eras Tour kicked off its sold-out Chicago leg on Friday. The pop superstar will perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Soldier Field. Doors opened at 4:30 p.m. for the show, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
Fans arrive Friday afternoon for Taylor Swift’s first Soldier Field show in The Eras tour.
Catherine Odom/Sun-Times
By the early afternoon, crowds of Swifties in sparkly boots, DIY jean jackets and elaborate face paint were already forming around the venue. Some groups in bedazzled dresses and colorful cowboy hats congregated in the shady, grassy areas near the stadium. Others blasted Swift’s greatest hits at tailgates in the parking lot.
Temperatures reached the low 80s on Friday afternoon as fans posed for pictures and lined up to buy sweatshirts and posters at merchandise booths.
Kailey Steward, a longtime Swiftie from Oak Forest, also was swapping bracelets Friday afternoon. She had arrived early with her mom, Janice.
Steward, who is also attending Sunday’s show, wore an outfit and face paint representing Swift’s song “Midnight Rain.” Around one eye, she painted a sun, and around the other, she painted a moon with blue streaks dripping down her face.
Steward, 27, designed and made outfits for herself and her mom, Janice. She painted a black T-shirt with the words “I had the best day with you today” on the front, a lyric from Swift’s song “The Best Day,” which Swift wrote about her mother. She painted the back of her own jean jacket with a lyric from “Midnight Rain.”
Kailey Steward (left) and her mom, Janice, wore DIY Swift-themed outfits to the Friday date of The Eras Tour. Both said they have been fans of Swift’s music since her debut album.
Catherine Odom/Sun-Times
The mother-daughter duo said Swift’s music is connected with many fond memories for them. Kailey Steward recalled listening to Swift’s album “1989” with her mom as she drove home from her freshman year of college.
Antoine Budig and his dad John arrived early at the venue to secure The Eras Tour’s most sought-after merchandise: the blue crewneck sweatshirt. Budig, 15, snagged the coveted $65 sweatshirt, which goes for over $300 on some resale sites.
Antoine Budig (right) and his dad arrived early to Soldier Field to buy merchandise. Budig’s outfit is based on a costume Taylor Swift wore during her tour for her album “Red.”