ON the train to Edinburgh last week for Taylor Swift’s first UK show of The Eras Tour, a little girl in sparkly cowboy boots handed me a friendship bracelet. She was there with her parents and older sister, having begged her school for an early finish so she could make it to the stadium in time. It wasn’t hard for her to spot a fellow Swiftie on the way to the Scottish capital’s Murrayfield Stadium, we were the ones in glitter taking up the carriage.
I told her I felt bad because I didn’t have a bracelet to trade with her but she insisted I take one anyway. She beamed and held up both her wrists, which were completely covered with dozens of rows of shiny beads. She had more than enough to go around.
Her mum and dad told me making these had taken up most of her evenings and weekends over the past month. The one she had kindly gifted me spelt out “Long time coming”, a reference to a line from Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince , the first song of the show. Before the gig started there was a sea of fans swapping the beaded bracelets in the stadium.
Strangers were exchanging them with random people they met in the queue for the loos or found themselves sitting next to in the stands. Trading homemade bracelets has become a recognisable feature of The Eras Tour as it has swept its way across the globe. And it is set to continue as Swiftmania takes over the UK for the next few weeks.
The idea originates from Taylor’s song You’re On Your Own, Kid, released in Oc.