MeredithBritson

On March 17, tens of thousands of fans crowded into the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and eagerly awaited their favorite singer to take the stage.

Among these 70,000 fans was Spanish teacher Amanda Pritchard with her in-laws. All of them excitedly waited for Taylor Swift to perform the first concert of her Eras tour. Taylor Swift is an award-winning performer who entices all her fans with her frequent outfit changes and her ability to captivate the attention of fans in every corner of the stadium.

Pritchard is such a loyal and devoted Swiftie that she bought tickets for two different concerts. “I cried, I couldn’t breathe, it was amazing,” Pritchard said when asked about first impressions of the concert. The concert lasted three hours and 13 minutes and included 44 songs, according to Pritchard. Her favorite part of the concert was “the very first moment she walked out,” she said because “you can feel the electricity and everybody was buzzing about how she was going to come out.”

Pritchard wore outfits from past eras in the days leading up to the concert. She said her “best executed one was Junior Jewels,” but she also liked her 1989 outfit because of the glitter. She dressed as Taylor Swift’s Reputation era for the concert.

Pritchard has been a Swiftie since she was 16 years old. The passion started her junior year in high school back in 2005 when her carpool burned a CD with Taylor Swift on it. This was her first Taylor Swift CD and “they listened to it every single day all through my junior year of high school,” Pritchard said.

Taylor Swift concerts have so much meaning to Swifties, including Pritchard. She said the Taylor Swift concert was moving and personal because “it’s eras of our life too.” She continued, adding that the concert took her “back to those times, back to high school, my first crush, my first boyfriend.” Taylor Swift is such a significant aspect in Pritchard’s life that she said “if I got to have dinner with three people it would be my mom, Jesus, and Taylor Swift.”

Pritchard has been to five Taylor Swift concerts, the first one being Fearless, after her dad surprised her with tickets when she was in college. Since then, she has been to Red, 1989, Reputation and most recently The Eras tour.

The concert “was not just a concert,” Pritchard said. She ended saying she got to “relive 17 years of my life through her music.” She will always have an intense passion for Taylor Swift and her concerts are memories she will cherish forever.