Taylor Swift updates: Opener Gracie Abrams gets underway at Lucas Oil

IBJ is covering Taylor Swift’s three-day visit to Indianapolis and the 200,000-some fans expected to converge on the city to attend (or try to find tickets to attend) one of the concerts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Check back regularly for updates.

6:50 p.m., Friday

Performances begin at Lucas Oil Stadium

Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams has started her set at Lucas Oil Stadium, a lead-in to Taylor Swift’s first of three shows in Indianapolis.

Under way at Lucas Oil Stadium: @gracieabrams. #IndyTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/G01Gk6xZHy

— Dave Lindquist (@317lindquist) November 1, 2024

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4:33 p.m., Friday

Door open at Lucas Oil

The doors at Lucas Oil Stadium opened at 4:30 p.m. and thousands of fans began moving inside for the first of three nights of performances by pop icon Taylor Swift.

The shows are scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. each night, with singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams as the opening artist. Swift is expected to take the stage close to 8 p.m. and perform for three hours.

The doors are now open for #ErasTourIndy at @LucasOilStadium pic.twitter.com/oAtSn7oUCX

— Mickey Shuey (@MickeyShuey) November 1, 2024

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4:25 p.m., Friday

Giant bracelets from NOLA taken down due to wind

Lucas Oil Stadium officials have taken down the 140-foot friendship bracelets sent by the city of New Orleans after heavy wind threatened to damage them.

Monica Brase, a spokeswoman for the Capital Improvement Board, which owns and operates the stadium, said she does not expect the bracelets—which are made up of 7-foot inflatables resembling beads—will be rehung this weekend.

Officials with the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where Taylor Swift performed three concerts this past weekend, shipped their giant friendship bracelets to Indianapolis, with plans for the display to be affixed to Lucas Oil Stadium during the performer’s three-night stay in Indy. Indianapolis-based Sport Graphics and the Stagehands Union hung the bracelets below the north window of the stadium on Thursday, but Brase said they had to be removed on Friday.

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4 p.m., Friday

Street performances usher in ‘Eras Tour’ weekend

Indiana musicians are sharing a bit of the spotlight created by three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Starting Friday afternoon, 70 “Swift City Sessions” performers are posting up at 13 downtown sites organized by Indy Arts Council.

Performances are planned through Sunday at Bicentennial Unity Plaza, Capitol Avenue underpass, east and west ends of Georgia Street, Hudnut Commons, east and west sides of the Indiana Convention Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Artsgarden, Lugar Plaza, Monument Circle, Starbucks patio at the Kite Realty Group building and the intersection of Washington and West streets.

As heard in this X post, Molly Martin and Doug Sauter performed Friday at the Starbucks location:

Under way in downtown Indianapolis: #SwiftCity Sessions organized by @artscouncilindy. Molly Martin and Doug Sauter perform outside a Starbucks on Meridian Street. #IndyTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/EoxsQR4XAg

— Dave Lindquist (@317lindquist) November 1, 2024

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3:30 p.m., Friday

Girl Scouts pass out friendship bracelets at IND

Thousands of Taylor Swift fans passing through Indianapolis International Airport this weekend will be greeted by live music, Visit Indy volunteers and Girl Scout troops that have set up shop to help visitors make friendship bracelets.

The airport, which could see as many as 60,000 travelers come through its gates for this weekend’s shows at Lucas Oil Stadium, has adorned Civic Plaza with signage, a photo station and greeters—all sporting a “Swift City” moniker—and live music performances. More than 1,200 Girl Scouts across central Indiana made friendship bracelets for airport guests, with troops setting up tables so new arrivals could create their own to trade during the weekend.

The troops will be staged at the airport through 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

See reporter Mickey Shuey’s full airport story here.

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1:30 p.m., Friday

Coat of many friendship bracelets makes a mark

If friendship comes easy among Taylor Swift fans, Cincinnati resident Britney Llewellyn made plenty of pals Friday outside the Indiana Convention Center.

Wearing her one-of-a-kind denim jacket adorned with hundreds of Swift-themed friendship bracelets, 30-year-old Llewellyn traded trinkets with fellow Swifties who complimented her look.

Llewellyn said her craft project began in 2023, shortly after she successfully purchased tickets for tonight’s show at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I decided to make one friendship bracelet for every song in her discography, and then I just kept going,” she said.

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12:55 p.m., Friday

Traffic restricted on Meridian Street

The city is starting to put several street restrictions in place to accommodate traffic for Taylor Swift’s concerts tonight, Saturday and Sunday.

Two lanes of Meridian Street are now closed south of Washington Street, with a single lane of traffic left in each direction. The move is meant to allow Swiftie pedestrians to take over more than the sidewalk.

City officials announced last month that daytime street closures will include South Street near the stadium between Missouri Street and Capitol Avenue as well as Monument Circle beginning at 11 a.m. each day.

Extensive street closures are planned at the conclusion of each concert. Interstate 70 eastbound and westbound ramps to Meridian and Illinois streets will be shut down at 11 p.m. each night, with an expected reopening time of 1 a.m.

For outbound traffic flow, Missouri Street will be open for vehicles traveling north. Vehicles traveling south will have access to Pennsylvania Street, West Street south of the stadium, Capitol Avenue south of the stadium and Delaware Street south of South Street. Two-way traffic will be allowed on McCarty Street between Missouri Street and Capitol Avenue.

For concert attendees, ride share zones are designated as South Street between Missouri and West streets and an Eli Lilly and Co. parking lot at the intersection of Delaware and South streets. The Lilly lot also will serve as a “parent pick-up zone” between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. each night.

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12:15 p.m., Friday

Hotels display racing helmets to correspond with Swift albums

Here’s a fun scavenger hunt for “The Eras Tour” weekend: Ten downtown hotels are showcasing customized IndyCar helmets that pay tribute to Taylor Swift’s 11 studio albums.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway designed a Swift-inspired race car as well as the helmets in collaboration with Bell helmets. You can find the car at the Indiana Convention Center.

The hotels and corresponding helmets are:

• Embassy Suites, 110 W. Washington St., Swift’s 2006 self-titled debut album
• Crowne Plaza, 123 W. Louisiana St., 2008’s “Fearless”
• Hyatt Regency, One S. Capitol Ave., 2010’s “Speak Now”
• Hyatt Place, 130 S. Pennsylvania St., 2012’s “Red”
• Home2Suites, 115 N. Pennsylvania St., 2014’s “1989”
• Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, 2017’s “Reputation”
• Le Meridien, 123 S. Illinois St., 2019’s “Lover”
• Hampton Inn, 105 S. Meridian St., 2020’s “Folklore”
• Hotel Indy, 141 E. Washington St., 2020’s “Evermore” and 2022’s “Midnights”
• The Alexander, 333 S. Delaware St., 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department”

After this weekend, the helmets will be auctioned with proceeds benefiting Women in Motorsports North America.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway also has a Taylor Swift-themed IndyCar at the Indiana Convention Center.

📍 @icclos

If you’re in @VisitIndy and @IndyDT for this weekend’s @taylorswift13 concert at @LucasOilStadium, be sure to stop and snap a pic with our Eras Tour-themed NTT #INDYCAR SERIES car! pic.twitter.com/hhIO5lJsI7

— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) November 1, 2024

– Dave Lindquist

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12:05 p.m., Friday

Indiana politics (Taylor’s version)

Indiana Democrats are Swifties too, and they are taking advantage of the star being in town this weekend to spice up their messaging.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett officially proclaimed this weekend as “Taylor Swift Weekend” in honor of three nights of the Eras Tour in the capital city.

“Indianapolis, or Swift City, is enchanted to welcome Taylor Swift and hundreds of thousands of Swifties to Indianapolis for the fInal US showS of the Eras Tour,” the proclamation reads. (Read the proclamation to crack the code and understand why some letters are capitalized.)

Indiana Democrats are hoping to capitalize on the visit with plans to hand out more than 30,000 pieces of “fun, Taylor Swift-inspired literature” outside the stadium over the three nights. Swift has publicly announced her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president.

“The vast majority of these people that are coming in for the shows are out of counters,” Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl told IBJ. “We’re gonna do our best to go around and make sure that we touch base with the folks that are Hoosiers that just need a little nudge to vote.”

Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic candidate for governor, told IBJ her campaign plans to “have a presence” downtown over the weekend.

“There are a lot of her supporters that are our supporters,” she said. “And making sure we can capitalize on that is incredibly important.”

Republican Todd Rokita, meanwhile, is warning Hoosier Swifties of fake concert tickets with a litany of song references. His press release says “You Need To Calm Down” before handing over payment for a deal that seems too good to be true and that Hoosiers should research a seller’s “Reputation.”

– Cate Charron

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11 a.m., Friday

Speakers on Monument Circle are playing the hits

The audio that emanates from public address speakers on Monument Circle is on brand for the first day of Taylor Swift’s Indianapolis concerts. As heard in this X post, pedestrians caught “Our Song” from Swift’s 2006 self-titled album.

Good morning, #SwiftCity. “Our Song” providing the soundtrack on Monument Circle. #IndyTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/35aLQibZ0f

— Dave Lindquist (@317lindquist) November 1, 2024

7 a.m., Friday

Visit Indy set to welcome dozens of prospective clients

The city’s tourism agency plans to entertain nearly four dozen prospective convention clients during this weekend’s Taylor Swift concerts.

The effort from Visit Indy—a standard practice in the event attraction industry—is set to bring in executives and decision-makers from 45 groups, most of them ones that have either never hosted an event in Indianapolis before or have previously met in the city but have not returned.

The schedule for the visitors, which will be split into three groups of 15, will include immersive tours of the city with a focus on downtown, lunches and dinners, and seats in Visit Indy’s Lucas Oil Stadium suite for one of Swift’s shows.

Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy, said the agency plans to give each of the attendees facetime with top city tourism officials and other city leaders.

Visit Indy declined to identify attendees or the organizations they represent because of competitive concerns. But Gahl said groups collectively represent about $500 million in potential business for the city.

Visit Indy has been fine-tuning its guest list for the Swift concerts for more than a year, he said. The agency worked closely with the Capital Improvement Board, which operates the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, to determine the best leaders to invite for the weekend.

“With any major event that we host—concert, sporting event, convention—it is the best time to bring in a prospective customer to see the city because all the venues are lit up and working together, all the hotels are bustling and working as part of the meetings package, all the connectivity and skywalks are being shown off,” Gahl said.

What makes the Swift concert different, he said, is that the ticket “is even more difficult to get and is so sought after globally. So, for Visit Indy to be able to showcase the city amidst the Taylor Swift concert … it makes for a very unique opportunity to sell Indy into the future.”

For more on the way Visit Indy is using the Taylor Swift concerts to promote Indianapolis, listen to the latest episode of the IBJ Podcast.

-Mickey Shuey

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Previous IBJ stories about the Taylor Swift shows:

Giant friendship bracelets from Swift’s New Orleans shows come to Indianapolis

The 140-foot-long strands, consisting of 7-foot inflatables resembling beads, were designed by contemporary artist Shawn Kolodny and will be affixed below the north window of the Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday.

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Swift concert merchandise sales dominated largely by locals on first day

Local fans waited in line Wednesday at the Indiana Convention Center to secure limited-edition Taylor Swift T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, friendship bracelets and other bracelets.

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Dozens of street performances scheduled for Taylor Swift weekend