I am such a big Swiftie I travelled 3,700 miles for just 47 HOURS to see Taylor Swift in concert

When Taylor Swift asked the Detroit crowd, ‘Is there anyone here tonight who went to a great amount of effort to be here this evening?’ the answer was simple: Yes. 

My friend flew 1,179 miles from Florida for the show. A woman on my flight brought her grandsons in from Jamaica. A mother and daughter sitting in my section at the concert were visiting from Mexico. And I flew 3,748 miles from London for a total of 47 hours just to see the sold-out show.

I spent more than nine hours in the sky, endured several flight delays, a seven hour layover and had been awake for 24 hours total before I met up with my friend at our hotel. It was one of those nights, we wouldn’t be sleeping.

Was the commute, jet lag and high price tag worth it all? All I can say is I was enchanted to be there.

So grab your passport (and my hand) and see how I spent 47 hours in Detroit… 

When Taylor announced the Eras Tour, I fully intended to wait until she played in the UK — especially after Ticketmaster queuegate left so many US-based Swifties brokenhearted.

But then her tour kicked off and my social media feeds were flooded with footage of her 44-song set, performed without any breaks for three hours straight. It quickly became clear that it would be a cruel summer if I didn’t see the show. 

Thankfully, my best friend Teresa agreed. After one FaceTime call in April and a few glasses of wine later we purchased the cheapest resale tickets we could find: Night Two at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

I cashed in my credit card reward points for a roundtrip JetBlue flight to the midwest and Teresa managed to secure a reservation at the Aloft David Whitney, a less than 10 minute walk from the venue, for the night of the show.

DAY ONE 

On Friday, June 9 I boarded my 7am flight from Heathrow for what would end up being the longest weekend getaway of my life.

I landed in Boston around 9am local time. Long story short, my connecting flight was delayed multiple times and I now know the layout of Logan Airport’s Terminal C all too well. A lounge visit, four margaritas and about ten hours later, I finally made it to Detroit. 

To cut back on costs – and maximise sleep – we stayed at the Delta Hotel at the airport that first night. Teresa burst through the hotel room door around 11pm and embraced me in a hug. It had been months since we last saw each other.

Both exhausted, we went bed and woke up around 8am to prep for the show. I looked over at her and squealed: ‘Today’s the day!’

Fuelled by Starbucks cold brew, we turned our room into a crafting centre. We made t-shirts in an attempt to recreate Taylor’s iconic 22 music video look and decorated our clear stadium approved handbags with lyrics from her Midnights album.

We tried on a series of eras-inspired outfits, putting on a fashion show for each other, before ultimately settling on a bejeweled aesthetic. Yes, we did make the whole place shimmer.

At lunchtime we left the hotel, took an Uber into downtown and checked into our room at the Whitney. Staff at the stunning building, built in the late 1880s, made us agree to a ‘no glitter’ policy before handing us a glass of complimentary prosecco.

We took the lift up to the eighth floor and made our way to our room. You could hear Taylor’s lyrics blasting from rooms as girls prepared for the day’s festivities. We dropped off our things and ventured out to Campus Martius Park, a short walk from the hotel, where we ate lunch at a little man-made beach bar that served delicious food, fun cocktails and blasted Taylor’s hits.

Then we headed back to the hotel, blasted the This is Taylor Swift playlist on Spotify and spent about three hours getting ready. We paired our Midnights era clothing with Taylor’s classic red lip and headed out to the crowd-filled streets of downtown.

While en route we grabbed a slice from a cutesy takeaway pizza place and ventured off to Ford Field.

THE ERAS TOUR 

Now, I had been to Taylor’s Red and Reputation tours so I knew her shows are always a circus. But Saturday’s show was absolutely insane. 

Sixty thousand people donning glitter, cowboy boots, snakeskin and more turned up to her show. Teresa and I walked through the crowd watching Swifties of all ages trade friendship bracelets with strangers. 

We entered the venue at 5.50pm and it was packed. Bathroom queues went on for miles and excited fans rushed to various bars across the stadium in search of Taylor themed cocktails. For the record, the Midnight Mule is a 10/10.

Teresa showed me my ticket and I lit up with joy. Section 109, row 22, seat 13. I knew that night was going to be magical. We took our seats and gasped at our view. It really couldn’t get much better than this. 

Matthew, a Detroit based YouTuber sat behind us, started chatting with us. He was at the show with his mother, Becky, celebrating his birthday. 

‘We saw Taylor before and it’s the best concert we’ve ever been too,’ he said, adding that he hoped the hitmaker would play Right Where You Left Me.

We mingled with the concertgoers in our section until Taylor’s opening acts – Owenn and Girl in Red – took the stage at 6.30pm. Then, right before 8pm Miss Americana took us on a three-hour musical journey that arguably changed our lives.

The stage screen counted down from two minutes to zero and Taylor took the stage in a colourful, glittery bodysuit singing hits from her Lover album.

As we scream sung the lyrics to Cruel Summer, I felt my eyes water with joy (or maybe it was the sleep deprivation and cocktails). We were really here. 

Now, I could rave about every single song but that would take too long so here are my highlights from each era, in the order she performed them at the show.

Lover: Taylor is the queen of bridges – and she knows it. ‘We’ve reached the first bridge of the evening. And I would personally prefer that we cross this bridge together and by cross it, I mean scream it,’ she told the crowd before the stadium erupted with: ‘I’m drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar….’

Fearless: This era was nothing short of cute. Taylor asked us to ‘come back to high school with me’ and we all threw up our heart hands as she took us headfirst, fearless. The last time Taylor played at Ford Field was when she was in high school so the nostalgia was real. She definitely has me believing that Romeo may be out there somewhere.

Evermore: There is no doubt that Taylor’s evermore set was the best part of the show. From the anecdotes about her grandmother Marjorie – whose voice played on the track – to sharing how writing saved her during the pandemic, she was so incredibly raw with us. There were hardly any dry eyes as she sat her piano playing Champagne Problems, a song she wrote with her now ex Joe Alwyn. 

Reputation: I saw Taylor’s Reputation tour in 2018, but the shortened set she performed on Saturday had an energy greater than the album tour. As soon as snake imagery flooded the screens, it was clear. Old Taylor was dead. The audience remained on their feet, screaming and belting as Taylor told her haters and fake friends ‘look what you made me do.’

Speak Now: Taylor only played one song from her Speak Now album and it was not enough. Donning a princess ball gown, she sang the lyrics to Enchanted which left many weepy, including to Teresa who was ‘wonderstruck’ the night she met her now-husband. If anyone in Ford Field didn’t believe it was possible to fall in love at first sight, they definitely do now.

Red: This was my favourite era of the night. The whole stadium was dancing during 22 and I am fairly certain that anyone who was considering rekindling a relationship won’t be doing so after hearing Taylor belt out We Are Never Getting Back Together. 

But it’s undeniable the best part of this set was the 10-minute version of All Too Well. Taylor looked almost heartbroken as she sang the lyrics to what has become her most iconic break-up song of all time. Her mesmerising storytelling painted a picture of lost love that really had me wondering if she was thinking of Joe as she sang out ‘just between us, did the love affair maim you all too well?’

Folkore: Every song from Taylor’s Folklore set was phenomenal and featured the greatest number of songs. Taylor, donning a woodsy dress, shared how she named the characters she created for the album after real people ‘that I love’. She left the audience feeling haunted as performed My Tears Ricochet. 

But nothing was more impressive then her shortened version of Illicit Affairs – an almost rock-like ballad of just the song’s bridge. Pretty sure the lyrics ‘Don’t call me “kid”, Don’t call me “baby”, Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me’ will live rent free in my mind for the rest of eternity.

1989: From cottage core to angsty pop, Taylor seamlessly transported us from her COVID sanctuary in the woods to a colourful world of billboard bops. She had us shaking off the negative energy and brought the heat – literally, there were flames on stage – when she belted out Bad Blood. In case anyone had forgotten, she reminded us that she will never go out of style.

Surprise Songs: It is clear Taylor is going through it. Whether she is mourning her six year relationship with Joe or was saddened by her recent split with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, one thing was certain – Taylor is brokenhearted. She performed All You Had To Do Was Stay from 1989 and Breathe from her Fearless album. Taylor appeared to wipe tears away from her eyes after she performed the short set of breakup songs, leaving us all deep in our feels.

Midnights: Taylor finished the night with a bang as she played seven songs from her newest album, Midnights. The set was filled with colour imagery from the album, including rain and diamonds. Taylor ended the set with an explosion of colourful confetti as she belted out Karma, reminding us that throughout her 17-year musical journey – filled with triumphs and hurt – Taylor still came out on top.

After the show, mesmerised by what we just saw, the crowd ushered out of the stadium like a large herd of cattle. Swifties flooded the downtown streets, causing traffic jams for hours. Teresa and I walked back to our hotel, washed off the make up and gemstones and went to bed.

DAY TWO

My last few hours in Detroit were quite swift. We woke up around 10am, checked out of the hotel and went back to the park for brunch at a restaurant unironically called Parc.

Donning our Red era tees, we were sat next to a table of fellow Swifties. One had attended our show and the others saw her on night one.

Alex, who said Friday’s show was her first-ever Taylor concert, shared how she waited five hours in the Ticketmaster queue before she secured tickets. She said the show was ‘amazing’, ‘unreal’ and ‘100 per cent amazing’.

Both she and her friend Anna, who was also seeing Taylor for the first time, said the surprise songs were the best part. They were lucky enough to hear Haunted at their set. 

Taylor, who was at the same show as us, said she couldn’t believe how ‘constant’ the singer was. ‘She just going,’ she said. ‘She just put a lot of effort into it.’

Catherine, who had seen Taylor during her reputation tour, said ‘it was like going back to 2018’ when the singer entered that era. She said the show was ‘everything and more’, adding: ‘The whole production was insane. She did a wonderful job and if I could go to another city and see it again I would.’

After a perfect breakfast, cocktails and gushing over the show with our table neighbours, Teresa and I spent some time exploring the neighbourhood. We ventured into a free park that had music, mini golf and large swings. 

We posed for photos outside near the We <3 Detroit sign and chatted with some locals about the show. They couldn’t believe how far we travelled for the concert.

We then headed to a local wine bar where we sipped on a Tuscany white and enjoyed some local cheese. Our bartender had even attended the show the night before and couldn’t stop talking about how impressive Taylor was. If it isn’t obvious, she stole the hearts of Detroit.

Around 3.30pm, Teresa dropped me off at the airport and we said our goodbyes, knowing it would be a while before this pair of transatlantic besties were reunited again.

I walked through security, headed to the airport lounge and took a much-needed nap before my (delayed) 6.30pm flight to New York City. I landed in the Big Apple ten minutes before the gate for my flight to London closed, boarded the flight and queued up my favourite Taylor playlist for takeoff.

About seven hours later I woke up in London with the answer to the question I had been asked before I jetted off.

Is this really worth flying across an ocean for? 

Absolutely. And I cannot wait to see Taylor again when she finally comes to the UK.