concert

Sweat Tour box office line: Los Angeles, night 2 /  by Liz Brown

I’m writing this on the Amtrak back to Chicago from Los Angeles. It’s been a strange and long and wonderful 60 hours since I left my apartment with only a backpack (thank you, Spirit Airlines). (Actually, I snuck my fanny pack onto the plane under my sweater, but they don’t need to know that.) As soon as I landed, I took a bus to a coffee shop for a breakfast sandwich and 6 shots of espresso, then another bus to Kia Forum, where I queued for a grand total of 6 hours, with the hope of getting box-office-released tickets. (Spoiler alert: we did!)

The first photo is of the girlies I spent the day in line with; after spending such a long time together, we decided to get seats together, too, to continue our fun evening. We split up to quickly change, Carleigh and I getting ready in the Von bathroom and snagging a few snacks to eat on our walk back. Something about a grody grocery store bathroom as the prequel for our evening felt very brat.

Jonas Brothers: Fan Fashion, Chicago /  by Liz Brown

Yesterday I realized that the Jonas Brothers were playing Wrigley Field last night; I’d seen outfit videos on Tik Tok, so I decided to swing by before my evening photo gig to see if I could get some fun outfit shots. There were two standout things I noticed during my hour there: the t-shirts and the signs. There were less full-on costumes than I’d seen at Eras Tour, but there were SO MANY clever t-shirts. I didn’t realized I’d missed signs since photographing Harry Styles fans, but turns out I did!!! Once again, so many clever signs that fans made.

welcome to Chicago

In my Jonas Era

the history

Daddy?

Sign of the times (yes, I know it’s a Harry song, but it’s also a catchy title)

I’m just Kev

Red Dress!!!

Taylor Swift Eras Tour: Fan Fashion, Nashville night 1 /  by Liz Brown

Taylor has a little speech before “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” where she talks about how she’s written about some of the most painful moments of her life and she wasn’t sure how she’d be able to sing them in front of a crowd like this—seventy thousand, no less! But the fans, the listeners, the readers, the swifties, transformed the song into something differently entirely as they listened to it, championed it, understood it, sang it back to her. Instead of ten minutes of pain, the song became ten minutes of beauty, of connection.

This grandma-granddaughter due made their own shirts to mimic the Eras Tour poster, featuring photos of the two of them.

I could dwell on all the ways my day in Nashville went wrong, from the three hours of sleep to getting stranded in Indiana (don’t ride Greyhound, like ever), but instead I want to dwell on, to remember those moments of connection. Every time I think: what if I didn’t go, I’d have saved so much money and gained so much sleep—then I remember Gillian and Meredith and the other people I talked to throughout the day. I don’t want to give those moments, those conversations, those connection, those memories up. So herein likes the exchange.

This gal is a teacher (she saw several of her students at the show). She began designing her jacket to feature her favorite songs, but as the project progressed, she decided to add more details and ended up added some sort of design (some where small) for every single Taylor Swift song. The dedication!!!

Giving up the past pain means also exchanging the connection and in this case, the cost isn’t worth it. So I sit in my Music City Thrift camo cargo pants (a huge thank you to the person at Crema that recommended it because it was AMAZING) and remind myself of the same thing Taylor reminds herself and reminds us every weekend: the story can be rewrtitten, the songs can be recorded, the memory can be something beautiful, if only you sing along.

This time around, it felt like I took less photos (I didn’t) because I had more conversations. I’m excited to share some of these stories with you. This is Eras Tour Nashville, night 1. The sections are organized, more or less, by eras, with the exception of the first two sections. <3

on a wednesday, I mean Friday, in cafe

Even before I actually officially began working, I met a few folks at coffee shops (because really all I ever do is thrift and drink coffee when I travel) and asked to take their photos.

this is what it feels like

I’ve been photographing Gracie for a few years and it made me so happy that she had fans who turned out to Eras Tour just for her!!!

and i’m wearing my heart on my sleeve

and that’s the way i loved you

if this was a movie

That skirt was handmade by the gal wearing it and there’s a layer for every era—I never would’ve thought to do something so creative!

This person told me they were hoping boygenius would appear during Phoebe’s set—and they were dressed up as the actual story of us. So if you need someone to manifest something, this is your person.

and you were tossing me your car keys…

Starbucks lovers

‘cause look at your face

Guys. This Twister outfit. Original, creative, water resistant. Literally mastermind-level of creativity.

You can’t forget the getaway car.

it’s a cruel summer with you

These gals had a whole table set up in the parking lot where they gave away free bracelets and also let swifties make their own—I am obsessed.

giving me your weekends

Read the mom’s shirt.

long story short, i survived

midnights become my afternoons

Her fella was there, too, but he wasn’t really dressed up, so he let her have he main character moment and I’m obsessed with that energy.

This couple was walking in front of me (that is candid!) and I scurried up to nervously ask them for a photo, but there was no need to be nervous because they were super nice and so eager to dress up and pose!

Joey was honestly one of the most high-energy fun swifties I’ve met! We made eye contact from across the merch area and he was ready for that photo!

And just like any great Taylor Swift song, the night ended with a bridge…