SANTA CLARA — Bad Blood has cut fans of Taylor Swift and Levi’s stadium pretty deep after the venue chose to ban an item that has become essential to the experience of its tour.
Swift is expected to make a two-night stop at Levi’s Stadium on July 28 and 29 as part of her highly anticipated Eras tour.
Lifelong Swift fan Audrey Crook has been making friendship bracelets since she was a kid, but today, at 21, she’s using those skills again. But this time for Taylor Swift.
“I like so much to share something with strangers rather than a common good,” Crook told CBS News Bay Area. “I hope to come home with bracelets that are not mine.”
It all stems from a lyric in Swift’s most recent album, Midnights.
In the song “You’re On Your Own, Kid”, Swift says the lyrics, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and savor it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.”
For Crook, like many others, this rule had a different impact.
“I’m hosting a bracelet making party with my friends, so it’s something I can do as a community to give them to other people as a community and to reconnect with the roots of your childhood, the age when many of us fall in love with Taylor Swift’s music,” she explained.
The lyrics have led to the youthful activity becoming a theme throughout the tour, with Swift fans making dozens of friendship bracelets not just to wear, but to trade with other fans.
“Here’s a little token of who I am so you can remember the experience and know we have each other’s backs, even if we never see each other,” Crook said.
As Bay Area Swift fans get closer in anticipation to Swift’s first performance in Santa Clara, this new tradition is on the line.
Levi’s Stadium banned the armbands in the venue due to incidents of performers being hit by objects thrown by fans. The venue has also banned tailgating. But Crook says both have been problematic on the tour so far and therefore shouldn’t be restricted in Santa Clara.
“It’s almost like taking an era out of the setlist and it completely changes the energy,” Crook said, referring to bracelet trading. “Really the friendship I think is what made this happen and to be such a community on this tour so that people would connect less, you wouldn’t have this incentive to go to strangers.”
In a statement on Friday, Levi’s Stadium reversed the policy, saying it will allow friendship bracelets in the venue, adding that they are “enchanted to see you in a week from today.”
However, the venue is sticking to a policy of no tailgating on both nights of the Eras tour, but it’s a concern for concertgoers who plan to be at the venue for about eight hours in total. Many fans have made it a habit to gather around 3 p.m., three hours before the opening act, while Taylor Swift’s set is expected to end around 11 p.m.
