Thousands of fans illuminated the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday with a new Eras Tour trend, 10 shows in the making.
As soon as lightning flashed and thunder roared following "Marjorie," Taylor Swift smiled into the stadium cameras and waltzed to the back of the stage to begin the "Evermore" chant: "Wait for the signal, and I'll meet you after dark."
Swifties from every section of the stadium blew up orange and yellow balloons and started their phone flashlights to create their own "Willow" orbs, mimicking the dancers' light-up props onstage. Rain pattered down from the open-roofed arena.
Life was a willow and it bent right to the breeze of three Amsterdam Swifties.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Coralisa Meijer, 22, Charlotte Lanser, 24, and Samantha Davelaar, 25, walked into the Johan Cruijff Arena on July 4 with three yellow balloons and a bright idea. As Swift sang "Willow," they bobbed and waved their dollar-store orbs in the nosebleed section high above the throng of screaming fans.
"We had some extra space in Amsterdam," said Lanser over Zoom. "We were like, it will just be a fun little thing for us to do."
"Then we thought let's put our flashlights on," added Meijer. "And it just kind of happened, and people started filming us from the other side of the stadium, and it went viral."
Little did the trio know their novel idea would receive a shoutout from Swift seven shows later in the Veltins-Arena of Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
"There have been people bringing balloons to the Eras Tour to make their own orbs for 'Willow,'" Swift said to the crowd during her acoustic set. "I was cracking up the whole time. You guys are so thoughtful."
On the final night in Gelsenkirchen, the three friends dressed as clowns were invited to the VIP area on the floor —dubbed the Red Lounge — by the singer's team. They witnessed firsthand hundreds of fans blowing up their balloons and lighting up the arena.
"I get goose bumps every time I see it now," Meijer said.
"Sometimes we cry," Lanser added. "'Willow' has become one of our favorite songs within the past few weeks."
Swift liked a recent reel on the trio's combined Instagram page. A video showing how the craze started and how it's going has been viewed more than 400,000 times.
"I hope she knows how much we love her," Meijer said. "I hope she is happy every time she sees the lights, and I hope she knows that she makes friendships happen."
The "Willow" trend is only the latest of many chants, props and crazes inspired by fans along the Eras Tour. Swift mentioned the thoughtfulness in Hamburg.
"You have so many traditions that you guys have totally made up — and we already had a lot of them when we got to the European tour — but you guys recently have been coming up with so many new things, like traditions on this tour," she said. "It's amazing. Thought I'd seen it all, and then we got to Germany."
Here is a list of some of the appended traditions not included in previous tours:
Swift has one more show in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday and two shows in Munich, Germany, this weekend.
Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.
Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
2024-12-24 08:272502 view
2024-12-24 08:081211 view
2024-12-24 07:411560 view
2024-12-24 07:152794 view
2024-12-24 06:132345 view
2024-12-24 06:082575 view
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Gerry Faust, Notre Dame football coach for five seasons in the early 1980s, died
NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Seinfeld has been responsible for more movies than you think. Yes, he co-wrote
Miley Cyrus' new look will have you saying ‘sweet niblets.'After all, the Hannah Montana alum appear