![In room 4101, Natalie Patterson ‘26, Ariana Magor ‘25 and Celina Salazar ‘25 create a poster in science teacher Kerry Reilly’s Chemistry Honors April 18. The three completed a worksheet and drawing to explain the implosion of a tank for their unit on gas laws. “At the start of class, we watched a video of the tank imploding,” Patterson said. “I think [making a drawing] is something new. I like more artsy activities.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_5019-1200x900.jpeg)
![The girls varsity soccer team walk back to their bench during halftime April 1. The Jags played against the Castle View Sabercats at the Douglas County Stadium and scored 3-0 W. “It felt really good [to beat Castle View]. I feel like that was a big win for us because knowing that we came together to beat a pretty good team has definitely given us some leverage for this season,” attacking midfielder Grace Rossner ‘24 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_4906-1-1200x1057.jpg)
![English teacher Colleen Lamb grades College Prep English assignments during period two Nov. 10. Lamb, who has been teaching for 27 years, decorates her classroom with posters and handmade college flags from her senior students. Everything I enjoy about English happens primarily in the classroom, Lamb said. So, thankfully, the college [I worked at] had a teaching program, and I was able to do my post-grad work for free while I was working [there].”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1158-1200x900.jpeg)
Themed outfits planned, bracelets made and traded, a long wait finally over.
After multiple years and many new albums, but no new tour, Taylor Swift announced in November of 2022 that a new tour was in the process. Since then, Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour planned to visit 20 U.S. cities starting in March, according to Forbes.
Fans of Swift, commonly referred to as “Swifties,” prepared for their turn to experience this tour. Students and teachers alike checked their phones for queue updates in classes and hunted for early access codes. After rounds of ticket trading and resales, finally, on July 14 and 15, the wait for attendees of the Denver concerts was over.
According to a poll conducted by @rcrockmedia on Instagram, 28% of students (52 out of 183) attended the concert.
Here is what some students had to say:
Owen McWilliams ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I first got introduced to Taylor Swift in 2014. When the album “Red” came out, I instantly fell in love.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
The process wasn’t big for me. I ordered a shirt from Amazon and then made my own friendship bracelets.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: The process was absolutely horrible. I waited over five hours in the queue and eventually got kicked out, but I went back in and spent 30 minutes getting my tickets.
Q: If you’re willing to answer, how much money did you spend on tickets?
A: I spent $800 total for two tickets in the lower bowl.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: It was crazy, like it was amazing. Over three hours is amazing for a performer. I would not change anything.
Addie Jaeger ‘24
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I first got introduced to Taylor a few years ago when I found out she was going on tour for her “Reputation” album. I started listening to a lot of her songs since my mom and I were going to the concert.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: When creating my outfit, I wanted something that had a meaning to me, which is why I chose to make an outfit around “Reputation”.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: For me, the buying process was simple, however, for my mom, it wasn’t. We were able to get the early access code, which helped a little but not a ton. My mom waited in the queue for like seven hours to get tickets, and then once she finally got into the queue she got kicked out and had to wait for another three hours in order to get them.
Q: How much money did you spend on tickets?
A: We spent like $150 on each of our tickets.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was an absolute dream. Listening to Taylor play all of her most popular songs was something
I never knew I needed to experience it.
Morgan Dodd ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I first got introduced by listening to her on the radio when I was a little kid.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: I really just wanted to wear something that was sparkly, so I found a dress I liked and built the rest of my outfit around it.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: The ticket process was stressful, it took hours in the queue to get the tickets.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was amazing, it’s really a unique experience. It felt great listening to some of my favorite songs live for the first time. The atmosphere in the stadium was crazy, especially with 73,000 people there.
Sage Adkins ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I got introduced to Taylor Swift through her “1989” album.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: For my outfit, I wanted to go with a mix of “Lover” and ”1989” so I went with a pink dress skirt with a white tank top over it. Then, as I was going into the stadium, I saw the pink cowgirl hats and I got one.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: My parents got me tickets when it went on sale, then didn’t tell me until April, so it was a birthday surprise for me. I don’t know how much it costed.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was magical and fun, even though my feet got tired.
Daniel Chepura ‘24
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I got introduced to Taylor through the radio when I was about four and have listened to her ever since.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: The process was hard for an outfit because most of my money went towards buying tickets, so I had to raid closets to find something.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: I waited in the first queue and got kicked out as I was picking tickets, so I lost faith. But, a week before the show here in Denver, I got a text that was like a second chance. I immediately opened it and got tickets.
Q: How much money did you spend on tickets?
A: I only spent $150 [each] on tickets.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was absolutely amazing. I had so much fun. I was excited to hear all the songs but was most excited for “Reputation.”
Emerson Yu ‘24
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift since before I could remember.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: The first time that I went [to an Eras Tour concert] was in Nashville. I went for a “Reputation” vibe. This time, I thought it would be cute to do a “1989” concert vibe.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: My sister and I were called out for the class period when the tickets went on sale. We came home and waited in the queue, then we had to get back to school so we left our computers with my dad, who then was only able to get one set of tickets at first. Then, he got another presale code to get the second.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was amazing. I literally can’t even put into words how much fun I had. It was a dream come true.
Lauryn Goode ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I think it was when I was like eight or nine. I first listened to “Mean” on the radio and then I just kept listening.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: When I came up with my outfit, I wanted to make it purple for “Speak Now,” because that’s my favorite album and the album I first started liking Taylor Swift. So, I tried to make it look like her purple “Speak Now” dress.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: When I was getting tickets, I stayed home from school. I waited in the queue for about an hour or two and I was around 300 in the queue. It was really stressful and everything went really fast.
Q: How much money did you spend on tickets?
A: I bought three tickets. With fees, it was $800. Each ticket was around $200.
A: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
Q: The concert was amazing. Everyone was having fun singing, and even when some people didn’t know the words, everyone was dancing and just happy to be there.
Elizabeth Lemeshewsky ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I can’t really remember how I got introduced to Taylor Swift, to be honest. I just recently started getting super into her, maybe in the last year or so. I’ve always been around her music at school dances and stuff, but I think as she started releasing new albums, like “Lover” and “Taylor’s Versions”, I started getting more into it.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: The outfit process was definitely slow. I took a ton of inspiration from Pinterest with dress ideas and such. I started from an album, or “era” if you may, that I wanted to recreate, which was “Lover!” I then tried to color-match my dress to the primary colors that came with the album, one of which was pink. And of course, I had to do the heart, cause what girl would I be without the heart?
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: Tickets were brutal. I remember telling my mom about the concert and how we should go. We both got presale codes, and my mom ended up waiting eight hours in line for them. She did this during the school day too, and had to check every 30 minutes or so during her classes. I had friends who actually stayed home from school in order to get tickets. It was a huge deal.
Q: How much money did you spend on tickets?
A: I’m not sure how much money we spent on tickets. My mom got them quite early to avoid the high ticket prices, and the tickets ended up doubling as my Christmas and 16th birthday gifts. I did have a friend who bought hers very late and ended up spending 600 bucks on one ticket.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The experience was 1000% worth waiting in lines for. Hearing the songs live felt like such an out-of-body moment. Everyone knows these songs by heart and it feels like you’re having a huge dance party with your friends. I had a couple of girls around me that I danced with and we all sang the songs to each other, which was amazing. It also felt like such a safe environment being around so many people, trading bracelets with people you’ve never met before and having conversations about which song you hope she’ll sing for a surprise. It felt like one big church service.
Madison Krob ‘26
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I grew up listening to Taylor Swift because my mom loved her.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: I found a cute dress but wanted to add to it so I decided to go as “Miss Americana.”
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
Q: I wasn’t a part of buying tickets because my friend got them.
Q: If you’re willing to answer, how much money did you spend on tickets?
A: I was in the lower bowl. I think, with fees, tickets were $250 a piece.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: I’m so thankful I got to go. That was the best night of my life getting to hear her live. I want to go back!
Avery Witmer ‘24
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I was introduced to Taylor Swift at a very young age due to her songs being played on the radio and I have been listening to her music ever since.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: I decided to base my outfit on my favorite album at the time, which happened to be “Reputation.” I used TikTok to gain inspiration and already had the leather skirt, so all I had to buy was the newspaper corset from SHEIN. It was really comfortable and the pockets in my skirt were really helpful.
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: My dad bought my tickets for me when he was at work. He sat in the queue for hours and randomly, in a meeting when he logged in on his phone, he got in, which was really lucky. He decided to get club seats because he thought they would have the best view and be easier to walk around before the concert. We bought them at face value, which was around $225 I believe.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: The concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My mom and I went and tailgated in the parking lot trading bracelets [from 11 am to 11 pm, all day] and at 4:30 we explored the stadium. I also bought merch during that time too–the white sweatshirt–and found my friends as well. Once Taylor came on, the screams were non-stop and it was all kind of a blur. I just remember screaming the lyrics and having the time of my life.
Tori Greer ‘25
Q: How did you first get introduced to Taylor Swift?
A: I don’t exactly know how I got first introduced to her but I went to The Red Tour and that’s when I started to really like her.
Q: What was your process when it came to creating your outfit?
A: I decided to create my outfit around one of my favorite albums, which is “Lover.”
Q: What was the ticket-buying process like? The queue experience, etc.?
A: When tickets originally went on sale, I didn’t get any, but my mom ended up getting me tickets for my birthday.
Q: What was the concert like? How did you feel listening to all the songs?
A: I loved every minute of the concert and it was so fun to hear some of my favorite songs live.
