Taylor Swift: I went! Fans who were at the singer’s only concert in Brazil, in 2012, remember stories of her fighting for a ticket

What would you do for a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert? Fans, in that classic scene that precedes the shows of the great international pop stars, eat the bread that the devil kneaded in face-to-face queues with the right to a questionnaire to certify that the person is really a fan of the singer and, only this Thursday (22nd), more than two million people were waiting for an OK sign to enter their card details on the website that sells tickets, in a loooong virtual queue.

The swifters, as the loyal and passionate fans of the American singer are called, have one more reason for so much anxiety: the 33-year-old blonde is far from party rice around here. This will be the second time that she will honor her presence in the country throughout her career. The first was in 2012, in a pocket show (very pocket indeed), of around 30 minutes.

She came to promote the album “Red”, in a presentation in Rio closed to guests. At the time, part of the tickets were made available to swifters only through radio or publishing promotions. Therefore, few fans could see her up close. In conversation with F5some of these warriors told how the battle for the entrance was and what they remember from the presentation —with the right to embarrass Paula Fernandes.

Reinaldo Costa, now 28 years old, says that the golden times of a neither-neither teenager (neither studying nor working), allowed him to spend hours and hours on the lookout, doing what the radio partner of the show imposed as a condition: every time something Taylor’s music started playing, he should go to the company’s Twitter and send a message. No sooner said than done.

“After that experience, I couldn’t stand listening to that radio anymore. To this day, I get sick just listening to Jason Derulo’s ‘Wigle’, which was one of the big hits at the time.” He got two tickets and, as his friends were more into rock, the app driver today decided to give another fan of a virtual group a gift.

All the winners met at the station’s headquarters, in São Paulo, on September 13, 2012 to go to Rio de Janeiro, where the show was held. He arrived in a rush, sweaty and with a patched front tooth. Blame it on anxiety, which had him eating peanuts nonstop the night before. He bit down really hard and, smack! A little window opened in Reinaldo’s mouth. He spent the night going after dentists, until a friend of his father saw him very early, one hour before departure.

“I only breathed when I sat on the bus, but I kept my mouth closed almost the entire time because I couldn’t force my teeth. The presentation was very quick and I felt very sorry for Paula [Fernandes] because she tried to sing ‘Long Live’ [parceria das duas cantoras] in Portuguese but the audience sang in English. I tried to help her, but there was no way,” she recalls.

The concert ticket, as well as the records of all the moments —a photo in front of the radio building, the bus trip and the position at Citybank Hall— are very well kept. Reinaldo, peninha, still hasn’t managed to guarantee his presence in any of this year’s presentations, which should take place in November. “If I don’t get anything, I’ll go back to my crazy teenage days and do promotions again. That’s the way,” he says.

As for Glenda Mello, luck came through a story. Assiduous reader of children’s literature, the then young 14-year-old fan participated in a competition from a publisher focused on this audience and should relate the North American to a character in one of her books.

“I remember that I screamed and cried a lot when the result came out. As I won a pair of tickets, I took my mother. And there’s a funny story: at one point she went to water and helped Kamilah Marshal, one of Tayor’s backing vocalists and who works with her until today, buying an esfirra. As she didn’t speak Portuguese, I wasn’t very comfortable.”

About Paula Fernandes, she says that at the time she was very angry with the Brazilian for “ruining the music”, because she always wanted to listen to “Long Live” live, an experience that was, according to her, harmed by the Brazilian.

Another remarkable moment was when he met the singer’s mother, Andrea Swift, at the door of the hotel where the artist stayed. The record still exists and is shaky because of the nervousness of the moment. Glenda lives in the United States and has been to other Taylor shows and still maintains a virtual friendship with Juliana Uchôa, which she made because of their common love.

Unlike many fans who didn’t get a ticket for November this year, Juliana mobilized all her family and friends to get a ticket. If you logged into five computers at the same time, not including your cell phone. And she did it: she has already secured two shows in São Paulo and one in Rio. But he really wants to go to the six presentations.

Another fan says he had to beg his grandparents, who he was living with at the time, to let him go. At the time, Renann Faber was grounded and couldn’t go to any parties. He bought the ticket with his allowance money not knowing if he could go. At the time, an acquaintance of a friend from high school sold a ticket because he worked in the preparations.

“I negotiated a lot, I even cried because it was a unique opportunity. I even invented that I had won. I told her to double my punishment just to let me go.” Like Glenda, he went to the hotel to see Taylor — or at least he tried to. “I got off at the wrong metro station, so I had to walk further and didn’t make it in time. But it was worth it,” he says.