By Stephanie Samsel
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Eleven years after obsessing over 2012’s familiar pop anthem “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Ashton Kelley traded dozens of friendship bracelets with fans in State Farm Stadium and erupted into tears while singing along with Taylor Swift.
She attended opening night of Swift’s “Eras Tour” with her best friend Karrin Nettles, who lives five states away from her. Their celebration shows how the two have formed a lifelong bond over the pop star.
Kelley, 37, flew solo from Baltimore to Glendale, Ariz. to attend the tour’s premiere on March 18. She met up with Nettles, who flew from Missouri, to attend what Nettles called the best night of her life.
“The energy was just very electric,” said Nettles, who coordinated bejeweled jean jackets with Kelley. “Everyone was really open and like willing to have conversations and talk about their experience of what brought them there. There were a lot of people who flew to Glendale.”
Swift performed for a roaring crowd of over 69,000, breaking a female artist’s record for most-attended concert. Many of these fans endured hours of issues in Ticketmaster’s presale queue to score “Eras Tour” tickets. Getting tickets to multiple shows, Kelley said, was a group effort.
Nettles said she and Kelley bought their VIP tickets for face value from a fellow “Swiftie,” or a fan of Swift’s, who knew one of their friends. She has tickets to three more shows and plans to go to several more with Kelley.
But these two Swifties don’t need a live concert to jump at the chance to hang out.
Whether it’s dancing side by side in Arizona or getting matching arm tattoos during a day-trip to New York, Kelley and Nettles refuse to let long distances keep them apart.
They first connected on TikTok in 2020, after Nettles saw Kelley’s plans to host staycations for Swifties around the country called “Swiftie Sessions.”
“The cool thing about these sessions is that every single person is pretty much from a different city across the United States,” Kelley said. “We have people all the way on the East Coast from like Baltimore to Los Angeles, California.”
In 2021, Nettles joined Kelley and seven other Swifties in a secluded cabin in West Virginia, where they arranged photoshoots recreating Swift’s outfits, threw listening parties, and told stories that grew them all closer to each other.
“Honestly, I was kind of turning down hanging out with my husband to be on FaceTime or on Zoom with these Swifties,” Liana Vadala, one of the ladies at the cabin, laughed. “We’re not just talking about Taylor Swift. We’re talking about leggings, we’re talking about cool adventures people are hoping to go on soon.”
The Swifties, who range from their mid-20s to their mid-30s, first bonded over their favorite popstar but continue to celebrate the milestones in each other’s personal lives, Vadala said.
Since 2021, Kelley has organized eight Swiftie Sessions. She said the furthest she has traveled is Asheville, N.C.
“I host them so it typically requires me to overfill a large SUV beyond the ability to see,” the 37-year-old said.
Kelley chats daily with Nettles and several others who have attended her meet-ups. The Baltimorean makes friendship bracelets for her fellow Swifties, an activity mentioned in Swift’s coming-of-age song “You’re On Your Own Kid,” to trade with fans at the “Eras Tour.”
After attending three shows, Kelley estimates she has handed out 150 handmade friendship bracelets. She has even given them to little Swifties who could not return the favor because she wants them to “remember this and have the best experience,” Nettles said.
Kelley has since stocked up on beads and string.