What lengths would you go to for your favourite musician? Hours spent refreshing a web page? Queuing in the rain for a meet-and-greet? If you could see yourself camping for five months outside a venue to get the best seats at their show, then that’s exactly what a group of Taylor Swift fans have been doing in Argentina. The pop star has been an inescapable force in music for a long time, but excitement around her does suddenly seem to be reaching fever pitch – literally.
Owen, who is 21 and lives in Buenos Aires, has been camping outside the city’s Estadio Mâs Monumental since June to get the best view for her Eras tour. The stadium has general admission seating, meaning you don’t get a designated spot with your ticket. “We’re insane,” he tells Dazed, alongside a laughing emoji. “Argentina [is] insane for her.” A group of 50 people stay in a shared tent in shifts, using an Excel spreadsheet as a rota to fairly spread the load. “We do not literally live in these tents for five months, but we do spend many hours here,” he says.
He’s spent around 200 hours under canvas, often staying overnight from midnight to 10am, but his “sisters” and fellow Swifties have clocked up many more minutes, he says. His camping experience has gone smoothly, he says, even on the days that Argentina’s Club Atlético River Plate team play at the stadium and the street is filled with football fans. “After all, they are fans just like us,” he says, adding that people often yell at them: “‘Go to work!’”