Swift: Nothin' but love for Des Moines
Taylor Swift's gracing the Wells Fargo Arena stage for the fifth time in her career tonight. The sold-out show's expected to bring thousands of fans to the downtown arena to see Swift stride through her set of smash hits like "Bad Blood" and "Shake It Off."
Dig into what's going at the "1989" World Tour stop in Des Moines with this live look at all things Swift and Swiftie-related in and around the arena.
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Fans have been waiting ... since 7 a.m.
Swifties lined the steps of the south entrance of Wells Fargo Arena as early as 7 a.m. to be first in line to see Swift. The crazed Swift fans in question are Kassie McCargar of Des Moines and Jules Bertagnolli of Cedar Falls. Both are 19.
They payed $430 a piece for their tickets to see Swift in the pit and said McCarger said she didn't want to be in the back of the pit.
"If you're spending as much money as we are, you don't want to be in the back of it," McCargar said.
Lights, lights and more lights
Tarah Wiegmann, a 26 year-old from Muscatine, embellished her costume and sign with more than 500 lights. Her friends did the same. Lights are a trend with a lot of tonight's Swifties — dressing up as lipstick-covered Christmas tree wouldn't be out of place. But props to Wiegmann, the costume shows a good dose of creativity without being too over-the-top.
"We have 18 strings of lights on just the posters," she said of the costume. "Then we each have four packs of lights in the skirts; then we have a pack of lights on our leggings and one on our head."
Wiegmann's not the only one in the crowd going heavy on the lights — many of the Swift fanatics are dawning headgear, necklaces or skirts made with lighting. There will be no shortage of illumination inside Wells Fargo Arena tonight.
Okay, there are people dressed in animal onesies
Second trend with costume-wearers: Animal onesies. This one isn't as much a trend as it is a brother and sister from Chicago choosing to dawn giraffe gear for the show.
"I don't know if you've seen Taylor Swift's music video for 'Wildest Dreams,' but we were inspired by it," said Kyle Sudges. "It takes place in like an African desert and there's giraffes and lions, so we decided 'what better way to show up to the concert than in giraffe onesies?'"
Some parents make their kids earn tickets to the big show
"We sent her on a scavenger hunt to find her tickets," said Danielle Cerna, who's at the show with her 8-year-old daughter, Zyrianna.
"On her birthday, around our town. On each clue it was part of one of Taylor's songs and then on the back of [each] clue it had 'do you want to go with me?' and then she had to figure that out and name every song before she got the ticket."
Again, these fans show no shortage of creativity.
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The best part?
Phil Dorweiler, 89, and Liz Frink , 86, were profiled by the Register earlier this week and Dorweiler, who was found hanging out at the arena's will call, said he got a call from "Nashville" at his home asking if he and Frink would like to meet Swift before the show.
"I got a call this afternoon and the lady was in Nashville, on my home phone," he said. "She said, 'would you and Liz be interested?' and I said, 'okay, that'd be nice.'"
They're Taylor Swift superfans, in their 80s
Vance Joy: The Australian hunk who stole Des Moines heart
Indie songwriter Vance Joy took the stage at 7:30 p.m. sharp to massive screams from the audience. His soft voice mixed with easy guitar playing, topped with hook after hook makes it official: He's stolen Des Moines' heart. It's gone, it now belongs to an Australian who's damn good at writing a love song.
"Are you guys excited to see Taylor Swift?" he asked in his Australian accent before going into the track "Wasting Time."
Well of course they are, Mr. Joy. Of course they are.
He swayed the crowd through tracks like "Mess Is Mine" and "Fire and the Flood." He even covered Sam Smith's "Stay With Me." If it wasn't clear enough the first time: He's stolen the city's heart. He stole mine, at least.
"I just want to say thank to you Taylor Swift for having me and my band on this amazing tour," he said to the crowd. "She coulda chosen anyone. I feel very,very lucky to be in this position."
Joy's set has wrapped with his massive single, "Riptide," and Swift's due up next. Iowans before a Cy-Hawk game don't know the intensity this room feels.
Taylor takes the stage by storm
It's 8:31 p.m., the lights dropped and Taylor took the stage.
Nevermind the previous comment. Vance Joy put on a good show, but Des Moines is clearly a Swift city. She took to the stage with a bang, flying through hit tracks "Welcome To New York" and "New Romantics."
"Welcome to the "1989" World Tour," she exclaimed. "We begin our story in New York."
The stage, the crowd, Taylor ... everything sparkles a white silver during the first number. It transitioned into a pale green for the second song. The entire spectacle's engrossing.
"Well good evening Des Moines, Iowa," she said during the "New Romantics" bridge. "I'm Taylor. And this is just my opinion but I don't think you've ever looked as beautiful as you do — all 14,000 of you — on this sold out night."
She tore into "Blank Space" for her third number and Wells Fargo Arena officially is in a state of bedlam. Pure and unapologetic madness from the crowd. And, working her way up and down the catwalk, Swift loved every second.
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Nothin' but love for Des Moines
Before heading into her fifth song, "I Wish You Would," Swift showed Des Moines some love.
"Ever since I started headlining my own tours, we always, always come to see you here in Des Moines," she said. "Would you like to know why? The reason is ... you're so welcoming to us. You want us to feel like your home is the same as our home. You want us to feel like Des Moines is our home. Des Moines, Iowa ... thank you for always treating us like family."
Back to her roots
Swift picked up the acoustic guitar, walked to the end of the catwalk — a little over half-way into the floor of the arena — and dove into a beautifully delivered acoustic version of "You Belong With Me," a single from "Fearless."
The way she delivered the song, just Taylor and an acoustic guitar, made the room feel like it went from 14,000 people in an arena to 500 people in a club. The crowd became as intimate as they were rambunctious during the hits off "1989." It made for the show's most memorable moment yet.
"I love you guys so much," she said when the song finished.
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Des Moines shakes it off
If there were any questions as to what song the crowd was waiting for most, at just under two hours into the show, it was answered when Swift dove into "Shake It Off." She wore a glittering green dress and was surrounding by a clad of purple suited dancers (is this a nod to the Batman villain, the Joker? I wouldn't be surprised).
"Thank you for spending your night at the "1989" World Tour, she addressed to the crowd, while lookers on continued to shake it off. A blast of fireworks went off as Swift exited the back of the stage. The house lights came up, the show ended in just under two hours.
With over 14,000 in attendance, according to the Iowa Events Center, it was Taylor's most-attended show at the arena.
The enthusiastic crowd, Swift's ability to work the arena, hearing the catalog of endless hit after hit from one of the biggest artists on the planet ... this was a show Des Moines won't forget in the near future.