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Two best friends had the time of their lives earlier this month.
Vanessa McGregor and Cassandra Siemens attended the Eras Tour in Los Angeles thanks to Lisa Swaikoski, who is McGregor’s cousin. Swaikoski’s name was drawn for Taylor or Trailer contest with Wendy’s Show Us Your Summer.
To prepare, they gathered their outfits and packed their bags. In true Swiftie fashion, they made friendship bracelets for other concertgoers and also handed them out to people at the airport. They even made bracelets for flight attendants and pilots.
“We'd be like, ‘Hey, want a bracelet?’ And then people would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever.’ So that was really, really cool,” McGregor says.
Before attending the concert, they spent the day being tourists in L.A. as it was their first time. They went on a two-hour bus tour and also spent time at the beach, which they both agreed was a highlight of the trip.
They attended the final show of the 2023 U.S. leg tour, which they describe as a “shock” and “cool experience all around.”
"We just kept saying the whole time, ‘How is this real life?’ Siemens recalls. “And when we actually saw her, we just flipped. The way that Taylor portrays her music and how she is, and even the fan base, I've never been to a concert where we just felt like we were all friends and family and we knew each other forever."
At the show, Swift announced the release date of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) as it corresponded with the concert date, August 9th. The album is a re-recording of her album, 1989, with an additional five “From the Vault” tracks. Siemens and McGregor say they saw it coming as the concert was “very 1989 coded.”
@steinbach_online @taylorswift winners enjoying the show at #sofi stadium in #losangeles #erastour ♬ original sound - SteinbachOnline
“I just held my hand up and I was like, ‘I'm just gonna record our reaction,’ and that's probably one of our most favourite videos because you can see our eyes are just wide and we're just waiting. Then all of a sudden, just like mad chaos, we're just jumping up and down, screaming. We're like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is real,’” Mcgregor says.
Finally, Siemens reflects on the artistry of Swift and the journey fans around the world have taken with her.
“She hits all the emotions right at the time that you need her to,” Siemens explains. “So, for all the big moments in life and all the little moments in life, she's got a song about it.”
Thank you to our Taylor or Trailer sponsors who made two Swifties' wildest dreams come true:
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After Hours Plumbing and Heating
With files from Michelle Sawatzky and Corny Rempel.
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