Attack of the 300-Foot Taylor Swift!
TAYLOR SWIFT IS COMING! TAYLOR SWIFT IS COMING! TAYLOR SWIFT IS COMING!
Here in Indianapolis, our local media are positively ecstatic to have anything to talk about besides politics, homicides, and the city’s increasingly toxic levels of road construction. For those just joining us: Ms. Swift’s Eras Tour will be stopping in Indy this weekend to play three nights at Lucas Oil Stadium. While she and her entourage take over the place, our Indianapolis Colts will be staying with buddies in Minnesota until someone calls and gives them the okay to come back, which will depend on how they do Sunday against the Vikings.
Tickets to her sold-out Hoosier trilogy are still available through the usual auction sites and scalpers for four-digit sums, so don’t expect live coverage from me. Downtown hotel rooms are sold out across the board, though some are available around the edges of town and in the suburbs. Tourists are welcome to fill those up as well, but please be aware, when planning how to get from your hotel to the stadium, the first several hundred Google results for “mass transit Indianapolis” are a long list of pipe dreams sprinkled with a few nice tries.
In preparation for the influx of hundreds of thousands of folks into our modest city, they’ve gussied up our downtown! In addition to the amazing colossal Swift temporarily pictured on the giant blast-shield Marriott on West Street, thirty-two new street signs have been posted at various intersections, pretending to rename them after her songs and albums. I work downtown four days a week and own four of her CDs, so I felt I ought to do something resembling participation. Monday afternoon I sent myself on a side quest at lunchtime to take a long walk and see how many of those signs I could spot before my feet were ground into mulch. Please enjoy this gallery of results, a fraction of the total signage out there for the gawking all this week!
So High School Street! Corner of Market and Illinois, off Monument Circle.
Mirrorball Boulevard! At Maryland and Meridian.
Our Song Drive! In front of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers.
August Avenue! Also on Meridian, on the less traveled side of Circle Centre Mall.
All Too Well Way! Next to the future home of a 38-story Hilton with completion targeted for 2026. (Construction is something we definitely know all too well right now…)
Gorgeous Drive! In front of the east entrance of the Indiana Convention Center, where Anne and I have attended more than a few cons.
Bad Blood Boulevard! In front of the Convention Center, on the other side of Maryland. Ms. Swift just missed the 70,000+ FFA kids who dominated the place last week.
Swift Street! (A simple nod to her self-titled debut, maybe?) Washington Street, on the south side of the Indiana State House.
Enchanted Lane! At Washington and Capitol, across the way from the Hyatt Regency where we once waited in a long line at 5 a.m. to get into the Convention Center.
The Man Boulevard! At Market and Capitol, across from the State House.
Midnights Drive! Also at Market and Illinois, next to the existing Hilton featuring McCormick and Schmick’s.
From the Department of Other Kinds of Signs, banners on Georgia Street (between the Fieldhouse and the Convention Center) welcome one and all to Swift City. ‘Round this space, free parties will be held at noon Saturday and Sunday.
Downtown businesses getting into the spirit of Swift will include The District Tap with a special “TayGate” party…
…and Hooters! I’ve never been inside one and can’t speak to how much her fandom overlaps with theirs, but they’re going all-in!
Final score, omitting the bonus signage: I found a paltry 11 of 32 street signs in 45 minutes before I had to return to work. I earned no trophy, had to work extra to make up the time, hit the ol’ ibuprofen bottle pretty hard, and due to late departure almost died of acute road construction toxicity on the drive home. But I did it all for You, The Viewers at Home. And, y’know, for Taylor, because somebody had to be her herald.
A wider shot of the Brobdingnagian Taylor Swift adorning the JW Marriott’s hundreds of sold-out rooms. Hope you have a friend who knows places!
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Midlife Crisis Crossover! 
Age has given me a clear perspective on our wavering society. Why is this girl and her cartoon music treated like the second coming? I guess it’s better for the young girls to adore her than a bunch of gangsters shouting profanity. I was in Indianapolis for a while back in 1990. The company I worked for built a sports bar and restaurant in the old Union Station., I was the project manager. I loved the architecture of the city. While there. I managed to see the Rolling Stones steel wheels tour and experience your bitter winter months.
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I’ve never seen the Stones live, but I remember that tour was a big deal at the time! Union Station was an interesting place during its short stint as a mall from 1988 to the early ’90s — still is from the outside in spots, but there isn’t much going on inside anymore.
As for Ms. Swift, she seems to be one of those lightning-in-a-bottle phenomena that mesmerize a young generation, like Elvis or the Beatles or the various come-and-go boy bands. I’ve enjoyed a fair number of her songs (though her more recent albums use more F-bombs than she used to), but I’m not into ANY musician enough to want to pay those ticket prices. To spend that much on any one personality, I’d at least want a personalized autograph, a jazz-hands photo with them, a nice dinner and valet parking!
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