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Outside the Caesar's Superdome Friday in New Orleans, from left, Ryleigh Butler, Gentry Brown, Sydney O’Quinn, and Sarah Rockstead. (Submitted)

Waiting for Taylor: From left, Gentry Brown, Sydney O’Quinn, Ryleigh Butler and Sarah Rockstead. (Submitted)

Sisters walking into the Superdome: Sydney O’Quinn and Gentry Brown. (Submitted)

Mother and daughter Swifties, Sarah Rockstead and Ryleigh Butler. (Submitted)

The four Vidalia ladies show off their Swiftie bracelets while waiting for the Eras Tour concert to begin. (Submitted)

NATCHEZ — On Sunday morning, Sydney O’Quinn of Vidalia, Louisiana, was still on a Taylor Swift high.

“Oh, my goodness! It was magical,” said O’Quinn, 26, about the first concert she ever attended, which happened to be Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in New Orleans Friday night.

O’Quinn and her little sister, Gentry Brown, her cousin, Sarah Rockstead, and Rockstead’s daughter, Ryleigh Butler, all of Vidalia, traveled to New Orleans on Thursday for the Friday night concert.

“We have been fans of hers since her first album came out when we were kids. It was really awesome to be able to all go together,” she said.

Brown scored tickets for the group in August 2023.

“My sister got the code in August a year ago — August 2023. We had been seeing stuff about the Eras Tour, and all of us thought we probably wouldn’t get a chance to go. But she got the early access code and was able to get four tickets,” O’Quinn said. “I think they were like $150 each.”

O’Quinn knew those concert seats could have been sold for multiple thousands of dollars, but the four were not interested in selling them.

“To us, those tickets were priceless. Keep all the money in the world. We were going to that concert,” she said.

“I was nervous because our seats were up high, but it turned out to be great. We could see the light show and all the different colors, and she did fireworks, and we could see it all.”

Because they purchased their tickets well in advance, the four had the opportunity to create many bracelets to swap with other Swifties, one of the traditions of Swift’s concerts.

“We have been making bracelets for a long time getting ready for this. It was very, very exciting. We got to New Orleans on Thursday night and went to the site to get merch and we swapped some bracelets. Outside before the concert and inside before we got to our seats, there were Swifties in groups trading bracelets everywhere.

“I swapped a bracelet with a little girl who was maybe five or six. The one she gave me had a butterfly on it and said, ‘In my NOLA ERA.’ Isn’t that so sweet? I love it!” O’Quinn said.

She said Swift saved some special songs and costumes that were not on the typical Eras Tour agenda for New Orleans.

“Taylor did a mash-up of ‘Our Song’ and ‘Call it What You Want.’ ‘Our Song’ was one of the first Taylor Swift songs we knew as kids, so it was really special. She did another mash-up of ‘Haunted’ and ‘The Black Dog.’ ‘Haunted’ is from her album, ‘Speak Now,’ which also holds a special place in our hearts,” O’Quinn said. “She also wore a surprise outfit that was Mardi Gras colored.”

After coming onto stage and singing her first song, Swift addressed concertgoers.

“It felt really real. She said, ‘You have all these memories with these songs. Now you will have new memories of them, memories we are making together.’ It feels like she is talking directly to you. She makes it very personal.

“I really have no words to describe it. When we were waiting for her to come onstage, she had this clock that counted down the time. I told my sister I was going to have to calm myself down because I couldn’t catch my breath!

“Honestly, I’m just so thankful because there are so many people who couldn’t go. I’m so appreciative of it. I am making sure to say when I talk about how lucky and blessed I am.”

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