Chicago’s Taylor Swift fans — a.k.a “Swifties” — are pulling out their jean shorts, glitter and friendship bracelets and flocking to release parties for the artist’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which dropped today.
Swift announced the album during a podcast appearance with her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The reveal followed her record-breaking Eras Tour, which revisited every era of her career. Now, with Swift’s global fandom at a peak, Chicago bars and shops are seizing the moment to turn the release into a citywide celebration.
Knit 1, a North Center yarn shop, is hosting a Saturday listening party, where registered attendees will knit while unpacking Swift’s lyrics.
Owner Breean Miller said the gathering is as much about community as it is music.
“We need more joy,” she said. “Especially when our city is being invaded,” she added, referring to an influx of federal immigration agents sent by President Donald Trump’s administration. “It’s more important than ever.”
The boutique previously held classes where participants made cardigans inspired by Swift’s oversized sweaters. When Swift announced “Showgirl” in August, two instructors pitched the idea of a listening party. “I was like, ‘Absolutely,’” Miller said.
In the West Loop, bar and restaurant Bandit is hosting an album release party Friday with themed cocktails and music.
Marketing director Logan Walsh said she wants Bandit to be known for more than sports and its second-floor club.
“Making friends is super hard,” she said. “We wanted to create a space where people can come together around something they love.”
Walsh said the anticipation for this album feels different, especially after Swift’s engagement.
“She released the artwork and the song names, but nothing else,” she said. “That built up the anticipation and allowed us to do an event like this.”
She expects a crowd of more than 100, including an older couple who called to reserve a table. “I love that they still want to be there,” she said.
Chicagoans Michaela Taylor and Haylie Farmer stayed up until midnight for the release and said it’s clear Swift is embracing her “fiancée era.”
“Her last album was very melancholy,” Farmer said. “This time, she’s engaged, she has an amazing man, and it shows you can still find happiness after years of bad relationships.”
Taylor added that “The Life of a Showgirl” embodies resilience.
“She talks about how things don’t work out, and you just get up and keep smiling,” she said. “We all need to hear that message with so much going on in the world.”
The two plan to attend Friday’s AMC screening of a film called “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” which features behind-the-scenes footage from recording sessions and music videos.
And while Taylor joked that Chicagoans should expect Swifties to be “annoying” for the next couple of weeks, she insisted the album has “no skips.”
“This album was really good,” she said. “Let them have their moment.”
Parties kick off Friday and continue through next week, as fans swap friendship bracelets, decode lyrics and celebrate Swift’s new era off the stage.
On Oct.10, Subterranean is throwing a Taylor Swift engagement party. On Oct. 12, Salt Shed and Beauty Bar will host a party at The Tree Top lounge, and on Oct. 24, Chop Shop will take a spooky spin on the celebration with a Life of a Showgoul — a Taylor Swift-themed Halloween party. And on Nov. 15, because Chicagoans love a bar crawl, Old Crow Smokehouse in Lake View will sponsor one for Swifties.