When TikTok star (and unabashed Swiftie) Chris Olsen walked into Argentina’s Estadio Monumental to watch Taylor Swift‘s Eras tour, he immediately felt a “palpable energy” from the crowd after Travis Kelce was spotted in the audience.
Throughout the show on Saturday, Swift had a grin from ear to ear as she incorporated small tweaks to her performance to acknowledge Kelce in the crowd. The fans (including Olsen) in attendance went nuts. And online, clips of the special concert quickly went viral. “It was almost like a movie,” Olsen tells Rolling Stone.
To recap the whimsical night in Buenos Aires, Swift changed a lyric in “Karma” — from “Karma is a guy on the screen” to “a guy on the Chiefs” — to refer to Kelce; she also pointed at him during a line in “Blank Space” about loving players; and at the end of the show, fans got to witness the singer run into his arms for a big, post-concert kiss. (And that doesn’t even include the sweet, bro-y interactions between Kelce and Swift’s dad Scott.)
The public displays of affection are something Swift fans hadn’t really seen in years. Or really, ever. And it especially meant so much Swifties to see the singer “overcome with happiness,” given how much of the singer’s relationships have been scrutinized since the start of her career.
Public perception and PR expert Beth Booker says the Argentina show (and everything that happened at it) felt like a “climactic moment in a love story” and gave fans “defining proof of a romance we’ve been watching build” since September when the football player first said he had asked Swift out.
Since Kelce’s admission, Swift has gone to several Chiefs games (four, but who’s counting?), she’s been spotted riding with Kelce in his convertible, and the two even appeared together on Saturday Night Live. But the post-concert kiss? That took things to the next level.
“We’re seeing the romance unfold in real time,” Booker tells Rolling Stone of the phenomenon. “And I think that that’s why everyone is so on board with it. We’ve been along since the very first little breadcrumb about them.”
Olsen agrees. Over the last several days, he’s shared live reactions to the couple’s romantic tidbits on TikTok and videos of the tour stop in Argentina. The comments, he says, have been “overwhelmingly positive.” (And he’s garnered nearly 8 million likes across a dozen videos.)
“Taylor has said so much about the relationships of her past through her music, but with this one,” Olsen says. “There’s just a lot being shared with us in real time, which I think feels so special to us as fans.”
Jehlé, one of the admins behind @SwifferUpdates on Twitter, says there was a bit of caution in how much the account, which has nearly 200,000 followers, shared about Kelce and Swift’s burgeoning romance at first. “We wanted to give them their space,” says Jehlé. But as time has gone on, they realized that news about the couple was well-received by Swifties (and normies alike) and “there was much more of a safe and happy environment” to post about the couple.
“You can’t help but root for their happiness and love… It’s good and we should be celebrating it,” says Jehlé, who has been a Swiftie since 2008. “It’s so fun to witness because we’ve never seen her be so bold and brave in her relationship in years.”
Both Jehlé and Swiftie @NoahLevy13 think that part of the excitement — and Swift’s overt happiness in interacting with Kelce in public — comes from the fact that A) Kelce is entering Swift’s life when she’s on top of the world and B) Kelce isn’t afraid of doing things out in the open. Maybe Swift has been wanting that, they think. And not the same can be said about her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn, who seemed to want to be more “mysterious” and “low key,” they explain.
“There were so many important moments where Joe simply didn’t show up,” Jehlé says, pointing to the All Too Well short film premiere and the opening night of the Eras Tour, where Alwyn was absent. “I think that’s why this weekend in Argentina is so significant and why she felt so comfortable and brave to do what she did. She was overcome with happiness and gratitude because someone showed up for her in the way she might have always wanted.”
For now, Swifties are hoping for the best for their fave. And they’ll continue enjoying the tidbits of their relationship that play out publicly.
“Not to get parasocial, but you can sense when there’s love and joy,” says Olsen. “You can sense so much of their joy with each other.”
“The joy radiates out and you feel it,” adds Noah. “There’s an energy that is given off, and it’s really nice to see. It all feels so genuine, and it makes me so happy.”
