DETROIT (WXYZ) — Megastar Taylor Swift is set to perform at Ford Field in Detroit this weekend. The two-day Eras Tour stop kicks off Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, hundreds of fans lined up outside of the stadium for early merchandise sales.
"I got the grey crew neck which is, like, very sought out. This is the thing because it’s only sold at the merch truck and then I got some t-shirts for my sister-in-law," said Samantha Helzer as she showed 7 Action News crews the items she bought.
Some dedicated fans were in line for merchandise as early as 2 a.m.
"I have been to every tour except for Speak Now. I did not make it to that one," said Taylor Swift fan Elena Damiani. "I am a serious Swiftie!"
Damiani, who has been a fan for several years, says her tickets were a birthday gift to herself.
"We saw these videos and were like we need to bring chairs," said Jana Jakupi as she sat next to her friends Mikayla Doyle and Natalie Haight.
Mikayla, Jana, and Natalie say after fighting for tickets this will be their first Taylor Swift show.
"I got in on the pre-sale and I checked out as soon as the site crashed, but it went through," said Doyle.
"It took us like 4 hours," added Jakupi.
"We skipped all our classes for the day and just sat in Ticketmaster, got snacks," said Haight.
According to the Ford Field website, the event is completely sold out.
Fans say they're looking most forward to the surprise song. They say at every show, Swift has been playing a different surprise song outside of the normal setlist.
"I was hoping she was going to play Getaway Car but that was already a surprise song, but she’s playing 4 hours of music so you can’t be disappointed," said fan Paige Fowler.
Doors open at 4:30 both nights and the show is set to kick off off at 6:30 p.m.
The city has already started closing roads around the venue including portions of Brush St and Adams St.
Police say they'll also be deploying their 12-point plan to keep concertgoers safe this weekend.
"One of the things we were really fortunate with is we had our Grand Prix on last week, which went on with little to no incident. So we’re going to use that same crime strategy for this weekend as well," said Commander Melissa Gardener with the Detroit Police Department.
As officers get ready for the influx of people into downtown, rideshare drivers say they're also preparing for the hectic weekend.
"It’s good money. It usually is. People come from all over the state. You may have a ride that’s an hour away," said Jalen Hampton who drives Uber. "(It's) pretty hectic and Taylor Swift is a popular artist so it’s probably one of the bigger concerts we’ve had in a while."
Tina Serra says this will be her first time offering rideshare services during a big event. She says she's been driving for Uber for only a month.
"I actually went online to try and get tickets, but they were over $600. So I thought maybe this year I’ll just participate by driving," said Serra.
While some drivers are hoping to cash in giving rides this weekend, others say they'll be avoiding the traffic headache at all costs.
"It’s crazy. Lots of traffic. Lots of people," said Jason Bandy who's been a rideshare driver for more than 5 years.
Bandy says the people who plan to use rideshare services downtown this weekend should be prepared to walk further for pick-up destinations, surged pricing, and longer wait times.
"When you have two or three events getting out at the same time, forget it. It’s difficult. I suggest party buses," Bandy said with a laugh.
