SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Several lines of Swifties, each one hundreds of people long, snaked through the parking lot outside Levi’s Stadium’s A gate Friday afternoon. They went around poles and fencing, around another long line to a semitrailer selling Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour merch gear. There were many lavender and purple dresses, shirts and jackets, matching Swift’s Midnights era, with lead song “Lavender Haze.” But there were also sparkles galore, as well as plenty of white cowboy boots (and some hats), though not as many as on past tours.

Alberto Juarez and Enrique Reyes, from San Jose, were among the throng, several hundred people back. Both stood out with their sparkly outfits. Juarez wore a rainbow-colored jacket and Reyes, among other things, a pair of futuristic sunglasses. They’d planned their outfits for the show three months out.

“I was just trying to go based off her Lover era; very pastel colors, comfort colors,” Juarez said. And Reyes? “Very much Reputation era. I love the blacks, the grays,” he said.

The previous night, the two couldn’t sleep in anticipation for the show, both said.

“I was crying this morning because I was so excited! I was stoked,” Juarez said.

The entire Bay Area was primed for Swift’s invasion; the first of two Eras Tour concerts at Levi’s. The Santa Clara City Council proclaimed Taylor Swift as the honorary mayor of Santa Clara and temporarily renamed the city “Swiftie Clara.” Radio station KBAY Country (94.5 KBAY San Jose/92.1 KKSV Walnut Creek) switched formats to “Tay Bae,” playing nothing but Taylor Swift songs all weekend long. In the South Bay, hotels were booked to nearly 100-percent capacity. Local businesses scheduled friendship bracelet exchanges, fan meetups and pop-ups. The mood felt electric.

At the front of another line in the parking lot stood Sophie Gee and Megan Flores. Gee flew in from Hawaii hours earlier just for the show and was picked up by Flores, who shuttled them to the stadium. More than hearing any specific songs—the two couldn’t get close to picking a favorite song or era—they said they just wanted to be in Swift’s presence.

“We’ve been fans for a long time … since we were in first or second grade,” Flores said.

The two spent the earlier part of the afternoon trading friendship bracelets, up until the gates finally opened. And the best way to make that connection with someone new? Gee said the best way into a conversation was to find someone wearing an outfit she loved and compliment them.

“There’s no bad vibes around here. We’re just really grateful to be here,” Flores said.

While many of the fans were female, there was a significant dad contingent, many of them wearing similar “I’m the Dad, it’s me” or “Swiftie Dad” T-shirts. One man, from Pleasanton, told us that he’d been a fan of Swift since before his daughter was born, so for this show he got her excited about coming with him by playing Swift’s music for three months beforehand.

Some of Swift’s recent concerts at other venues nationwide have allowed fans without tickets to gather outside to sing along to the songs in a communal activity known as Taylor-gating. Levi’s Stadium officials announced that would not be allowed, and on Friday they appeared to be successful in keeping ticketless fans out of the area with road closures and barricades. 

The stadium had also initially announced it would ban friendship bracelets before backtracking.

Friendship bracelet trading, and often just give-outs among fans, was rampant. The fan-organized effort, as it has been elsewhere on The Eras Tour, was inspired by lyrics from Swift’s song, “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” from Midnights.

“So make the friendship bracelets/ Take the moment and taste it/ You’ve got no reason to be afraid,” she sings on the song, which has become a call to action for her fans to make connections to not feel alone.

Eleven-year-old Ansley Gerety, whose mom got tickets to the show just the night before and drove up from Clovis, in the Central Valley, sat on the pavement with a complete bracelet making kit, working on them.

“We had the beads ready to go, but we didn’t want to make them [friendship bracelets] and jinx ourselves,” said her mom, Emilie Gerety. “We waited until we had the tickets and then got to work on making the bracelets.”

As Ansley worked to make more, we asked her for her strategy.

“Just get a bunch of Taylor Swift quotes and put a bunch of random colors on strings and tie them together,” she said, smiling, adding she’d never made one until the previous night.

On the opposite side of the stadium, near the F gate, a shorter line had also formed. That’s where we found a new group of friends who just hours earlier had no idea the others even existed.

Rebecca Burton and Allison Yrigollen, from Pismo Beach, became the first ones in that line, arriving around noon. Burton, 23, has been a Swift fan for more than a decade, connecting first with her older country material (and her favorite song is “Tim McGraw”).

“I’m a sucker for her older stuff. Speak Now is the first CD I ever bought, so that holds a lot of memories in my life,” Burton said.

Yrigollen and Burton said they’d quickly formed friendships with the people who showed up soon after, including Sophia Tesfandrias and Sophia Chen, of Oakland, out on a mission to, as Chen said, have the “best day of my life.” The girls said they were hoping to hear “I Bet You Think About Me’ and “Cowboy Like Me.”

“I think a lot of people think we’re crazy for getting up early and getting in line. I swear we’re not crazy!” said Anahita Asudani from Menlo Park, who also came with a friend. “I think it’s fun how you get to meet a lot of cool people. I had never seen these people in my life a few hours ago, but after a few hours, I think I know them pretty well. It’s a bonding experience.”

Taylor Swift concludes her two-night stop at Levi’s Stadium Saturday.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Steve Carlson at Instagram.com/SteveCarlsonSF and Twitter.com/SteveCarlsonSF.