KC shops ride wave of Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ into ‘Record Store Day’
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lots of tired Swifties out there on Friday after staying up late to hear the pop icon’s latest release, a double album dropping overnight.
It’s called “The Tortured Poets Department,” causing a Taylor Swift-ripple effect across the country, but also specifically in Kansas City.
A Zona Rosa businesses Friday evening hosted a “Poetic Wine Walk’ with many spots selling Swift-related or adjacent gear.
Record stores, including Mills Record Company, saw large numbers of people coming in to buy different special editions of the album.
Taylor Swift’s new album takes ‘tortured’ turn: What secrets do the lyrics reveal?
Obviously Taylor Swift has huge international appeal but there’s a specific local flavor in Kansas City because of her multiple visits and the Travis Kelce connection.
But ultimately, it comes down to the music.
The morning after a midnight release, the friendship bracelets were already made and the music’s been absorbed.
“All of them are like pearls or black or like this marbel-colored because she has like so many motifs,” Cindy Stuntz said, showing off a wristful of bracelets with names of Swift’s new songs.
“I was laying in my bed with my laptop ready to read the lyrics while I listened to it,” Lee Braden said of her overnight experience.
“I set an alarm for like 10:50-ish, and then it came out at 11 [p.m.] here,” Madalyn Wilson said. “And then I listened to it. And then I just couldn’t go to sleep. And then she dropped another album, a double album, so I listened to that. I probably went to bed around 2 o’clock.”
“I think this is something that she’s never done before. This was the most raw,” Braden said.
The release of ‘Tortured Poets’ comes 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s “Record Store Day,” creating a one-two punch of high foot traffic focused on vinyl and physical media.
Travis Kelce still ‘doesn’t know’ how he scored Taylor Swift
“With Taylor Swift’s success and popularity, we’re bringing a different type of customer into the store,” Judy Mills, owner of Mills Record Company, said.
“And I welcome that, and it’s a new customer. It’s a five-year-old with her first record. As someone who bought their first record at five-years I really connect with that,” Mills said.
At the store RE at Zona Rosa, they prepared for their corresponding “Poets Wine Walk” including about a dozen stores at the outdoor shopping center.
RE owner Chrysalyn Huff said the excitement means a business boom, an interest starting pre-Kelce, more corresponding with last summer’s tour.
“Everyone was so kind to each other and how very loving the environment was. I, as an adult at my age, I had never been in an environment like that before,” Huff said.
Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android
“The relationship that she obviously has with Travis and the relationship that she has with Kansas City now, we’ve kind of adopted her as our own, which I think is kind of what we do here in Kansas City,” Huff said.
