Welcome to the week of peak Taylor Swift, from the Grammys to Tokyo shows to the Super Bowl

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift is having a week of big events, globetrotting and media attention that is rare even for a star of her stature. After winning album of the year at the Grammys in Los Angeles, she’s off to Asia for four stadium shows in Tokyo. Then she’ll hustle back to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl to root for romantic partner Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs. While the packed week seems like the height of modern multimedia celebrity culture, the moment is also a throwback in some ways to a time when mass culture dominated and stars were known for their broad appeal.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — She’s everywhere, and the world is merely her backup band.

This is Taylor Swift’s week. It’s hard to remember a star of Swift ‘s stature straddling so many roles, spanning so much of the globe, covering so many corners of the culture and doing so much of it in the spotlight she will have between Sunday’s (Feb. 4, 2024) Grammy Awards and the coming Sunday’s (Feb. 11, 2024) Super Bowl — with four Tokyo concerts in between.

It represents a packed pop-culture moment — a sort of perfect storm of fame, exposure, art and excellence for a woman who has become one of the planet’s most recognizable names. And every moment of it will be dissected — with adulation and criticism alike.

Is this the apogee of modern multimedia stardom? It might actually be more of a throwback, to a time of a less segmented, less subcultured society, when a star could be a household name across continents and generations, taking part in events that people actually follow together as they happen.

“She’s at the center of these moments that we don’t have very often anymore,” said Shilpa Davé, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.

HOW THIS TAYLOR SWIFT MOMENT IS A THROWBACK
You have to look far into the past, and well past music, to find someone with Swift’s cultural power. You might have to look to a time when media wasn’t so fragmented, when the pipelines to people’s eyes and ears were fewer and slower.

“She’s Walter Cronkite. She is the most trusted name, the most trusted voice in America,” said John Baick, a history professor at Western New England University who examines the intersection of popular culture with broader society. “I just can’t think of anyone in our politics, in our culture, in our society who we know across more generations. Maybe Oprah, but, I think Oprah had a smaller appeal in some respects.”

For many from young generations, splintered by social media, “Taylor Swift offers a vocabulary — a shared language,” Baick said.

Swift’s whirlwind week began with a record-breaking fourth win for album of the year at the Grammys in Los Angeles, where she may have made even bigger waves with her surprise announcement that her next album is ready to drop in April. Nearly 17 million people watched, a huge and surging number for a modern awards show that no doubt owed much to her.

Then it’s off to Asia for four concerts at the Tokyo Dome in an echo of her seismic stadium shows in North and South America last year.

If all goes as expected, then she’ll turn back the time zones and hustle back to the U.S. to play the role of fan-in-chief to her Kansas City tight end boyfriend Travis Kelce at the the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and will likely be seen in a suite with Kelce’s family and friends during the game by an audience far bigger than the Grammys’.

DON’T WORRY — SHE’LL MAKE IT EVERYWHERE
Followers concerned with the plausibility of her tightly timed itinerary have been assuaged by the Japanese embassy in Washington, which said in a statement that “if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins.”

Swift seems to embrace the whole storm, if her album of the year acceptance speech is any indication.

“I would love to tell you this is the best moment of my life. But I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love, or when I’m shortlisting a music video, or when I’m rehearsing with my dancers, or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show,” she said from the stage. “For me, the award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this.”

While she says little publicly about her relationship with Kelce (he didn’t get thanked during her two Grammy speeches and wasn’t at the ceremony), she’s clearly aware of the visual story she’s telling.

“She obviously didn’t have to go to the games. She could have watched from home,” Baick said. “She didn’t have to go to these boxes where she would be perfectly framed with family members and friends. But her career matters. And this is someone who is unapologetic about that. In that sense, she’s also like Madonna. Everything she does is in the public eye. And why not?”

PART OF SWIFT’S APPEAL IS THE CULTURAL MOMENT WE’RE IN
Kelce weighed in on the phenomenon Monday from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas that “she’s rewriting the history books herself” and she’s “definitely brought a lot of new faces to the game.”

The secret to her culture-defying appeal that may be reaching its peak this week comes in part from the particular glow of positivity she is able to bring — a positivity that the pandemic, political turmoil and social erosion have created a hunger for.

“We don’t have many very big moments where we’re celebrating just the joy of music and culture,” Davé said. “She brings that with her. … And I think we need it in this moment as well.”

Baick agrees. “I don’t think we, as a country, have ever needed someone as much. With the sole exception of after John F. Kennedy was killed. I mean, Beatlemania was in part because of that terrible vacuum, a terrible sense of loss and that desire for young people to give themselves up to, to cut loose. And like this, it was female-driven.”

This moment was also made possible by the unmatched connection she is able to make with her followers, and her dedication to serving them and centering them. Part of that connection might be her willingness to be a big fan herself, an essential role at the beginning and end of her big week.

At the Grammys, as she often does at awards shows, she stood un-self-consciously and sang along with everyone from Tracy Chapman to Olivia Rodrigo. And she’ll play the fan at the Super Bowl as she has for much of Kelce’s and the Chiefs’ season, a role she appears comfortable in, with no fear of her own job or identity being eclipsed.

BUT THE ADULATION HAS COME WITH CRITICISM
There could never be unanimity around someone so prominent, and those appearances have brought out detractors. Some football fans have griped about the attention she is given during games, though her actual screen time can be counted in seconds. She’s also been slammed for the private jets she should be making liberal use of all week.

And she has been the subject of utterly unfounded rumors ranging from claims she’s part of Pentagon psychological operations to the notion she and Kelce are assets in a plot to help President Joe Biden get reelected.

“There’s some genuine fear about what she and tens of millions of people who follow her could do in an election that’s probably going to be close,” Baick said.

Of course, plenty simply don’t care for her or her music. And her appeal does run deeper in some communities than others.

“It is, predominantly, a white middle class phenomenon,” Baick said. “But it cuts deeper than that. It is more than that. It is not monochrome. And it is geographically broad. The world — which may not like our politics, which may not like our foreign policy — still loves our pop culture. And she is a proud ambassador.”

It will be a week she’ll have a hard time topping. Yet she’s transcended what seemed like previous peaks.

“In her victory lap, I’m curious to see where it will take her,” Davé said. “Because these things don’t last and so how does she just become this big commercial success, or does she leave a legacy?”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If Taylor Swift is jetting from her upcoming concert in Tokyo to Las Vegas to see boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl (Feb. 11, 2024), she’d better already have a place to park her plane. Officials at Harry Reid International Airport and the FAA say space for aircraft parking in and around Las Vegas has been spoken for. Four airports in the area have a combined 475 parking spots. By comparison, the Phoenix area where the Super Bowl was played in 2023 had 1,100 and all sold out. Pilots flying into Las Vegas still might be able to drop passengers off and park at other airports in the region.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If Taylor Swift is jetting from her upcoming Tokyo concert to Las Vegas to see boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl the next day (Feb. 11, 2024), she’d better already have a place to park her plane.

Places to leave private aircraft at airports in and around Las Vegas have been spoken for, airport and Federal Aviation Administration officials said Thursday (Feb. 1, 2024). Just over a week remains before the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers face off in the NFL championship game.

The four airports immediately around Las Vegas have about 475 parking spaces combined, said Heidi Hayes, a spokesperson for the Clark County Department of Aviation.

“Oh, they’re full,” said Rick Breitenfeldt, FAA spokesman for his sixth Super Bowl.

NOT THE FIRST TIME
Las Vegas-area airports also reached capacity for private planes during the inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix auto race in November, Hayes said.

Clark County handles Harry Reid International, one of the busiest passenger airports in the U.S., along with busy general aviation airports in suburban North Las Vegas and Henderson. Hayes also checked Boulder City Municipal Airport, about 24 miles (39 kilometers) east of Las Vegas.

Air traffic is expected to be heavy. Commercial airlines have added flights and the Las Vegas airport reported Wednesday it handled a record 57.6 million passengers in 2023. That’s an average of nearly 160,000 people per day.

COULD SWIFT MAKE IT TO THE GAME?
The last of four scheduled Tokyo shows of Swift’s Eras Tour is on Feb. 10. Due to time zone differences, if she flies out at midnight, it will be 7 a.m. Saturday in Las Vegas.

A spokesperson for Swift didn’t respond Thursday to questions about whether Swift plans to attend the Super Bowl, has made travel arrangements, or where her pilots could park a plane.

Swift has more than one private jet, including a Dassault Falcon 900 that can typically seat at least 12 people and fly at up to 590 mph (950 kph).

Barring delays, if Swift’s flight to Las Vegas takes 11 or 12 hours, she could arrive in Las Vegas the day before the game after crossing nine time zones and the international date line.

WHY IS AIRCRAFT PARKING SO SCARCE?
There aren’t as many airports around Las Vegas as there are around Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl was played last year. The WM Phoenix Open golf tournament also was played during Super Bowl week in 2023. Breitenfeldt at the FAA said all 1,100 aircraft parking pads in the Phoenix area were claimed.

The NFL doesn’t handle aircraft reservations, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said, but it does coordinate with the FAA, National Business Aviation Association, host city airport authorities and commercial private aircraft service companies during Super Bowl events. McCarthy said the league doesn’t comment on individual requests.

McCarthy noted that players and fans of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league also will be in Las Vegas for a tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Las Vegas Country Club before the football game Sunday at the 60,000-seat Allegiant Stadium.

CAN PLANES PARK ELSEWHERE?
There might still be slots available for what Hayes and Breitenfeldt termed “drop-and-go” flights. That’s where pilots leave passengers and then fly to another airport to park.

Airports within 100 miles (161 kilometers) of Las Vegas include Mesquite Municipal Airport in Nevada and Laughlin-Bullhead International Airport in Arizona. Jean Sport Aviation Center, an airstrip visible from Interstate 15 that has no control tower, lies south of Las Vegas.

The closest large California airports are Ontario International, San Bernardino International, Palm Springs International and Palmdale Regional, which are each less than 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.

Los Angeles International, John Wayne International near Santa Ana, Long Beach International and Hollywood/Burbank airports are each within 250 miles (402 kilometers) from Las Vegas. Phoenix is about 255 miles (410 kilometers).

WHAT DOES IT COST TO PARK?
It might be cheaper for aircraft owners to park a multi-million dollar jet for the Super Bowl than an automobile owner attending the game, where seat tickets were selling at upwards of $8,000 apiece.

Hayes said aircraft parking fees during Super Bowl weekend at Harry Reid International were unchanged from the standard rate. That’s $20 to $150 a day, depending on the size of the plane.

Meanwhile, just one MGM Resorts International casino near the stadium, Mandalay Bay, was still offering game day garage parking reservations on Thursday, at $100. The company’s nearby Luxor and Excalibur had nothing available.