Taylor Swift once headlined a concert in Biloxi. The show sold out in 3 minutes.

Taylor Swift’s surprising announcement that she is bringing her Eras Tour to New Orleans in October 2024 has her fans on the Mississippi Coast remembering when she played to a sold out crowd at the Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

The year was 2009 and, by all accounts, it was the year of Taylor Swift.

While the U.S. was in a recession, Swift was winning awards and packing concert venues.

The news leaked in January that Biloxi was one of the stops on her “Fearless” Tour.

Tickets went on sale Feb. 13 for the May 2 show.

The Sun Herald reported that tickets were available at the Coliseum box office and start at $20, with an eight-ticket limit during the first hour of the sale.

“She sold out in like three minutes,” said Matt McDonnell, executive director of the Coast Coliseum.

How Taylor Swift came to Biloxi

Swift’s song “Love Story” was racing up the Billboard Charts in early 2009, when The “Fearless” Tour was announced.

The tour went on to draw 1.2 million fans and gross nearly $67 million from 118 shows.

A big part of the reason Biloxi — a smaller venue than many on her tour — was one of those stops was because of the relationship he had with Swift’s father, McDonnell said.

McDonnell sold merchandise at a Swift concert in Orange Beach, Alabama, he said, back when Taylor Swift T-shirts were selling for about $25.

“Her dad was very much involved in her merchandise at that time,” McDonnell said.

That connection to Scott Swift is what truly got the Taylor Swift concert tour to stop in Biloxi, he said.

Memories of the Biloxi show

Swift’s concert on May 2, 2009, filled the Coast Coliseum. Her fans had to navigate heavy traffic with the Popp’s Ferry Bridge closed following a barge crash that took out a span.

The fans were coming to see America’s biggest-selling artist of 2008; a country singer-songwriter who had just sold more than four million albums.

“American Idol” finalist Kellie Pickler and special guest Gloriana toured with her in 2009.

The show featured graphics, sets and visual elements designed by Swift, and she played five guitars and a piano, as she did for every show on that tour.

“Multiple costume changes and a fairy-tale castle illuminated by more than a million lumens of light are just some of the highlights of the three-act show,” a press release said.

Swift opened in Biloxi with her hit “You Belong With Me,” and the video shot from the crowd is still on YouTube.

Her set list shows how Swift transitioned into an acoustic portion of the show and closed her Biloxi concert with a two-song encore — playing 17 songs that evening.

Biloxi and rising stars

As big as Swift was when she arrived in Biloxi in May 2009, her star rose even higher that year.

She won video of the year in June at the Country Music Television awards and female video of the year for “Love Story.” She had another big hit with “You Belong With Me” and hosted “Saturday Night Live.”

She became the youngest person to win Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year award and won album of the year for “Fearless,” the top-selling CD of the year. She took home six American Music Awards, including artist of the year — all in 2009.

McDonnell says Biloxi continues to draw stars like Tim McGraw, who will be at the Coast Coliseum June 13, favorite classic bands like the Doobie Brothers on Aug. 28 and Guns N’ Roses Sept. 20, along with top tours like Hardy, which already is sold out for Dec. 9.

The Coast Coliseum has a track record for bringing in performers just before they become top acts, he said.

“Jellyroll was here 15 months ago at the Crawfish Festival,” he said of the rising country star, “and he’s selling out everywhere he’s going.”