Taylor Swift’s Vienna concerts cancelled due to planned terrorist attack
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Three Taylor Swift concerts were scheduled to take place In Vienna from Aug 8 to 10, with police expecting around 65,000 attendees each day.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BERLIN – Taylor Swift’s three concerts in Vienna that were scheduled to take place from Aug 8 to 10 were cancelled after the Austrian government confirmed a planned attack at the stadium, the organiser announced late on Aug 7.
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on social media platform X: “Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated and a tragedy prevented.”
DSN is the Directorate General for Public Security, the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria.
"With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety," local promoter Barracuda.music said in a post on Instagram, adding that all tickets would be automatically refunded.
Austrian police on Aug 7 detained two people suspected of plotting attacks
"During our investigations, we identified preparatory actions and noted that the 19-year-old suspect had a particular focus on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna," Mr Ruf said, adding that the suspect, an Austrian citizen, had pledged allegiance to militant/terror group ISIS.
The police searched the residence of one of the suspects in Ternitz, Lower Austria, and were analysing items from the home. Local media, citing police sources, said three suspects were still on the run.
Earlier on Aug 7 before the cancellation announcement, the police had said the events would take place but with increased entry checks and personal searches, with deployment of special units including anti-terror and bomb disposal teams, advising the public to arrive early at the events.
They were expecting around 65,000 attendees each day for the three Swift concerts.
The shows were to be part of the Europe leg of the record-breaking The Eras Tour by the American pop star, which started on March 17, 2023, in Glendale in Arizona, the United States, and is set to conclude on Dec 8 in Vancouver, Canada.
Swift’s official fan club account and management team, Taylor Nation, reposted the announcement by the local promoter on Instagram, and her official website says that all tickets for the Vienna concerts will be “automatically refunded within the next 10 business days”.
The 34-year-old singer-songwriter has yet to comment on the cancellations, but she has previously said that safety and security during concerts is her “biggest fear”.
In a 2019 essay for Elle magazine, Swift wrote that she was “completely terrified to go on tour” to promote her 2019 album Lover after the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 that followed a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande, and the Las Vegas mass shooting during a music festival in October 2017.
“I didn’t know how we were going to keep three million fans safe over seven months... There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
She added that this fear carried into her personal life: “I carry QuikClot army-grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
Swift issued a statement after a tragic stabbing incident
“These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families,” she said in an Instagram story.
Notably, there have been only two occasions when Swift’s concerts were cancelled since she embarked on her music career in the mid-2000s. A sold-out concert in Thailand in June 2014 was axed following a military coup in the country. Her Lover Fest concert series and music festival appearances in summer 2020 were also nixed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After Vienna, Swift is set to perform in London where five concerts are scheduled at Wembley Stadium, starting on Aug 15. REUTERS
With additional reporting by Yamini Chinnuswamy
