Taylor Swift fan Daniel Yagudin on the cancellation of the concerts in Vienna, the support of the local community and the solidarity of the Swifties
I remember starting to listen to Taylor Swift’s music when I was 16, while still living in Dnipro, Ukraine. My favorite album? “Reputation”! I think this album is so meaningful. As a queer person with roots in a country that is less tolerant of anything non-heteronormative, her songs reminded me that I can be the best version of myself – and that my inner peace comes first, no matter what others think of me.
The Eras Tour, every Swiftie’s dream
For years I watched the videos of the “Eras” tours and saw people crying with joy at their concerts. I wanted to experience that too, to feel that feeling and, above all, to be part of it: A Swiftie I have now been living in Vienna for over seven years. When exactly a year ago it was announced that Taylor Swift would be coming to the Austrian capital as part of her world tour, I was sitting on a friend’s sofa and screamed loudly. I immediately set a timer to make sure I could get a ticket in advance. Unfortunately, that didn’t work, the rush was too big. And so the whining began, which lasted for almost a year (and cost both me and my boyfriend a lot of nerves). My boyfriend had some friends who had actually managed to buy tickets for all three shows in Vienna. I begged him to talk to them and give them one, or better two, of these tickets. A month before the first concert in Vienna, when I had almost given up hope of getting a ticket, he suddenly stood in the door with a ticket in his hand. It was mein Taylor Swift ticket for August 8, 2024. I immediately burst into tears; that was the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.
Taylor Swift during her “The Eras Tour” at the Olympic Stadium in MunichThomas Niedermueller/TAS24/Getty Images
“Have you seen it yet?”: This is how fans found out that the Taylor Swift concerts were cancelled
Since there was only a little time left before the concert and I wanted to put together the perfect “The Eras Tour” outfit, I started looking: I browsed through all Taylor Swift albums, my Pinterest and the shops in Vienna. In keeping with my favorite era, I finally decided on a dark “Reputation” outfit: a black and white striped, short-sleeved shirt that looked like it had been sprayed with a spray can, combined with wide black Bermuda shorts. As an accessory, I chose a black tie that I wanted to tie loosely around the collar in a bow. When, while doing my errands, I happened to run into an acquaintance who also had a ticket for the Taylor Swift concert on August 8th, my anticipation grew even more. Although I had no concerns about going to the concert alone (I would have simply equipped myself with enough friendship bracelets), it was somehow nicer to be there with someone else. We started to discuss our makeup and exchange ideas about possible hairstyles. We were more than ready!
The day before the concert, when I was already mentally in the Ernst Happel Stadium, where the concert was supposed to take place, a post from the official Taylor Swift fan account was forwarded to me. “Have you seen it yet?” At first I didn’t know what they were talking about. When I read the news that the concerts were cancelled, I couldn’t believe it at first. I immediately started to search through all the official websites and sources, of course also Taylor Swifts Instagram-AccountI just didn’t want to believe it. A short time later I received an email from the ticket sales department, which officially confirmed: The Taylor Swift concert in Vienna was cancelled due to the risk of an attack on the stadium. I had to cry again because of Taylor Swift, but this time not out of joy.
I think at that moment I briefly lost faith in humanity.
Daniel Yagudin
Of course I am glad that nothing happened to us, that all Swifties are safe and that Taylor Swift and her team are fine. We could all have died. The thought that haunted me all evening and the next morning was: “How can someone do something like that?” It is frightening that young men are planning an attack on a stadium, that their intention was to kill as many people as possible in front of the stadium with knives and homemade explosives. A stadium in and in front of which the most harmless people in the world wanted to come together to simply dance, sing and have fun. All these people (mainly FLINTA* and members of the queer community) wanted was a safe space. When I then came across hate comments like “It’s a shame the attack didn’t work,” I had to sit back for a moment. I think I briefly lost my faith in humanity at that moment.
Swifties met to dance and sing on Stephansplatz – the center of Vienna’s city center
But I also saw a lot of videos of sad Swifties in Vienna, some of whom had traveled long distances to attend the concerts. The situation there was labeled “loml” (loss of my life) – a song from Swift’s last album “The Tortured Poets Department”. I also wanted to go out and make my own personal statement. I put on my planned concert outfit and met up with the friend I had actually planned to go there with – luckily he too had found the merch stand the day before the concerts were canceled and bought himself a T-shirt. So it was pretty obvious that we were Swifties.
My heart is broken and melted at the same time.
Daniel Yagudin
I have never experienced anything like this in all my seven years in Vienna. My heart broke and melted at the same time. Stephansplatz was overflowing with Taylor Swift fans, even children with their parents were there. Everyone wore friendship bracelets and exchanged them. We danced, sang Taylor Swift songs, hugged each other, and I really made a lot of new acquaintances. I even had a marriage proposal during the song “Lovestory” live Two women I met had flown from Canada to Vienna especially for the event, as tickets for concerts in Canada cost up to 6,000 US dollars – so it’s worth crossing the ocean. I exchanged bracelets with them too.
