It should have been the event of the year. The megastar Taylor Swift plante Wien to honor the audience with her brilliant show three times in a row. The American singer would have entertained around 170,000 people with her musical “Eras” Less than 24 hours before, the shocking news came: the series of events was cancelled due to strong suspicion of terrorism. There are no alternative dates.
Before the official information about the Cancellation via email from oeticket was sent to the fans, the Organizer Barracuda Music on Instagram.
Disbelief and solidarity
This post spread like wildfire and was quickly picked up by the media. Those affected first seemed to enter the phase of denial. Online reactions from fans were cautiously reserved, as disbelief still prevailed at that time. Shortly afterwards, however, a wave of solidarity emerged. FM4 felt the pain of those affected and wrote on Instagram: “To all Swifties: We are so sorry, feel hugged.”
Political representatives reacted promptly and expressed their condolences to the fans online, acknowledging the immense impact this cancellation has had, especially on young women. Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos) and Andreas Babler (SPÖ) sspoke of broken hearts, while the Vienna Vice Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr (Neos) found completely different words and spoke of “madmen” who one should not allow oneself to be intimidated by.
Please no generalization and racism
Also author and influencer Jacqueline Scheiber would have gone to the Swift concert so as not to miss the spectacle. In her Instagram stories, she reacted to what had happened and wrote: “I’m so sorry for everyone who was looking forward to the concerts and counting the days and doing Swiftie things. I also wonder how wild the threat must be that all three concerts will be canceled.” She also hopes that this does not lead to any false conclusions regarding generalization and the expression of racism.
Attackers are “idiots”
The question of whether the cancellation of the “Event of the Decade”, as one user put it, was justified, was hotly debated online. The community and described the alleged attacker as “idiot” and as “amphibians”. Above all, the fact that the arrested suspects were so young seemed to be met with incomprehension online. On Twitter, users vented their anger and sadness. Even the cabaret artist Tereza Hossa At some point the situation seemed too much and after a few angry, ironic messages she simply wrote: “I have to go offline now because this is all 2 sad”. So one can only imagine what the mood was like in various WhatsApp group chats, which of course were not posted publicly.
#ScammedByTaylorSwift
Die Added value through the Swift concerts for the city of Vienna had been estimated at up to one hundred million euros in advance. After all, fans from all over the world made the pilgrimage to the German capital for this event. Transfers, overnight stays and restaurant visits related to the visit to the event cost the participants a lot of money. Shortly after the news became public, fans who had already travelled to the event expressed their opinion about the financial loss, which they suffered as a result of the cancellation. The hashtag #scammedbytaylorswift created, which means I got ripped off by Taylor Swift.
The user @outtaminds spoke in a video about how she, as a fan, was demanding refunds for her flights and hotel stays and called on Swift’s official fan community “Taylor Nation” to form up, as many others would also be affected. However, the plan seemed to backfire, as other users did not take part in the Blaming Swift wanted to get involved personally, but reminded the user in comments that she could have potentially lost her life in an attack.
Stranded tourists network
In addition to the great uncertainty of tourists and agitated emotions, a great deal of solidarity is also emerging. Meetings have been arranged via platforms and chats have been set up to help those who do not know how to deal with the situation, for example with cancellations. As is usual with Swifties, there is a great deal of Solidarity and mutual support.
“My sister is stuck alone in Vienna,” said one comment online. But she had just arranged to meet up with so many other Swifties “who are also stuck.” Another Swiftie wrote: “I’m also alone in Vienna, so I’m actually planning on staying inside. But if anyone wants to meet me, I’d love to go sightseeing.”
“My mom and I are sitting in the room crying,” wrote one fan. “Our hearts are broken, we flew here from California,” wrote another. Another post read: “I came to Vienna alone and now I’m hanging around in the hotel room and I don’t feel like sleeping with dozens of friendship bracelets and no one to trade with.”
Begging for rescheduling of the concerts, no response from Swift
In general, the comments advised against large gatherings in public. The uncertainty is clearly evident in the statements. “Don’t go to the stadium under any circumstances,” was posted repeatedly. Swift was appealed to on the official account to reschedule the concerts.
Taylor Swift has not yet commented publicly on the attempted attacks. The official fan site “Taylor Nation” only posted the official information about the cancellation of the event.
International reactions
The cancelled concerts are also being hotly debated internationally. Users are also talking about the Aggression of Islamism against women, because Taylor Swift’s fans include an above-average number of females. Parallels are also drawn to the violent incident in Southport, Great Britain, in which three girls were killed at a Taylor Swift party.
In brief
- Sadness, shock and anger are spreading online after the cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna.
- Political officials and users are posting on Twitter and Instagram, calling the potential terrorists “idiots” and “madmen.”
- Other fans are demanding money back for costs incurred such as overnight stays and transport.
Vienna: Taylor Swift concerts cancelled
(kurier.at, agencies, jD)
| Updated at 11:34
