Taylor Swift’s world tour “The Eras” became the highest-grossing in history, with its income exceeding $1 billion for the first time in the world. As the tour continued this year, Swift was scheduled for three shows in August at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria. According to rough estimates, about 170,000 fans eagerly awaited seeing and hearing their idol live on stage. However, the Austrian authorities received a warning about a probable terrorist attack, so to avoid a situation like Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester in 2017, all three concerts were canceled.
As part of Swift’s massive tour, three concerts were scheduled in Vienna on August 8, 9 and 10. However, a few days before the show, the event organizer suddenly announced that all shows were canceled. It was due to reports from Austrian law enforcement agencies about a possible terrorist attack at the stadium, and you always take those seriously, especially when hundreds of thousands of people could get hurt.
Later, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, Omar Hajjawi-Pirchner, said that three people had been detained and accused of planning a terrorist attack at the Swift concert. One of them was a 19-year-old man who allegedly had ties with ISIS. Reportedly, “chemicals,” counterfeit money, technical devices, and a blacklight similar to that used by police were found at his house. The second detainee is a 17-year-old teenager of Turkish-Croatian descent who was already on the state security’s radar. Police stated the guy allegedly had specific and detailed plans to attack the concerts. Lastly, a 15-year-old boy was also involved in all this. According to the police, he knew about the terrorist plans.
On August 8, another 18-year-old was taken into custody after it became known that he was allegedly communicating with the main suspect. Hajjawi-Pirchner says police are no longer looking for other suspects, but the investigation may lead to new accomplices.
As of August 10, Swift has not spoken publicly about canceling the concerts in Vienna, but Taylor Nation, an Instagram page believed to be run by her team, reposted the announcement from Barracuda Music. Saying that Swift fans were disappointed by the cancellation of concerts would be to say nothing. Despite the exorbitant ticket prices, Swifties came to Vienna from around the world. Many of her fans expressed their disappointment and frustration on Instagram and Twitter. Still, some gathered on Corneliusgasse, a small street just 5 kilometers from the stadium, singing Swift songs and exchanging “friendship bracelets.” They also said they understood the decision to cancel the concerts and were grateful to the police.