VIENNA — Pricey tickets for three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. Hundreds of euros, if not more, dropped on flights and hotels in one of Europe’s most expensive capital cities. Tens of thousands of Swifties, bedecked in homemade friendship bracelets, devastated by the cancellations of three sold-out Eras Tour shows in Austria after authorities foiled an apparent attack plot.
Austrian security officials said two young men wanted to commit an attack outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or self-made explosives.
Concert organizers said they stood behind their decision, saying they expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside, where authorities said the suspects planned to strike.
The venue sat empty Thursday morning aside from media filming outside. Swift and her team have not spoken publicly about the plot or canceled shows. Her Instagram page re-posted the announcement from concert organizer Barracuda Music in a “story,” which is only visible for 24 hours.
Both suspects appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, authorities said, and investigators found evidence of the militant groups’ propaganda and other material at their homes. Officials did not release additional details but it did not appear that the duo was in contact or coordinating with the militant groups.
The main suspect, aged 19, had also posted an oath of allegiance online to the current leader of the Islamic State group, authorities said. The suspects’ names were not released in line with Austrian privacy rules.
The news rattled the superstar’s fans, many of whom took to social media to express their devastation at missing out on one of the shows. Some who posted on the social platform X lamented months of now-wasted efforts to pick out fashionable outfits for the performance and make friendship bracelets. The beaded bracelets, typically bearing Swift’s song titles or popular phrases, are usually swapped at concerts with strangers.
Other fans begged online for tickets to Swift ‘s next shows. She is expected to perform at London’s Wembley stadium in five concerts between Aug. 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.
Some North American fans have traveled abroad in “tour tourism ” — a pattern that emerged during Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour — after noticing that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe made seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly — and potentially cheaper — than catching her closer to home.
Andrew Strauss, 34, and his mother, Alison Strauss, 62, heard about the plot Wednesday while they were having a glass of wine at the airport bar in New Jersey when his phone “started blowing up.’’
“I was like, ‘wait, why are all these people texting me broken heart emojis?’’’ he told The Associated Press from Vienna on Thursday. “And then I went on Twitter and I looked at my mom and I was like, ‘I think the concert is canceled.’”
The pair were on a direct flight to Austria and “you could see it, like, ripple through people finding out,” he said.
The Swift concert was the start of a European vacation with other family members so they decided to go ahead with their plans anyway. Still, they knew of another fan who got off her plane at a New York airport instead.
“I’m actually heartbroken,’’ Alison Strauss said. “I actually want to write to her and tell her: ‘This was a great mother-son event. Can you get me tickets in the U.S. for one of the concerts?’”
The pair said they still support Swift and believe the concert organizers did the right thing by canceling the events.
“It’s not in her nature to put anybody in danger,″ Alison Strauss said. “And to play three sold-out concerts is probably way too much to risk.”
Europe is also enamored of the American superstar. The German town of Gelsenkirchen even renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” before its mid-July concerts.
Norwegian fan Marie Hov Aanæs told Norwegian broadcaster NRK about the letdown.
“I am very disappointed, to be honest, but I understand that safety is the most important thing,” she said.
Still, she said “we must ‘Shake It Off,’” to quote Swift’s 2014 hit.
“Actually, we are just very grateful that security was tightened enough for them to unravel this,” Aanæs told NRK.
___
Dazio reported from Berlin and Kirka reported from London. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
