Taylor Swift fans congregating en masse to sing along outside open-air venues has become almost as much of a part of the Eras tour as friendship bracelets and surprise acoustic songs.
But amid tightened security after a suspected terror plot at a Swift concert in Vienna, Wembley Stadium has announced it will move any fans who gather outside the London venue this week.
Swift will play five dates at Wembley beginning on Thursday, as she continues her record-breaking, discography-straddling world tour.
Her devoted fans frequently turn up to listen even if they don’t have tickets: footage of emotional Swifties filming themselves outside gigs as their favourite songs play has frequently gone viral on TikTok, and when Swift performed in Munich last month, fans took advantage of a hilly park adjacent to the Olympiastadion venue to gain a vantage point for the concert.
Swift said that around 50,000 extra fans turned up to each of the Munich concerts to listen in from the park, adding: “I’ve been watching so many videos of the crowds out there fully participating in the show from afar, all that joy. I’m feeling really grateful for the unexpected memories this tour has created.”
But in anticipation of fans similarly gathering outside Wembley Stadium, the venue has posted a statement to its website. “To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium,” it reads. “Non ticket holders will be moved on.”
It adds that overnight camping outside the stadium is also prohibited.
Swift’s three Vienna concerts were cancelled last weekend after Austrian authorities arrested two people, and later a third, over an alleged plot to bomb one of the concerts. The suspects are all teenagers, and authorities have said they believe the trio were inspired by Islamic State and al-Qaida.
Police also said that one of the suspects confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue”. Up to 35,000 non-ticketholders had been expected to gather outside.
A spokesperson for London’s Met police has said there was “nothing to indicate” a threat against the Wembley Stadium concerts. They said they would continue to liaise with venue security, and “keep any new information under careful review”.
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Swift’s five-night Wembley run follows three concerts there in June, as Eras revisits the UK to conclude the European tour segment. The June concerts similarly prohibited fans from gathering outside.
Alongside main support act Paramore, Swift has added a quintet of mostly British female singers who will each play one of the five nights: Holly Humberstone, Suki Waterhouse, Maisie Peters and Raye, plus US-born, Australia-based singer-violinist Sofia Isella.
Swift then has a month off, before returning for a final leg in North America, concluding the Eras tour in Vancouver on 8 December.
It is estimated that Eras will make around $2bn (£1.56bn) in revenue by the time it ends – more than twice as much as the previous record-holder, Elton John, whose Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour grossed $939m (£786m).
Source: theguardian.com
