Three sold-out Taylor Swift Eras Tour concerts in Vienna, Austria, scheduled to begin on Aug. 8, 2024, were canceled when authorities uncovered an alleged terror plot involving two teenagers. According to Austrian officials, the teenagers, aged 19 and 17, planned to use explosives, machetes, and knives to kill concertgoers.
Both of the suspects were arrested and another teenager, 15, was interrogated. At this writing, none of the suspect’s names have been released to the press. The 19-year-old reportedly lived in Ternitz, Austria, near Vienna. The 17-year-old, meanwhile, was also Austrian with Turkish and Croatian roots and was employed by a company providing services at Ernst Happel Stadium where the Eras concerts were set to take place, the AP reported.
The 19-year-old had reportedly pledged an online oath to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and chemicals and other devices were found in his home. The 17-year-old had also been recently radicalized online, police say. According to Austrian police, the 15-year-old was not actively involved in the plot but knew about the attack.
None of the suspects had tickets to the Eras Tour concerts. Authorities say the 19-year-old confessed shortly after he was arrested, and said he intended to kill as many attendees outside the venue as possible, as well as himself. There was no evidence to suggest Swift herself was targeted.
How did Swifties react?
On the advice of Austrian authorities, Barracuda Music, the Austrian Eras Tour concert promoters, announced the concerts were canceled on the Wednesday evening before they would begin, and said tickets would be refunded. Over three days, 200,000 people were expected to be inside or near the venue. “You could see all the anticipation. It was just a shock to the system. But they did their very best to protect us,” Swiftie Ana-Maria Sari, 23, who had tickets to a show, told The New York Times.
Social media reactions ranged from disappointment to outrage. Fans were generally sympathetic to the concert promoter and Taylor Swift’s team’s decision. News of the foiled terror plot came not long after three children were killed, and many more wounded, in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, England, and the planned attack was similar to the 2017 terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England when 22 fans were killed.
All combined, some felt the threats targeted women and girls, specifically. As one woman named Kay wrote on X, “girls & women aren’t safe anywhere, not at a taylor swift dance club in the school holidays, not at concerts, not in nightclubs or restaurants, not at work, not on public transport, not walking home, and not even in their own homes. when will people take femicide seriously.” Another named Iseult added, “Target Arianna Grande. Target Taylor Swift. That means targeting Mum’s taking their daughters to concerts. We see it.”
Were the Wembley concerts canceled?
The day after the Vienna concerts were called off, Variety reported that Taylor Swift’s five scheduled concerts at Wembley Stadium in London set to begin on Aug. 15 would still happen. London authorities confirmed there was no known threat at the London concerts, but security would be heightened, and the situation would be monitored. The day after the Vienna cancelation, Taylor Swift had not commented on the alleged terror plot. Taylor Nation, a social media account widely believed to be run by the pop star’s team, shared the news in an Instagram story. Swift previously said she was “completely in shock,” referring to the Southport knife attacks.
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep three million fans safe over seven months,” Swift told Elle magazine in 2019 of her Lover concert tour, which would be canceled due to COVID, and the 2017 Las Vegas country music concert shooting at which 60 people were killed and hundreds more injured.