Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour started almost a year and a half ago, and most of it happened without major incidents. Almost at the end of the European leg, the three dates in Vienna were dramatically canceled due to a terrorist plot and Swift has finally addressed the incident in the most assertive, backlash-ending way.
Looking at the record-breaking The Eras Tour, with 149 dates, it’s almost surreal to realize almost everything went smoothly. Of course, for that to happen, there has to be a huge amount of planning, which certainly paid off. The only issues so far, after 131 shows, were in Brazil due to the massive heatwave, leading to a fan’s death and one delayed show, and the three canceled shows in Vienna.
Swift was almost at the end of the European leg and didn’t release a statement after officially canceling the tours. Naturally, after so much anticipation and excitement to see Swift on tour, fans were left devastated after the cancelation and found solace in one another, gathering together to chant her songs. However, there was also an intense amount of pressure for her to speak out.
It took almost two weeks for Swift to address the incident – not because she didn’t care, but because she wanted to make sure she ended the European tour safely. The crowd bullying her for a response was everywhere on her official channels, which – as she finally broke her silence on the canceled Vienna shows – was something she was very aware of.
Her message started as a tribute to the European leg, featuring pictures from the second set of London shows, that wrapped on Aug. 20. She addressed the changes in the setlist, which included The Tortured Poets Department era, which kicked off in Paris in May, the “passionate crowds,” the “hectic pace,” and how proud she was of her team for pulling it off.
Her statement also explained that the canceled shows left her “devastated,” and that the reason behind her left her “with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.” Swift highlighted that she was “also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.” Swift also noted that she was aware of the fans getting together in this difficult time, and revealed she was “heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together.”
Although she didn’t officially release a statement, the pressure was on her to keep the tour going, and Swift explained that she decided that “all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London.”
Swift has a strong relationship with her fans, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t stand up for what was right, and she heard the backlash loud and clear. “Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows. In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that.”
She also went on to point out that the surprise-filled, record-breaking London shows felt like a “dream sequence” and thanked the stadium staff, her team, and the British authorities for making sure it all went smoothly, noting that it brought her back “to a place of carefree calm.”
The Eras Tour might be a glitter-filled, fun, and carefree experience but Swift is under a lot of pressure to make sure it remains a safe environment for the many thousands of fans that come to see her. Luckily, as Swift herself remarked, we were only grieving concerts, and, at the end of the European leg, she can safely say everything went smoothly. And, who knows, she might find a way to reschedule the Vienna shows eventually.