Getting tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is certainly an achievement. Due to botched Ticketmaster pre-sales and sky-high prices on the secondary market, many fans were unable to experience the pop star’s career-spanning spectacle in person – hence the Epoch tour Concert films — which has led to a trend called “Tay-gating,” in which thousands of ticketless Swifties gather outside venues to listen. At one of Swift’s concerts in Munich in July, an estimated 45,000 fans gathered outside the Olympic Stadium while she performed.
In light of the foiled terrorist attack on her now-cancelled performances in Vienna last week, London’s Wembley Stadium has issued a statement informing fans without tickets that they are not welcome outside the arena during the singer-songwriter’s five-day run this week.
“To ensure the safe entry and exit of everyone in the stadium, no one will be permitted to stand outside any of the entrances or on the Olympic Steps outside the stadium,” the venue wrote in an update to its official Eras Tour event page. “Individuals without tickets will be directed away.” Wembley also added to its Frequently Asked Questions section, reiterating that “individuals without tickets should not travel to Wembley Stadium” and “individuals found outside the stadium will be directed away by security staff.”
The same guidelines were in place when she performed her first London shows earlier this summer, but it looks like the rule will be more strictly enforced as part of a heightened security protocol in light of the events in Vienna. The main suspect, a 19-year-old, confessed to police that he planned to kill “as many people as possible” outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives and/or explosives that authorities found in his possession.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last week: “We will continue to work closely with the police to ensure that the Taylor Swift concerts can go ahead safely in London.” He added that the city had “tremendous experience in policing these events” and “many lessons have been learned after the horrific attack at Manchester Arena,” referring to the suicide bombing after an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 that left 22 people dead.
