Previously, we reported that Taylor Swift‘s “Eras Tour” in Vienna, Austria had been canceled following the reveal of planned terrorist attack threats in and outside the venue. Following this situation, old safety concerns in live shows have returned, echoing fears of previous attacks in concerts.
I CANT BELIEVE THIS 😭 pic.twitter.com/gW3uJPq5z3
— The Eras Tour (@TSTheErasTour) August 7, 2024
These concerns were addressed by Taylor Swift herself in an interview with Elle in 2019. During her conversation with the magazine, the singer revealed that she was suffering from anxiety about performing live after the 2017 ISIS bombing at an Ariana Grande show in Manchester, England, and the mass shooting at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
While Taylor Swift’s Vienna shows were canceled and authorities thwarted the terrorist attack, Ariana Grande’s show resulted in 22 deaths and over 200 wounded people. Similarly, the Las Vegas shooting left 64 deaths and 413 injured people. She addressed her concerns following these attacks saying:
https://twitter.com/sarahmquinlan/status/1821318223872324056
“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 3 million fans safe over seven months. There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
Despite her voicing her worries in 2019, her previous world tours had not been targets of terrorist attacks. However, this changed on August 7 when authorities arrested two suspects who plotted an attack at her show in Vienna: a 19-year-old male from Austria, who is an Islamic State supporter, and a 17-year-old male from Austria, who was hired to work at the Ernst Happel Stadium, the venue for Taylor Swift’s shows.
The first suspect confessed to planning the attack, using knives and self-made explosives. The Austrian citizen revealed he was going to provoke as many casualties as possible both inside and outside the venue.
So far, Taylor Swift has not addressed this situation but she’s set to perform in London‘s Wembley Stadium for 5 dates later this month. It has been reported that these shows will go as planned, but security will be hugely increased following security concerns and the thwarted terrorist attack in Vienna.
