“You have been selected to participate in the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour ticket sale.” 13 words – of course – enough to make any Swiftie’s heart skip a beat for a second. My girlfriend and I had six attempts to get at least two of the coveted tickets.
Why six? Because advance sales in the US ended in a major fiasco, the major ticket platforms revised advance sales for Taylor Swift’s tour. Fans had to register in June to be eligible to pre-sell the European tour. Then some Lucky Codes were drawn. With these you could try to buy tickets for the cities you had previously registered for. In our case: Lyon in France, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg and Munich. The procedure sounds absurd. It is.
Tuesday July 11th. My girlfriend and her sister got hold of a code for Lyon – so two tries for us. Everything is ready hours beforehand: the code, my laptop (on the charging cable), my credit card details (already typed), my nerves. When things get serious, you have to act fast. within seconds.
We exchange ideas via Whatsapp. It’s about our budget, the perfect places, the organization of a possible trip to Lyon. Even while we are waiting for the ticket sales to start, the website keeps hanging up. My girlfriend is kicked out of her account several times and has to register again. Then it strikes 1 p.m. – and just in time the information: All servers of the ticket platform in France have collapsed. At the same time, up to 700,000 people are said to have been queuing, as if a city the size of Frankfurt were hunting for Taylor Swift tickets just for this concert. Sales in France will be canceled and postponed for the time being. We get nothing, like all other Swifties.
We encourage each other. Finally, we have trials and codes for the German cities on Wednesday – it’s not over yet.
Taylor Swift is arguably one of the biggest pop stars of our time. Not small in real life at 1.80 meters, but larger than life thanks to her art. With her lyrics she speaks from the heart of a whole generation, each album is its own era – hence “The Eras Tour”. She single-handedly fought with the Spotify streaming platform, won all the important prizes (several times) and set numerous chart records. With the songs from her “Midnights” album 2022, she was the first artist ever to occupy the entire top ten of the US charts alone. Simultaneously.
Videos on social media show how far Swift fans go for their artist. Sing along lines are practiced, expensive merchandise is bought, outfits are tailored to individual albums. Tens of thousands who didn’t get tickets make a pilgrimage in front of the stadiums and meet for “public listening” to at least hear their idol from the outside. Swift was last in Germany in 2015 – the upcoming tour is a real event for Swifties. We don’t want to be onlookers. We want to fit in and yell “Taylor you’ll be fine” at “Anti-Hero.”
Wednesday, July 12, 9 a.m. My girlfriend has a code for Gelsenkirchen, she is in the queue. Again I give the mascot on the other end of the phone line. But we both know: I’m not helping anyone with my up-and-down wagging.
Nothing is happening. At 9:35 a.m. she actually had to go to an appointment. She cancels him. You have to set priorities. Then she reaches the waiting room and can select tickets. A rush of adrenaline races through my veins – and is abruptly cut off. A technical error. She tries again. Vain. For a few minutes it feels like personal failure.
People share joy and sorrow on Twitter: “I REALLY DID IT!!! FRONT OF FUCKING STAGE!!! It was more stressful than any test in my life.” Or: “All those who already have tickets for Gelsenkirchen, can you please leave the tickets for Munich and Hamburg to the others?”
We still have two tries. Ticket sales for Hamburg, the city I have a code for, start at 11 am. The odyssey begins again. This time it’s me, I’m the one in the queue. And: It’s faster than expected. At 11:08 am I am allowed into the sales room and can put tickets in my shopping cart. Before I can pay, the category is sold out. This happens a second and a third time. Am I the problem, am I too slow?
I try one last time with the second worst category – and get through. My hand is shaking. In extreme situations, people only function, they no longer think. Instinct takes control of the mouse. Copy – paste credit card details. I can do that. A minute later I’m the proud owner of Taylor Swift tickets. “You did a masterful job,” my friend writes to me. “I have goosebumps.” For us, a small, wild dream comes true – which I will remember only too well afterwards.
