For many it's a Love Story, however thousands miss out as Taylor tickets go swiftly
Taylor Swift performs onstage during The Eras Tour at Paycor Stadium on June 30, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Picture: Taylor Hill/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
As the clock ticked down, the tension and nerves only grew.
It was a moment that was anticipated for months, with thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people glued to the screen, waiting for the historic moment at 11am — ready to see history unfold.
Then the moment came and with it an explosion of noise, as people frantically crossed their fingers, toes, knees, and nose in order to try and get tickets to any of Taylor Swift’s three Irish dates next year.
With my family in another room watching some football somethingorother, I took my place with the laptop ready to go half an hour before.
I hadn’t even been selected as a Chosen One after registering, but my girlfriend had and that was enough to have the pair of us sweating on a fairly brisk morning.
Trying to secure tickets when put up against the rest of the Swiftie army was always going to be tough and we were wary of previous times when we desperately watched Ticketmaster crash due to the sheer demand placed upon their servers by a famous name.
There were initial teething problems, as fans were left frustrated by being unable to access the ‘waiting room’. I was fortunate enough to get in with 25 minutes left until the presale.
And even still, there were 62,410 people ahead of me once 11am hit as Friday’s tickets went on sale.
Unsurprisingly, 10 minutes later a message popped up saying that ticket availability was “extremely limited” for general admission standing tickets. Half an hour in, the same message applied to all tickets bar VIP package — the cheapest of which was €371 a pop.
With 44,719 people still ahead of me at 11.45am, I opted out.
The first chance had come and gone. I would get two more, the next coming at lunchtime.
I found the email link, double-checked on the right code in said email, and stocked up on snacks for the half-hour wait to even get into the queue.
As the final whistle went in Sydney, Irish fans were left disappointed.
Meanwhile, 17,000 kilometres away in Meath, I was also heartbroken as 64,883 people had priority this time.
Naturally, at this point, there were hundreds of tickets being offered on various resale websites, with a seated ticket appearing for €1,100.
Even more were popping up on Twitter in replies to those who were desperately hoping to grab a pair just so they could get to see the American singer perform live.
Not willing to pay @clearlyfake_user92831 and get scammed, I stuck to the guns in the hope that the 60,748 people in the queue ahead of me at 1.15pm would all decide they didn’t actually want a ticket.
Shortly after, Ticketmaster again chimed in with an update: deja vú. General admission tickets were gone, but still plenty of heftily-priced VIP packages.
If I wanted to get down with ‘This Sick Beat’, it would have to be on the Sunday, but when I clicked in at 3pm, it was a situation I knew – 59,406 ahead of me.
However, while everyone was focused on Sunday’s queue, a little birdie had noticed that tickets were popping up for Friday and Saturday’s shows.
I took a shot and jumped out of the Sunday mess to have a look – and sure enough, two seated tickets were there for face value.
It was almost like a .
