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We hope everyone is ending August safely. For some Taylor Swift fans, it certainly didn’t feel like it was starting that way, as the singer’s “Eras Tour” concerts in Vienna, Austria were called off following a thwarted terrorist plot to attack the events. As it turns out, Good for a Weekend host Kressi was in Europe to see one of those shows. In a special edition of the Swift Report, Kressi links back up with MK to report back on her experience traveling abroad for a concert that wouldn’t be.
First, some context: This was Kressi’s first time leaving the United States — and she was making this journey as a birthday treat to herself! New passport in hand, Type-A Google spreadsheet planning all her outfits in place, she learned of the cancellations as her plane was waiting to take off. When she finally arrived and received confirmation that Swift wouldn’t be performing, she was faced with a more immediate concern: her debit card info had recently been stolen, and no Vienna restaurants were willing to accept her American credit cards.
Once she got her bearings (and something to eat!), she was able to take in what was happening around the city. While she thought it was “unsafe” the way Swifties dressed in their best concert outfits gathered en masse in the town square (“I mean, they were still arresting people [involved in the terror plot] — they could have been anywhere”), she did appreciate the feelings of solidarity, especially from Viennese people. “Everyone was so nice,” Kressi says. “All of the shopkeepers were like, ‘Were you here for the concert?’ All of the stores and restaurants were playing Taylor Swift. Everyone was wearing the bracelets, even the waiters and the staff at stores. It was like a big sense of community, and like, ‘We’re going to get through this together.’”
However, she’s torn about Swift’s own reaction to the events. At the end of the day, the Good for a Weekend hosts agree Swift’s eventual statement on the events was well crafted, despite the two weeks of silence immediately following the cancellations. It’s what Swift and her team did prior to releasing that statement that left a bad taste in both the hosts’ mouths.
“I found it quite distasteful for her to release a music video before the statement, says Kressi. “She should have waited a week… I would get an email on my phone, a notification from Taylor Nation. ‘Oh are they going to say something?’ And it’d be like, ‘Guess what? More merch! Guess what? Another version of this song you’ve already heard!’ Like, come on. Can’t you just be like, have a week of silence? Something really scary just happened and it could have been really bad, and you’re pushing merch when you know everyone’s constantly refreshing your feed thinking you’re gonna say something soon. And it’s the same feeling with the music video; it’s like, people are looking thinking you’re gonna say something at any moment and you’re sharing a concert music video — not even a good one. You couldn’t have waited a week?”
MK, of course, has some thoughts on all this as well, so listen to Good for a Weekend report back from Taylor Swift’s canceled Vienna concerts and more as part of this month’s Swift Report above. Support our show by subscribing to and reviewing GFAW wherever you get your podcasts, and join the conversation through Discord, playlists, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter here.
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