VIENNA (AP) — Pricey tickets for three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. Hundreds of euros, if not more, dropped on flights and hotels in one of Europe's most expensive capital cities. Tens of thousands of Swifties, bedecked in homemade friendship bracelets, devastated by the cancellations of three sold-out Eras Tour shows in Austria after authorities foiled an apparent attack plot.
Austrian security officials said two young men wanted to commit an attack outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or self-made explosives. The venue sat empty Thursday morning aside from media filming outside.
Both suspects appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, authorities said, and investigators found evidence of the militant groups' propaganda and other material at their homes. Officials did not release additional details but it did not appear that the duo was in contact or coordinating with the militant groups.
The main suspect, aged 19, had also posted an oath of allegiance online to the current leader of the Islamic State group, authorities said. The suspects' names were not released in line with Austrian privacy rules.
The news rattled the superstar's fans, many of whom took to social media to express their devastation at missing out on one of the shows. Some who posted on the social platform X lamented months of now-wasted efforts to pick out fashionable outfits for the performance and make friendship bracelets. The beaded bracelets, typically bearing Swift's song titles or popular phrases, are usually swapped at concerts with strangers.
Other fans begged online for tickets to Swift 's next shows. She is expected to perform at London's Wembley stadium in five concerts between Aug. 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.
Some North American fans have traveled abroad in "tour tourism " — a pattern that emerged during Beyoncé's Renaissance world tour — after noticing that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe made seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly — and potentially cheaper — than catching her closer to home.
Annmarie Timmins, a journalist who traveled from the United States for Thursday's show, said she and her husband were waiting for the subway after dinner when they heard the news.
"I can't even believe it," she said. "There was a girl with her mom who looked so sad — even more than me. I gave her one of my bracelets. I wanted to hug her."
Europe is also enamored of the American superstar. The German town of Gelsenkirchen even renamed itself "Swiftkirchen" before its mid-July concerts.
For Fredrikke Blekastad, a Swift fan from Norway, it was her second attempt to attend a concert. The first was canceled because of the pandemic.
"We had planned to get up really early, stand in line and get to the very front and see her," Blekastad told Norwegian broadcaster NRK, but "nothing will come of it either."
Other Norwegian fans, Jenny Moltubakk and Marie Hov Aanæs, told NRK about their disappointment.
"At first we were in shock when we saw the message, I didn't really believe it," Moltubakk told the broadcaster. "It's very strange when something you've been looking forward to for a whole year is suddenly canceled."
"I am very disappointed, to be honest, but I understand that safety is the most important thing," she added.
Aanæs said that "we must 'Shake It Off,'" to quote Swift's 2014 hit. "Actually, we are just very grateful that security was tightened enough for them to unravel this," Aanæs told NRK.
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Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.