Taylor Swift fans have hit out at Ticketmaster and AXS as they faced an unprecedented frenzy to get tickets to see the singer in the UK.
The star's Eras Tour kicked off in March and is now set to run until August 2024, with a total of 131 concerts across five continents celebrating all of Taylor's studio albums including her most recent Midnights. The shows were met with unprecedented demand for ticket sales - leading Taylor to announce 14 new tour dates last week, including three more shows in the UK.
However, overwhelming demand for tickets to the tour meant that only a limited number of Taylor Swift fans were able to get access to ticket sales for next year's UK shows, which will take place in London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh. A length email was sent out to fans last Wednesday informing them of changes that had been made to ticket sale operations, along with a string of complicated instructions for those lucky enough to gain access to the sale.
The first presale for two of Taylor's UK shows opened at 11am today, Monday July 10, via ticket providers Ticketmaster and AXS, with thousands of fans scrambling to get a spot at either the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh or London's Wembley Stadium. And the massive demand for tickets inevitably led to disappointment and frustration among fans.
Screenshots posted on social media showed fans placed in huge virtual queues on Ticketmaster, with some people experiencing technical issues as tens of thousands tried to get into the site. "Losing my mind at the state of Ticketmaster," one person wrote on Twitter alongside a clip that appeared to show their web page continually going blank as they waited in the queue.
Someone else seemed to be experiencing similar issues, sharing a video of their screen that showed them continually redirected back to the previous page when attempting to join the virtual waiting room. "Off to a raging start there Ticketmaster," the unlucky fan remarked.
Another fan complained: "I got straight through, was selecting my tickets and then it threw me out, wouldn't let me back in the queue and now there's 37,976 people in front of me."
"What the hell Ticketmaster?" someone else fumed on Twitter. "Taylor Swift presale is a mess, can't even access the queue. Have been trying for 30 mins and just getting an error."
Meanwhile, fans who were given the option to get tickets via AXS were thrown by the fact that unlike Ticketmaster, the provider didn't show them what number they were in the queue. "I can feel my hair going grey from waiting in the AXS queue I'm so stressed," one person lamented.
Several people also complained that they received an error message when attempting to get tickets on the AXS site. "I'm sobbing, I wasn't able to get in to AXS, kept getting an error message," a gutted fan said on Twitter.
And someone else raged: "Pressed submit on my bank details and it kicked me out. Thanks AXS."
But despite the chaos, some lucky fans were delighted after managing to get their hands on tickets. "I GOT TAYLOR TICKETS I'M GONNA THROW UP," one person screamed on Twitter.
For Taylor Swift fans who are yet to get tickets, there's not long to relax - the next presale kicks off at 1pm today (Monday) for the next two shows at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Arena and Wembley Stadium. Further presales are set to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with tickets available for 13 UK shows in total. You can visit Ticketmaster here and AXS here.
