Maybe the presale got lost in translation, maybe fans asked for too much, but maybe this tour was a masterpiece ‘til Ticketmaster tore it all up.
“Unprecedented demand” were the words that blared on fans screens after sitting in the Verified Fan Presale for hours. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shattered records of ticket sales, but some fans still weren’t able to secure tickets. Students and staff attempted to get tour tickets. Ever since becoming a “Swifitie” in fourth grade, sophomore Nia Gouvis said she was excited to see Swift’s Eras Tour.
“I was really excited about her tour because she hasn’t been in concert since Reputation, and I really wanted to go,” Gouvis said.
The Eras tour will be Swift’s first tour since 2018. Since then, she’s released four new albums and two re-recorded albums with dozens of brand new songs. This tour comes only a few months after her record-shattering Midnights album.
“Midnights is a solid album, but I think Red is one of her best works,” Honors Algebra 2 and IB Computer Science teacher Steven Willmore said. “This tour would’ve been my first time seeing her.”
Junior Ava Mentzer went to a previous concert and was excited for an opportunity to see Swift again.
“I really liked the 1989 tour,” Mentzer said. “It was one of my favorite days ever in the world. When she announced her tour, I knew I had to go again.”
In order to be eligible for the Verified Fan presale, fans who wanted tickets had to wait in long lines on Ticketmaster to register. Once registered, some fans were sent codes the night before presale began, but others weren’t so lucky.
“I [signed up] for presale, and I was one of the only ones who didn’t get an email back,” Gouvis said.
Willmore was able to get around the Verified Fan presale by using his Capital One card. The Capital One presale was scheduled a few hours after the Verified Fan presale. This allowed Willmore to get further in the process than Gouvis.
“I was able to try to [get tickets],” Willmore said. “It froze, so I had to come [to my classroom], and I thought I would try again, and I couldn’t get on.”
Mentzer was one of the fans who were able to get tickets during the presale.
“I’ve been a fan since I was five, and I was so excited that I started crying.”
Mentzer and her friends opened the presale on four different devices in hopes one would load fast enough for tickets. Three never got out of the queue, but the fourth only took five minutes.
“I was able to get a presale code and got tickets for night three in Philadelphia,” Mentzer said. “I got front row floor tickets and spent a little over 1,000 dollars per ticket after fees.”
Although she received tickets, she didn’t think the process was fair.
“There’s a lot of people who didn’t get tickets even when they had presale codes,” Mentzer said. “I feel like people who had to get refunds for her last tour because of COVID-19 probably should have gotten priority. And that didn’t happen.”
Willmore agreed that the process was not fair.
“The resale prices are unbelievable,” Willmore said. “They canceled the general sale, and I think that’s complete bogus. I missed out during the presale, so it would’ve been nice to get in general sale,” Menzter said.
One day after Ticketmaster canceled the general sale, Swift released a statement apologizing to fans who were unable to get tickets.
“She’s an artist of the people,” Willmore said. “She really cares about her fans and wanted them at shows. She was very upset, we’re all upset.”
For the fans who got tickets, one things for sure, they’ll remember it all too well.