An Irish Taylor Swift fan who travelled to Vienna with her boyfriend to see the star on her Eras Tour has admitted her devastation over the cancelled gigs.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of planning a large-scale attack at events in the area around the Austrian capital near the Ernst Happel Stadium where Taylor's shows were due to take place. Hopeful Swifties were geared up to see Taylor perform on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the shows were axed over terror fears after police uncovered an ISIS plot.
Chemicals and materials were discovered inside a house by police, though it's yet to be determined if these could be turned into a bomb. Kronen Zeitung, an Austrian newspaper, reports that the 19-year-old suspect, who is alleged to have been planning to construct explosives, stole chemicals from his place of employment.
The young man, identified as an Austrian citizen, is accused of having pledged loyalty to the Islamic terrorist organization ISIS last July. It has also been claimed that a second individual was radicalized online.Authorities say both individuals had intricate plans for carrying out a terrorist act. Jess Spence detailed how she and her partner's plans to attend the gig were something they "were looking forward to for a year" and that hearing the cancellation occurred "for the worst reason is gutting".
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Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment she explained: "I'm actually gutted. My boyfriend and I travelled over yesterday morning and this has been something we were looking forward to for a year now. Our flight was full of fans, and the person who checked us into the hotel joked that everyone staying there was Swifties.
"It was like in Ireland where you could feel a buzz about the place from the excitement building, and now to find out so close to the gigs happening that it’s been cancelled for the worst reason is gutting." Jess admitted that she had not left the hotel since news of the cancellations had broken and that there was a "very sombre" atmosphere at breakfast on Thursday morning.
Jess also admitted that she only found out about the axed gigs when she shared an Instagram post "joking about a terrible restaurant experience," in Vienna and that when a friend responded saying "I’m so sorry," at first she thought it was about the restaurant post and told her "Oh it’s fine, it was funny," but her friend then clarified sharing with her that the gigs had been cancelled.
Jess works as a radio presenter on Dublin's SPIN 1038 and has previously been to see Taylor on her Speak Now and Reputation tours. She detailed her disappointment further as she explained how "all my Swiftie friends were texting me about it," and that she has "seen them all go to Paris, London, Warsaw to see her," adding that "they knew themselves how much it means to go to see her."
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Jess did already attend Taylor's show in Dublin , however that experience was marred by bad weather as she explained how they got "soaked in Dublin (my tan even ran onto my t-shirt)" and were "looking forward to going all out, getting dressed up and taking a few nice pics at this one." She also admitted that she had "bought a dress specifically for it and everything," adding that "honestly, I was so overwhelmed by the first gig that I felt like I didn’t fully take it in and almost like I blacked out in parts, so I was really just hoping this time I would be able to take it all in!"
Jess now intends to try and make the most of her time in Vienna despite not getting to see Taylor so that the money she spent " isn’t a complete waste." Taylor was expected to play for over 195,000 fans over the weekend and is yet to comment on the cancellations.
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