In August 2024, a terrorism plot assisted by the Islamic State, a jihadistmilitant group, targeting a concert of the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, the capital city of Austria, was uncovered and neutralised. Three males, aged 17, 18 and 19, were arrested for involvement in the plot that was intended to mass murder concert attendees as well as onlookers in the stadium vicinity.
Three concerts of the Eras Tour, Swift's sixth concert tour, were scheduled to take place from 8–10 August 2024 at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion—the penultimate stop of the tour's European leg, in what would have been Swift's first-ever concerts in Austria. The tickets went on sale in July 2023 and all three dates sold out within the first few hours, marking the fastest and largest ticket-sale in Austrian history; over 200,000 people had been expected to attend the shows in the stadium premises. The police detained a suspect of terrorism a day before the first show, stating that the concerts can proceed as planned with additional security measures in place. However, following the arrest of a second suspect and a confirmation by the Government of Austria of the extensive terrorist plan to attack the tour and Vienna at-large, Swift's event partner Barracuda Music cancelled the concerts indefinitely—a decision welcomed by Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer.
The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift embarked on her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, which commenced on 17 March 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, United States,[6] and concluded on 8 December 2024, in Vancouver, Canada,[7] with over 100 shows across five continents. The Eras Tour quickly became the world's highest-grossing tour of all time within its first 60 shows, becoming the first tour ever to surpass $1billion in revenue.[8] The tour has had a documented cultural and economic impact worldwide, which has been the subject of widespread media coverage and analysis.[9][10]
Swift announced the European leg of the tour on 20 June 2023, including one concert at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, in what would have been Swift's first-ever show in the country.[11] Following popular demand, eight more shows were added to the leg, which saw Vienna receive a second show.[12] Further demand expanded the European leg once again, with 14 additional shows in continental Europe, including a third consecutive show in Vienna.[13]
The Ernst-Happel-Stadion, the venue of Swift's Eras Tour concerts in Vienna which the perpetrators had planned to attack.
All 170,000 tickets for the three Vienna shows sold out within the first few hours of sale, marking the largest and fastest ticket sale ever in the history of Austria.[14] Vienna experienced a significant impact on its rental market, with booking rates for the nights of the concerts recorded in February 2024, 44 percent higher than at the same point the previous year. By the end of March 2024, the number of nights booked in the city for the length of the tour's stay in the second week of August had risen by 430 percent compared with the same period in 2023.[15]
Arrests
On 7 August 2024, mainstream media reported that the Austrian federal police took a 19-year-old male, a dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia, into custody for allegedly plotting a terror attack on Swift's concerts in Vienna.[16][17] His name has been identified as Beran A. (Aliji, Aliyi), according to The Guardian,[18] even though no names were officially released in line with Austrian privacy rules.[19] He was previously known to the authorities as a suspect of terrorism and was arrested following a large police operation in Ternitz, Lower Austria, where his house is located, with over 100 nearby residents evacuated temporarily. The operation crew had told the civilians that there was a gas leak. Austrian public security director-general Franz Ruf stated that a bomb squad found chemical substances and technical devices at the residence, which were sent for forensic examination. However, Ruf assured that the shows would take place as scheduled, with additional security measures in place to deter remaining threats, as over 65,000 fans are expected to attend each day and 20,000 more outside the venue.[16][20] The suspect's parents had been away at the time of the raid.[20]
A second suspect, a 17-year-old male Austrian citizen of Turkish and Croatian descent,[21] who was in contact with the 19-year-old,[22] was arrested on 7 August as well, later in the afternoon.[16]EKO Cobra, the federal tactical unit of Austria, assisted with the arrests of the suspects.[23] Police stated that the suspects were radicalized on the Internet and had pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), a jihadistmilitantIslamist group, in July 2024. Vienna was a target of their planned attack, with "a particular focus" on Swift's concerts.[16][24] The second suspect was hired by a facility company providing security services at the stadium during Swift's concerts.[21]
A 15-year-old Turkish citizen, who had been asked by the main suspect about ignition mechanisms and was found near the stadium, was placed under police custody for intensive questioning,[25][26] but not arrested;[19] he has since been released from custody but will be treated as a witness,[27][28] while the first two suspects have been transferred to a prison in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, held in a pre-trial detention with a state prosecutor appointed for each of them.[18][28] Police stated that the 15-year-old was not part of the plot but that he knew many of its details, helping corroborate "some key elements of the main suspect's confession."[27]
Despite officials saying that they were not looking for any more suspects,[18]Gerhard Karner, the minister of the interior of Austria, stated on 9 August that an 18-year-old Iraqi male has been detained as the third suspect in the terror plot.[29][18] According to the Kronen Zeitung, the third suspect has been living in Austria as a refugee.[30] Karner also announced that he had initiated the process of revoking the 18-year-old's residence permit under a special provision "designed to deal with dangerous refugees or immigrants" as he had also pledged himself to the IS.[27]
Investigation
The articles discovered at the 19-year-old, first suspect's residence were subsequently revealed to be precursors for explosives,[16]blank ammunition,[30]timers, machetes, steroids, and €21,000 in counterfeit cash,[31] as well as al-Qaeda-related items and propaganda[21] that indicated "concrete preparatory acts" in the "advanced stages".[18] The police also stated that he "had successfully fabricated bombs using instructions found online".[31] Upon further enquiry, it was determined that the first suspect "had planned to execute a deadly suicide attack during the concert", aiming to kill a large number of people.[21] He had also "drastically changed" his physical appearance since July.[25] One of the suspect's neighbors told Puls 4 that he mostly "kept to himself" and had grown a "Taliban" beard recently.[30] Christian Samwald, mayor of Ternitz, said "there had been shock and dismay in Ternitz about the news because there had been no prior indication that the youth harbored any radical inclinations."[20]
According to United States officials, US Intelligence had uncovered the threat to Swift's concerts in Vienna when the 19-year-old uploaded an "oath of allegiance" to the Islamic State on the messaging app Telegram in early July, whilst participating in IS-K Telegram groups.[16][24] US Intelligence then passed the information to the Europol and the Austrian police, cautioning of the suspects' plans for a terrorist attack.[16] Austrian authorities then planned the police operation in Ternitz.[24] US investigators stated that the plot was only assisted but not directly operated by the IS,[16] and that the Austrian law enforcement is looking for an additional person or people who may have some knowledge of the plans.[23] The police later stated that "the pair had aspirational plans for attacking Vienna's major events sites and specifically had homed in on this coming weekend's Swift concerts",[23] and planned to use explosives and knives to carry it out.[21] The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that it has received a request from Austrian investigators to look into the 19-year-old's background.[32]
On 8 August, it was reported that the 19-year-old, who is regarded as the "main suspect", fully confessed to attack plans during a police interrogation, according to Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria's Directorate of State Security and Intelligence. Most of the plans and preparations were made at the main suspect's home.[25] Haijawi-Pirchner stated that the 19-year-old had resigned his job at a steelworks factory, also in Ternitz, telling colleagues he "still had big plans" and that he confessed he had sought to kill "as many people as possible" by driving a car into the crowds before using knives, machetes and the homemade explosive devices.[18]Kurier reported that he had stolen chemicals from the factory in order to build the bombs.[30] His accomplice, the 17-year-old, had also broken up with his girlfriend the preceding week, which investigators believe was done in preparation for the attack.[31] As per an Austria Press Agency report on 11 August, the 19-year-old then denied involvement in the plot and claimed he is not a supporter of the IS; his lawyer argued that her client simply wanted to be "cool", wanted to use explosives "out in a forest but never intended to kill people" and "ordered [knives and other weapons] on Amazon because he liked them."[33]
As of 10 August, the investigation continues to scrutinise the "networks" of the suspects. The Ministry of the Interior claimed in a statement that investigators have turned to "evaluating physical and electronic evidence",[34] and will interrogate more individuals and search additional locations.[35] On 11 August, Karl Nehammer, the chancellor of Austria since 2021, claimed that "more ISIS supporters" have been identified.[36]
On 28 August 2024, David S. Cohen stated at the Intelligence Summit, Washington D.C., that the information used by Austrian police on 7 August to disrupt the plot was provided to them by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): "They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans [...] The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do." Cohen did not disclose how the CIA obtained the information about the planned attack.[37]
Impact, reaction, and aftermath
Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer considered the plot a tragedy averted as the perpetrators wanted to leave a "trail of blood" in Vienna. He claimed that "the threat of Islamic terrorism in Europe is on the rise."
Following the arrest of the second suspect, the event organiser of Swift's concerts in Vienna, Barracuda Music, announced that all three shows would be cancelled with tickets refunded, after receiving confirmation from the government of Austria of the elaborate terrorist plan.[40] The organiser stated, "We have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety", with all tickets "automatically refunded" within the next 10 days.[24] In a subsequent press conference, Barracuda pointed out that Swift's management had played a significant part in the decision, and that a key moment was when they were informed that the 17-year-old suspect would have worked on site in the stadium before and during the concerts.[41] It marked the first time Swift had cancelled a concert since 2014, when her Bangkok show was called off due to the military coup in Thailand.[42]
Nehammer, the head of government of Austria, released a statement: "The cancelation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria. The situation surrounding the apparently planned terrorist attack in Vienna was very serious. Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was recognized early, combated and a tragedy prevented. Many thanks to the emergency services who are currently investigating at full speed."[43] He also praised Swift and her team for acting "responsibly" in agreeing to cancel the concerts,[44] and defended the decision by highlighting that "the arrests had taken place too close to the scheduled concerts to allow them to go ahead."[18] In a different briefing, Nehammer asserted that "the attack was foiled with the help of international intelligence as Austrian law does not allow censorship of messenger applications."[26]
Close relatives of the main suspect's family in Gostivar, North Macedonia, opined "it looks someone has manipulated him because we are not such a family".[20]
The national security spokesperson of the White House, John Kirby, spoke to reporters on 10 August regarding the role of the US in providing intelligence to Austria: "The United States has an enduring focus on our counterterrorism mission. We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats. And so as part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift’s concerts there in Vienna."[45]Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the US ambassador to Austria, expressed sympathy with Swifties in a post on Twitter.[46]
Bence Rétvári, parliamentary state secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, blamed pro-migration politicians and opined that incidents such as this plot and the Southport stabbing constitute a "dire warning" for Europe. He added that migration has compromised safety and security in the continent, and demanded action from the European Commission.[47] Some American journalists opined that the US requires a more robust counter-terrorism policy and considered the plot and other contemporaneous attacks a direct result of president Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and other sensitive areas.[48][49]
On 22 August, Swift addressed the plot for the first time publicly. She lamented the cancelled shows, asserting it is better to mourn shows than lost lives, and thanked authorities for their efforts in thwarting the attack. She also clarified that she had not commented earlier to ensure her fans' safety.[50]
Fans
Fans gathered for the cancelled shows exchanging friendship bracelets in Vienna streets
Media reported that the news of cancelled Vienna shows "devastated" Swift's fans, as many of them "had spent thousands of euros on travel and lodging in the expensive capital city—often travelling from different countries in order to watch Swift perform live." Videos shared on social media showed some fans learning the cancellation partway through their travel while others were already lodged in Vienna.[51]
On 8 August, thousands of Swift's fans who had travelled to Vienna for the concerts gathered in public squares to sing and celebrate Swift's music as an alternative to the cancelled shows. They organised spontaneous sing-alongs on the streets of Vienna, and were seen exchanging "tears, hugs and friendship bracelets as they formed gatherings across the city."[52][53] Some fans congregated in churches of Vienna as well.[54] The Lutheran City Church of Vienna offered fans a "place to stay and listen to Swift’s music".[55] Hundreds of fans gathered on Corneliusgasse, a street 5 kilometres from the Ernst-Happel-Stadion whose name resembles "Cornelia Street", a song from Swift's 2019 album Lover.[56]
With permission from Swift and Disney+, Austrian public broadcaster ORF aired the tour's concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, on its flagship channel ORF 1 at 21:45 CET on 10 August, for free.[57] Disney+ also offered a free 7-day trial subscription "for anyone who missed the broadcast in Austria and Germany" until 12 August.[39]
Security
Swift concluded the European leg of the Eras Tour with five shows in London between 15 and 20 August 2024. MayorSadiq Khan said London would "carry on" with hosting Swift's forthcoming concerts at the Wembley Stadium, as the city has "a huge amount of experience in policing these events, we’re never complacent, many lessons were learned after the awful Manchester Arena attack." The Metropolitan Police stated, "there is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review."[58][59] The UK Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, Diana Johnson, spoke to LBC, promising that the Scotland Yard will look at "all the intelligence" ahead of Swift's London concerts.[59][60]
It was reported that Swift was in a "lockdown" ahead of her London shows, having been given strict "presidential level" security to safeguard herself, her dancers and her touring crew.[61] The administration of Wembley Stadium, in collaboration with the police, a safety advisory group and other relevant authorities, imposed stricter safety protocols than the usual.[62] It banned gathering outside the stadium, including tailgating, "to support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium.[63]Toronto, Canada, is the penultimate stop of the Eras Tour. Olivia Chow, the mayor of Toronto, promised that "comprehensive security will be in place" for the duration of Swift's concerts.[64]
Nehammer, in an interview for Bild, opined that it has become mandatory for Austrian agencies to undergo technical upgrades "so they're on an equal footing with terrorists, with organised crime, so we can combat them," and in order to do that, "it's vital that messenger services like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram can be decrypted for security authorities, under judicial oversight, while upholding the rule of law". At the time, Bild noted Nehammer was seeking re-election in the 2024 Austrian legislative election.[36]
Organisers of the Sziget Festival, Hungary's largest music festival, increased security readiness for the 2024 edition of the event as a precautionary measure. The festival, which took place from 7 to 12 August 2024 on the Óbuda island in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was reported to have been monitored by thousands of security staff—including Hungarian police officers and counter-terrorism experts—as well as up to 50 security cameras.[65]
Economy
Ticket prices for the Eras Tour's London shows skyrocketed by nearly 2,000 percent as fans rushed to "secure seats for the highly-anticipated concerts" on secondary platforms like Viagogo, Vivid Seats, StubHub, and Gigsberg.[66]CBS 58 reported that the cancelled Eras Tour stops in Vienna resulted in a significant economic loss for the city. Austrian Airlines, the country's leading airline, said it had received numerous enquiries about refunds from disappointed Swifties who booked flights to Vienna for the now-cancelled concerts and that an exception was being applied to its usual refund policy.[67]
Multiple businesses in Vienna, including eateries, pubs and beaches, provided respite, offers and deals to Swifties to "make up" for the cancelled concerts. Vienna's museums, such as the Albertina, Mozart's house, the House of Music, KunstHausWien, the Jewish Museum, and the Museum of Applied Arts, waived admission fees and gave free passes to ticket-holding Swifties.[68] Several Swifties were invited to the Swarovski Kristallwelten, where they each received a free necklace from the brand with a variety of crystal charms, after showing their cancelled tickets.[69]
A concert tour is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist.
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, known as Praterstadion until 1992, sometimes also called Wiener-Stadion, is a football stadium in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. With 50,865 seats, it is the largest stadium in Austria. It was built between 1929 and 1931 for the second Workers' Olympiad to the design of German architect Otto Ernst Schweizer. The stadium was renamed in honour of Austrian footballer Ernst Happel following his death in 1992. The stadium hosted seven games in UEFA Euro 2008, including the final which saw Spain triumph over Germany.
EKO Cobra is the tier one police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is directly under the control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her biographical songwriting, artistic reinventions, and cultural impact, Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of widespread media coverage.
The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British Metropolitan Police during an extensive surveillance operation. As a result of the plot, unprecedented security measures were initially implemented at airports. The measures were gradually relaxed during the following weeks, but passengers are still not allowed to carry liquid containers larger than 100 ml onto commercial aircraft in their hand luggage in the UK and most other countries, as of 2024.
In late December 2015, authorities in several countries announced the discovery of attack plots, organized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), targeting New Year's celebrations. Police in North America and Europe were on high alert in December 2015 because of a series of terrorist attacks and attack plots, including the November 2015 Paris attacks, and because of information picked up by security agencies indicating that militants might plan to attack public New Year's Eve celebrations.
Four suspects were arrested without charge by Australian Federal Police on 29 July 2017 in Sydney on suspicion of an Islamic State inspired plot to plant a bomb on an Etihad Airways flight departing Sydney on 15 July 2017.
Karl Nehammer is an Austrian politician who has been the 29th chancellor of Austria since 2021. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 2021, general secretary of the ÖVP from 2018 to 2020, as well as a member of the National Council from 2017 to 2020. Nehammer assumed the chancellorship as the successor of Alexander Schallenberg, who resigned to return as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
City of Lover was a one-off concert by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift held at the Olympia in Paris, France, on September 9, 2019. It happened slightly over two weeks after the release of Swift's seventh studio album, Lover (2019). The concert was reserved for fans who had won tickets through online contests or album purchases. The set list consisted of 16 songs, with eight from Lover and eight from Swift's other albums. City of Lover ran for one hour, and was the only concert that Swift held to promote Lover, after the planned sixth concert tour Lover Fest was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 15, 2020, a television special titled Taylor Swift: City of Lover, filmed at the concert, was broadcast on ABC in the United States. Compared to the original concert, the TV special only included the eight Lover tracks and ran for 42 minutes, including commercials.
Swifties are the fandom of the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Regarded by journalists as one of the largest, most devoted, and influential fan bases, Swifties are known for their high levels of participation, creativity, community, and cultural impact on the music industry and popular culture. They are a subject of widespread coverage in the mainstream media.
Marjorie Moehlenkamp Finlay was an American opera singer and television personality. A coloratura soprano, Finlay performed concert and opera singing. After winning a talent contest in 1950, she toured on the ABC radio network show Music With the Girls. Finlay later had her own television program and served as an MC for El Show Pan-Americano in Puerto Rico. She toured South America and released an album in Mexico. She is the maternal grandmother of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who dedicated her songs "Marjorie" and "Timeless" to her.
The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 shows across five continents, the Eras Tour was widely documented in the press and academic discussions for its impact on cultural and socioeconomic aspects. It became the highest-grossing tour of all time, the second-most attended and the first to earn over $1 billion in revenue.
The American ticket sales platform Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment were met with widespread public criticism and political scrutiny over blunders in selling tickets to the 2023 United States leg of the Eras Tour, the sixth concert tour by Taylor Swift, in November 2022. Media outlets described the demand for the Eras Tour's tickets as "astronomical", with 3.5 million people registering for the Ticketmaster's Verified Fan pre-sale program in the U.S.
John Mac Lane Coronel, better known by their stage name Taylor Sheesh, is a Filipino drag queen known for impersonating American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Having opened for RuPaul's Drag Race contestants in the Philippines, Sheesh has been professionally impersonating Swift since 2017.
Publications have analyzed the cultural, economic and sociopolitical influence of the Eras Tour, the 2023–2024 concert tour by the American musician Taylor Swift and the highest-grossing tour of all time. Driven by a fan frenzy called Swiftmania, the tour's impact is considered an outcome of Swift's wider influence on the 21st-century popular culture. Concert industry publication Pollstar called the tour "The Greatest Show on Earth".
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is a 2023 American concert film produced by the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and directed by Sam Wrench. It documents the Los Angeles shows of the Eras Tour (2023–2024), Swift's sixth headlining concert tour and the highest-grossing tour of all time. Swift struck an unprecedented distribution agreement with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres for the film after negotiations with the major film studios fell through.
Events in the year 2024 in Austria.
On 17 November 2023, Brazilian student Ana Clara Benevides Machado died from a cardiac arrest at a concert of the Eras Tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, Rio de Janeiro, amidst a heat wave and a venue ban on personal water bottles. A criminal investigation was opened to determine an official cause of death and a consumer inquiry was launched on the event organizer T4F, a Brazilian entertainment company. Forensic analysis attributed cardiac arrest to heat exhaustion.
↑ Boston, William; Pancevski, Bojan; Bender, Ruth (3 November 2020). "Vienna Shooting: Attacker Was ISIS Sympathizer; at Least Three Dead". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. At least one gunman killed four people and seriously injured several others before being shot dead by police in an attack in the Austrian capital, Vienna, that officials called Islamist terrorism.
↑ red, burgenland ORF at (10 August 2024). "Nach Konzertabsage: "Eras Tour" auf ORF1". burgenland.ORF.at - Burgenland Magazin (in German). Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
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