Taylor Swift fans in London say they feel safe because 'there is security everywhere'
LONDON — Amy Willow of Brighton, United Kingdom, rode up on the overnight train with her two best friends hoping to get in line for Thursday night's Eras Tour show.
The early wake up call landing her at Wembley Stadium at 4 a.m. was a good call. She ended up being first in line.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, there's going to be like a queue of a hundred people,'" she says four hours before general admission doors open. "Crickets, literal crickets. There was no one here. It was amazing."
Because of stricter rules enforced by Wembley Stadium for the five Eras Tour concerts there, camping is no longer allowed for fans with floor tickets.
"I was going to, like, try and sell my tickets," Willow says, explaining she was a little apprehensive after a thwarted terrorist plot canceled three shows last week in Vienna. "I was like, 'Do I want to do this? If it's going to be a massive thing, if there's going to be issues, if everyone's going to be on edge, is this going to be, like, a happy environment?' But there is security everywhere, even yesterday, there was security at 3 in the morning. They were alert. They were fine. They were really helpful as well."
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Wembley Stadium is telling anyone without a ticket not to come to any of the shows. Known as "Taylor-gating," fans will coalesce on the outside walls of an arena to listen to Swift's show. A high security presence of workers with neon yellow vests greeted concertgoers on the steps leading up to the arena.
London Metropolitan Police said, "The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place."
TikTok influencer Ty Wilson — who was in Vienna and witnessed the cancellations and Swifties congregating by the thousands to sing songs in the street — says he isn't worried either.
"When we got that news that all three shows were canceled, it almost felt like a joke at first," he says, "because it was just unbelievable, but the response from the community there in Vienna was just beautiful. And now we're here in London and it's almost like that same energy is just in the air."
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