The American pop star Taylor Swift closes this Tuesday at Wembley Stadium in London a huge three-month European tour attended by hundreds of thousands of his fans.
“Swiftonomics”
Even before arriving in Europe, “Eras Tour” had already become the first tour in history to sell more than $1 billion in tickets. But the economic repercussions go far beyond ticket sales.
Hotel prices in the cities Taylor Swift visited skyrocketed. In Stockholm, where about 120,000 people visited, “swifties” In May, hotel room prices rose “about 295%”, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce told AFP.
In Madrid, the superstar’s two concerts injected 25 million euros (US$ 27.7 million) into the local economy.
And in the UK, Barclays bank predicted the tour would boost the economy by almost £1 billion (€1.17 billion, $1.3 billion), in a study titled “Swiftonomics.”
The earth trembles
Taylor Swift fans weren’t the only ones who followed the concerts closely, seismologists did too.
In Lisbon in May, concerts triggered seismic activity that was detected within a radius of up to six kilometres around the stadium.
And in Edinburgh, according to the British Geological Survey, the shaking was especially strong during the songs “Cruel Summer”, “Champagne Problems” and “Ready for It?”During the latter, the crowd in the Scottish capital produced a power output of around 80 kilowatts, the equivalent of around 6,000 car batteries.
A foiled attack
The three concerts scheduled to take place in Vienna were cancelled in early August after a planned suicide bombing was discovered. According to conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the plan was averted. “a bloodbath”.
The main suspect, aged 19, had sworn allegiance to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and “confessed”according to intelligence services.
A day after the cancellation was announced, hundreds of “Swifties” gathered in various places in Vienna, improvising a concert in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral or exchanging the famous friendship bracelets, something that Taylor Swift fans usually do.
Stabbing
On July 29, three girls attending a Taylor Swift-inspired dance class in Southport, northwest England, were stabbed to death. The attack sparked a week of racist and Islamophobic violence in the United Kingdom.
On Instagram, the star said she was “completely in shock.”
According to Rolling Stone magazine, the artist met two survivors of the attack during one of her London concerts.
His supporters raised around £400,000 (€470,000, US$520,800) for the victims.
“Tay-gating”
Even without a ticket, many of his fans flocked, sometimes in costume, to the vicinity of the stadiums to exchange wristbands and listen to the concerts from outside, a practice known as “Tay-gating”.
In Madrid, 50,000 people gathered on a hill near the stadium on both nights of the concert, according to Taylor Swift. Police received dozens of complaints from residents, who complained about noise coming from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, recently renovated to host concerts.
In London and Amsterdam, however, authorities urged “swifties” to avoid the “Tay-gating”, in the name of the neighbors’ rest.
Source: Gestion
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