A mother from Adelaide has lashed out at Taylor Swift over the limited number of concerts she will be performing in Australia during her Eras Tour.
The American pop superstar will perform two shows in Melbourne and three in Sydney in February – but has missed other major cities, including Adelaide.
That’s left her biggest fans scrambling for pricey pre-sale tickets available from Wednesday, ahead of the general sale on Friday, June 30, as well as forking out for flights and accommodation if they need to travel to see the show.
One mum, writer and mother-of-four Amanda Blair, vented her frustrations in a Facebook post earlier this week, which has garnered 28,000 likes.
‘Dear Taylor Swift. Hi, hope you’re well. Hey the announcement of your Australian tour has put all parents under enormous pressure,’ she began her open letter.
‘We’re being hassled day and night to get on the “priority list” for tickets and being urged to “PAY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN” for a seat.
‘Personally I’ve been told that if I don’t secure tickets on Wednesday my child will “DIE” by “CRYING HERSELF TO DEATH”.
‘So just letting you know Tay-Tay that unless you announce more concerts so that every child who wants “nothing else for birthday and Xmas for the next four years Mum I promise” can get a ticket without their parents selling their souls, possessions and dignity, you will have blood on your hands. Not going to shake this off…
Many agreed with the post, with thousands of other parents sharing their own opinions in the comments.
‘Only a mother of a teenage daughter will understand and feel the empathy of your post, I remember the same situation over One Direction,’ wrote one.
‘Get the tickets. I’m 49 and still traumatised I never got to see New Kids On The Block, like my friends in school did. In fact, I didn’t get to see them until I was an adult and they started touring again. I actually cried at the concert,’ another said.
‘Oh that’s hilarious! I think I might have said something similar to my mother when I wanted to go see Slade in concert in Melbourne in about 1972! And again when I wanted to see Daddy Cool in 1973. Times change, but kids don’t,’ one more added.
‘I too am hoping for tickets – thinking they’ll be way up in the nose bleed section if I’m lucky enough lol. Hope you manage to get tickets for your daughter and she has a blast seeing Tay-Tay and no doubt be forever indebted to her mum,’ one more said.
‘I’m hearing ya sista! However I’m the mum that desperately wants tickets, love Tay Tay, however I’m not tech savvy so have zero chance of scoring tickets,’ another parent wrote.
Others however felt that Amanda should teach her children to be more grateful and accept that disappointment happens to us all.
‘Part of life is learning that we don’t always get what we want and that everything isn’t always fair. I hope your daughter gets tickets, but there are going to be tons of kids that don’t get to go and it’s just the way it is,’ one parent wrote.
Another said: ‘This is pretty entitled. Your lack of ability to tell your kid that you can’t afford something doesn’t put blood on her hands. It puts lack of accountability and living within your means on yours. No one owes you affordability. Period.’
‘Teach your kid that she will be able to live without seeing Taylor’s concert. Teaching her discipline and acceptance is a better gift than Taytays ticket,’ one more wrote.
After a slew of negative comments, Amanda clarified that her original post had merely been a joke and written for comedic effect.
‘Next time I write a post that’s entirely tongue-in-cheek, I’ll be mindful to make sure it’s more clearly stated that it’s “A JOKE”‘ she wrote.
‘Thanks to all those people who have told me to stand up to my kids, that my kids are spoilt, that I’m a bad parent, that I should donate my money to charity instead, that this wouldn’t happen in their day blah blah blah. Glad you got the joke! Sheesh’.
Taylor announced last Wednesday she will be bringing her Eras Tour to Sydney and Melbourne in February 2024.
The concerts will be the first time the Love Story hitmaker, 33, has performed in Australia since 2018.
Basic tickets for Swift’s shows went on pre-sale on Wednesday from official vendors for between $80 and $380 – and have already sold out.
The VIP packages came in at between $350 to $1,249 and includes merchandise such as tote bags and posters, and have also sold out in Monday’s pre-sale.
Frontier member pre-sale for her Aussie shows start on Wednesday, June 28 at 10am with tickets and VIP packages available.
General tickets will go on sale Friday, June 30, with Sydney kicking off at 10am local time, and Melbourne going on sale at 2pm.
The Melbourne shows will be performed at the MCG on February 16 and 17.
Swift will then fly to Sydney to perform over three consecutive nights at Accor Stadium, on February 23, 24 and 25.
