I have always been, am and will be a pure Swiftie. I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO HER SINCE I WAS BORN.

No, I haven’t, I’m not that old.

TAYLOR SWIFT ISN’T OLD EITHER, THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT, I PROMISE.

I had been hoping she would somehow, miraculously perform close to where I lived since the moment I shifted to Australia, it being an influential music industry and all. And when my phone tinged with a promise of her landing on Sydney’s sunny shores in February 2024, I was ecstatic. I was bouncing off the walls, so very, very sure that we’d get tickets because I had signed up to whatever membership required to be able to access presale and general sale tickets. I even briefed my father on his mission, and he cancelled all his work calls on both days. My mum promised to log into Ticketek at her workplace, because according to the news, about a minimum of 4 million people would pounce on a ticket availability of only 450,000.

HUGE RATIO DIFFERENCE, AND I WAS ALREADY LOSING HOPE.

If I fast-forward to the two days leading down to the presales, I spent those two nights suffering staggered anxiety attacks and nightmares that consisted of the kind where I wouldn’t get any tickets. I was praying and begging and tossing and turning and hoping that I’d be graced with tickets.

The much-awaited day dawned on us, and I didn’t attend school that day either, as I had fallen sick. In a way, that played to my advantage, because that meant I could closely monitor the situation of tickets right in front of my eyes. I still held onto that hope that I’d get tickets.

The news announced that 30 minutes before the presales began, there were about 800,000 people in the “lounge” where you were SUPPOSED to queue and be gradually allowed into the purchase page. Panicking, I joined 10 minutes earlier, as the official website stated. Tips, tricks, and hacks were flying up all over Google, as millions tried to secure tickets.

At exactly 10 a.m., I began monitoring the time, rocking back and forth. Given the fact that there was a queue, I knew that it would be a fair system, and if it was on a first come, first serve basis, I still had a slight chance of obtaining tickets, as there were VIP packages available too.

Minutes ticked by, hours flew, and two hours in, I quickly began to lose hope, time ticking into lunch time, about 3 hours into the wait. There was no queue number, and people were frantically posting on every social media site, about not being able to enter the purchase page, about waiting for DAYS, leave alone hours like me.

Twitter was blowing up with insults, rants, celebrations(congratulations to those who survived the great Taylor Swift war), and people begging, crying to be LET IN.

10 hours later, neither me, nor my friends, nor more than a million people had secured the tickets. I saw nothing except the two dreaded words, ALLOCATION EXHAUSTED.

I didn’t get tickets at the general sale either.

I really think I should have just camped out at the Ticketek office like a small group did. Additionally, no one was actually informed about being able to purchase physical tickets.

And the cream on the already rotten cake?

There was no queue to begin with.

It was a lottery, on a giant spin-the-wheel of IP addresses, if you were lucky and the pointer landed on you, you would get through.

The disappointment was crushing, and I returned to Spotify, heartbroken and frustrated. I do understand that there was a large amount of people trying to get through, and it would have been as stressful for people co-ordinating the tickets that day, but in my opinion, it could have been much better handled. There should have been a queue, and if I’d known that you could actually go and physically purchase tickets, I would have definitely showed up.

LIKE C’MON, I WAITED FOR HOURS!

Getting Taylor Swift’s tickets sure wasn’t swift.

Did I stare at that blue line creeping across the screen, in that hellish lounge, my heart skipping beats every time it landed on 0 seconds, thinking it would let me through?

Yes.

Did I get tickets for all that trouble?

No.

I was beating myself up for so long because I could’ve just showed up physically. Besides, it was the first concert my parents actually agreed to go to. I’m pretty sure it hurt the most because I wasted so much of my time, only to get disappointed.

That turned into anger, sadness, and utter heartbreak as I bawled my eyes out, listening to Cruel Summer and possibly the most emotional music that happened to be in my entire repertoire of playlists.

BUT THEN…

A LIGHT SHONE ON ME-

No, it didn’t. I’m being slightly(overtly)dramatic.

Ticketek announced its resale market was opening on the 4^th of September though. And this time, it’s a fan-to-fan marketplace. NO LOUNGES!

So, I’ve chanted hymns to Taylor and the ticketing gods that I’d get that set of 4 C-Reserve tickets I desire quite desperately. It’s not random, it’s fair, (and it’s also close to impossible) but it makes me feel better that if I put in actual effort, and try getting resale tickets, AND ACTUALLY, HOPEFULLY PURCHASE THEM, it won’t be all for nothing.

Let’s hope we’re going to see a blog where I go, EVERYONE, I’M GOING TO TAYLOR SWIFT.

(For now, back to Spotify it is…)

Besides, this taught me a very important lesson.

Always visit the physical offices. Really. You never know what you’re going to be blessed with.

(Like I mentioned in my blog featuring the great Doll House, never trust the websites.)

Signing off…