People were shoving us, says fan who paid $1,800 for floor seat at Taylor Swift concert

It was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, but one Taylor Swift fan was left disappointed after her concert experience was ruined by other attendees.

After attending the first show in Singapore last night (March 2), a fan named Alina took to TikTok to air her grievances about some unruly fans who had shoved her.

The 23-year-old Swiftie shared that she had purchased a VIP 1 package for $1,800, which includes a reserved seated floor ticket near the diamond stage, where Swift performs several songs and interacts with fans on the floor.

However, Alina had to contend with other fans, who had left their seats at other floor sections and rushed to her section to get a closer view of the American pop star.

She told AsiaOne on Sunday that fans started trickling to her section from the first set of show, and "started coming in big waves" during the second set. 

Although Alina was mildly irritated by this, she said the people who entered her section generally didn’t bother them.

"But people started pushing and bumping into us and the crowd got really heavy around the Speak Now era (mid-point of the concert). That was when I got incredibly frustrated," said Alina.

"At some points, I had difficulty breathing from how many people were squeezing into our section."

She estimated that there were around 20 people who had moved to her section.

"Instead of telling them to go back to their sections, [the security guards] pushed the extra people into our seated rows, and it just caused even more crowding," Alina said in the video.

"There's no space for them, because this is not their section!"

According to Alina, a group of women who had moved into her section squeezed themselves into the row behind, constantly jostling her.

At some point, one woman allegedly placed her hands on her and asked if she could move.

"I paid for the seat, I paid $1,800 to be treated like this?" Alina asked in the video.

When she reported the incident to a security guard, however, the staff reportedly did not tell the intruders to leave the section and only told the woman to stop touching Alina.

The women later moved to the very front of the section, said the affronted fan.

Alina and her friend, who were seated at the very end of their row, were pushed and ended up having their view of the stage blocked by people with tickets for other sections. 

Fan calls for stricter guidelines

While Alina said she did not fully blame the security guards, who appeared to be at a loss on how to handle the situation, she hopes for organisers to better regulate the concerts by having strict guidelines set in place.

"At the end of the day, I'm just really appalled, and ultimately really disappointed with how everything was handled," she said.

"I still enjoyed myself, of course, but a lot of my enjoyment was impeded by these people who didn't know how to stay in their own sections or rows."

Although she didn't have a fully enjoyable experience, Alina told AsiaOne that she hopes to attend another show.

"I don’t want my memories of this tour to be just frustration and anger," she said.

When asked if she has any advice for concertgoers, Alina added: "⁠If people are beginning to intrude into your space, be firm and tell them off. I told the person who asked me to move off and she left my row (but went to the front), which let me enjoy the rest of the tour in peace. 

"Also, just have fun even if people in your section aren’t vibing or singing. Bring a portable fan as it’ll be really hot."

Several netizens sympathised with her plight, with concertgoers revealing that they had also witnessed attendees rushing to the diamond stage.

On the other hand, some said that moving to other sections is a common occurrence at concerts

Another fan shares similar experience

Another fan, who flew from Taiwan to Singapore to watch the show, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his disappointing experience with the crowd.

"I thought The Eras Tour Singapore would be the best day of my life. It wasn't," he wrote.

[embed]https://twitter.com/realpch_/status/1763940972717871434[/embed]

The Swiftie, who also had VIP 1 floor tickets, said that people seated at the back "were going crazy" and swarmed to the front of the aisle.

"They kept on pushing and pushing, until there was no room for me to stand."

As the stadium was warm and humid, he started feeling nauseous and sought help from venue staff. However, they reportedly told him "there's nothing we can do".

"Now I just hope I can fly back [to Taiwan] as soon as I can," said the fan.

AsiaOne has reached out to Singapore Sports Hub for more information.

ALSO READ: Taylor Swift's Singapore connection: Pop star reveals her mum 'spent a lot of her childhood' here

lim.kewei@asiaone.com