Casey James was the first in line at the Sengkang Community Club SingPost branch on Wednesday night. - ST
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): The next battle in The Great War for Taylor Swift concert tickets is under way, after the pre-sale tickets to the American pop star’s Singapore shows in March 2024 sold out within three hours.
After failing to snag tickets at Wednesday’s pre-sale for United Overseas Bank (UOB) cardholders, several Swifties in Singapore are not leaving anything to chance.
Propelled by anxiety and desperation ahead of the general sale, which begins at noon on Friday, these hardcore fans began queueing two days in advance at SingPost branches, with the hopes of being first in line when ticket sales open.
Among the fans hoping to catch Swift at one of her six shows at the National Stadium in 2024 was polytechnic student Nellie Titus, 18, and her friends.
They turned up at Lim Ah Pin Post Office in Kovan on Wednesday at 10.30pm. Her elder sister Nicolette, a 21-year-old who is on a gap year and waiting to enter university, was first to secure her queueing spot there at 3.45pm.
If the group had been unsuccessful during the UOB pre-sale, they had planned to queue only the night before the general sale.
However, an article that appeared in ST on Tuesday – “outing” the post office as being relatively less crowded than other branches and hence providing a higher chance of securing tickets – intensified their stress.
“We were so scared and low-key mad (when the article came out),” said Titus.
Ticketing platform Ticketmaster – the alternative method which requires fans to join an online queue – was out of the question for them as it “usually crashes and doesn’t handle huge volume well”.
Titus told The Straits Times (ST): “Usually, if you’re first in line at SingPost, the success rate is pretty high from what we’ve seen.”
She decided on Lim Ah Pin Post Office as five of her eight friends live near the location. Although it is hidden behind an Esso petrol station, she said they felt safe camping there due to its proximity to Upper Serangoon Road and popular late-night eateries.
It helps that her home is nearby and family members are willing to take turns to stand in line when she needs a break.
Together, the group has prepared picnic mats, foldable camping chairs, umbrellas, portable chargers and snacks to get through the two-night stay.
Responding to haters who might dismiss them for going to such extremes, polytechnic student Rebekah Loh, 18, said: “I don’t think we’re crazy. We’re just dedicated fans.”
Hoping to be second time lucky, another fan, Casey James, was first in line with her friend at Sengkang Central Post Office at 5pm.
Not only is this the nearest branch to her home, but it was also where she scored tickets to British rock band Coldplay’s January 2024 concert in June, by queueing the night before.
The 20-year-old barista said: “I had only one meal yesterday because during the pre-sale, we were so stressed that we were crying and breaking down and couldn’t eat. I did not plan to come so early this time, but after the whole UOB debacle where the Ticketmaster site kept crashing, I felt that’s what everyone would do. And Taylor is a bigger artiste than Coldplay, so the pressure is there.”
She added: “The one constant thing in my life has always been her music, no matter what I was going through. And I love her as a person, I really look up to her. I don’t think there’s any other artiste I would go this far for.”
On how the pair intend to survive the rest of the queueing time, she points to a few rocks she arranged in a circle around a Swift album cover, calling it her “manifestation stuff”.
She added: “We have Monopoly playing cards, I have an ukulele and I brought my fully-charged laptop, but I won’t use it unless I really need to.”
Over at Ang Mo Kio Central Post Office, student Anyi Ye, 19, who is on a term break, was the earliest to arrive at 7.30pm.
She, too, did not plan to camp out for two days. However, once she heard queues had begun to form at other SingPost outlets from a Taylor Swift fan Telegram group, she rushed down as fast as she could.
Said Ye, who lives 10 minutes from the post office and will be taking turns to take toilet and food breaks with her friend: “I was so excited when I was the first one here. It was the best opportunity to secure my tickets. I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift since I was five. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”
