In years to come Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will surely be remembered as a tale of the “have and have-nots”.
While a record-breaking 450,000 fans will descend on Sydney and Melbourne for the star’s sold-out Australian shows, millions of disappointed Swifties missed out on elusive Eras tickets.
However, not all hope is lost.
A post shared to an Eras Tour Facebook page sparked a frenzy online when one lucky Melbourne fan revealed she scored a last-minute chance to see the superstar – by sharing one ticket three ways.
The woman behind the post, named Lucy*, told news.com.au the trio received a ticket 10 minutes before the Saturday night show was due to start and hatched a plan.
Fans went to extreme lengths to catch a glimpse of Swift. Picture: Graham Denholm/TAS24/Getty Images
“I was with two other girls and we knew a boy who was meant to go but he was stuck 45 minutes outside Melbourne and he wasn’t going to make it,” Lucy said.
“His friend had the ticket but he was already inside the stadium, and he couldn’t share it with us because there was no reception, so he met us at the gate.”
“He scanned the first girl in and we worked out a very vague plan. We didn’t know if she was going to come out but she did, thank goodness,” she added.
Although Lucy had only met one of the girls once before, the group made a pact to share the ticket and watch a third of the show each.
With no reception between them, the “ticket-sharing” hack relied on each person returning when their part of the show was up.
“The first girl bolted to the gate when the ticket was available and we thought ‘hopefully she remembers the plan,’” Lucy recounted.
Lucy* posted about the ticket-sharing hack to the private Facebook group. Picture: Supplied.
“We were standing outside and security did not care, people would have seen us swapping the ticket because it’s not like you get a stamp or anything (for re-entry).
“We were thinking, ‘have we cheated the system a little bit?’”
On Friday the trio ventured to the MCG following rumours fans secured last-minute seats through the stadium ticket booth.
Despite missing out on the opening night, the diehard fans turned up again on Saturday night planning to ‘Taylor-Gate’ – a term used to describe the hoards of Swifties gathering outside the stadium to listen-in on the performance.
“The other girls gave me the first choice because I hadn’t seen any of the show, so I saw the final part which was Midnights, 1989, Folklore, and bonus songs … it was incredible, I’ll never forget it,” Lucy said.
“I don’t know the reason why but a lot of people were leaving during the concert, at least 20 through our gate, and people were asking them ‘can I have your ticket?’”
Fans reportedly did not encounter security issues when swapping tickets. Picture: Mark Stewart.
“That is another way to see the show, just keep looking out for people who are leaving and keep asking,” she recommended to fellow fans.
“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
Other fans commented underneath the post and revealed they had pulled off similar success.
“We stood outside the MCG members area with no tickets last night. We watched people leaving within the first hour of the show. We asked if we could have their tickets if they were leaving and we got in!,” one person replied.
“The woman whose tickets we got was driving back to Bendigo and didn’t want to get back late,” another commented.
Swifties encouraged each other to nab empty seats. Picture: Facebook.
Melbourne Swifties took to social media to share images of hundreds of empty seats in Melbourne. Picture: Facebook.
Ticketek have warned fans to be careful with scalpers targeting fans desperate to see the three-hour performance. Picture: Graham Denholm/TAS24/Getty Images
According to the Ticketek website, ticket sharing for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour is only allowed through the Ticketek system.
Customers are instructed to use the app to share tickets within groups via email and phone numbers once the ticket barcode is unlocked.
Fans who receive a ticket will receive an SMS or email and must accept it through the app by creating a Ticketek account if they do not have one already.
The strict rules come after Swifties desperate to score last-minute seats were targeted by scalpers and scams.
More than one million fans fought it out for the 450,000 tickets on offer during the Frontier Touring presage event, pushing the Ticketek website capacity to the limits.
Unlucky fans have tried to handle the FOMO by hanging around outside the stadium, attending Taylor Swift themed silent discos, and even turning up in droves for impersonator Taylor Sheesh’s Errors Tour performance at Federation Square.
The musical megastar will perform one last show in Melbourne on Sunday February 18, before four back-to-back shows in Sydney from February 23-26.
