VIENNA, Austria — A rural Cass County teenager who’s waited more than a year to see Taylor Swift in a concert overseas has had her hopes dashed, along with hundreds of thousands of others after shows there were canceled over a terror threat. Nora Severance, 17, a senior this fall at Northern Cass High School, secured tickets for her family to the Eras Tour stop in Vienna, Austria, back in June 2023. She, her mother and 19-year-old brother arrived there Tuesday night in advance of the show set for Thursday, Aug.
8, while her father stayed back to work on the farm. The family learned late Wednesday night that the Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at Ernst Happel Stadium would not go on because of an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack outside of the concert venue. Nora Severance woke up the next morning to a flurry of texts from her friends, wondering what was going on.
“I think it was the right call,” she said of the cancellation in a Thursday night phone call from Vienna. Nicole Severance was asked how she conversed with her children about the terror threat. “Sadly, it's something that they've grown up with their whole life, and so it's just kind of a daily thing,” she said.
There was also a feeling of resignation about the concert cancellation. “We can’t control everything,” she said. A 19-year old man from Austria was arrested over the alleged plot to strike the Swift concert and made a full confession in custody, Reuters reported.
The man swore allegiance to the Islamic State on the internet and had chemicals, technical devices and machetes at his home, said Franz Ruf, Austria’s general director for public security. Two other Austrian youths aged 17 and 15 were also detained over the reported plot. The 17-year-old had recently been hired at a company providing services at the stadium, according to security officials.
The three shows in Vienna were expected to draw 65,000 concertgoers each day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans gathering outside of the area, police said. Coincidentally, the family toured Schönbrunn Palace on Wednesday, a former royal residence visited by thousands of people daily. Nora Severance said it was weird that there were no metal detectors and their bags were not searched.
“We had that conversation yesterday, right prior to this being canceled,” her mother said. Nora Severance said she was looking forward to arriving at the stadium early Thursday night in order to trade the friendship bracelets she had made and to meet new people. The first and last time she saw Taylor Swift in concert, she was just eight years old.
Her mother had entered a sweepstakes and won free tickets and meet-and-greet access to the superstar on her “1989” world tour stop at the Fargodome in October 2015. Calling it a “really good experience,” the teenager said, “that’s kind of what made me start to listen to her music more and want to see her again.” Her mom said she doesn’t consider herself a “Swiftie” but appreciates the positive messages that Swift brings to young girls through her music.
The family originally sought Swift concert tickets in the U.S., for Minneapolis or Kansas City, but they sold out quickly and resale ticket prices were far too expensive.
“It just financially made more sense to fly to Europe and make a trip out of it,” Nora Severance said. They went for the Austria tour stop because it was one of the first European dates to go on sale. The family secured standing tickets on the floor at the Vienna stadium for the original asking price of $100 apiece.
By comparison, the cheapest resale ticket prices for upcoming U.S. dates are going for around $2,500 a piece for “nosebleed” seats, Nora Severance said.
Swift’s next stop is Thursday, Aug. 15, at Wembley Stadium in London, where she has five shows scheduled. People with tickets to the Vienna shows will be refunded within 10 business days, according to Swift’s website.
Nora Severance said her family will be in Europe for another 10 days, traveling to Hungary and Switzerland. “We had things planned, thankfully, so we’ll make the best of it,” she said..
