For Taylor Swift fans, the final day of “The Great War” is taking place on Friday (Jul 7). Unlike Wednesday’s UOB presale, this battle is being fought by Swifties on two major fronts: Outside SingPost outlets throughout Singapore and online via Ticketmaster.
A few hours before the start of the battle, Swifties received a mean set of ammo in the form of extra seats and Klook’s hotel packages – thereby increasing their odds of scoring tickets.
While some opted to take their chances online, other Swifties began queuing outside certain SingPost outlets as early as 12am on Thursday, armed with food, foldable chairs and a fearless spirit. Despite SingPost issuing an advisory saying that those beyond the 30th in line will have a very low chance of securing tickets, fans remained unbothered and queued throughout the night.
However, upon the break of dawn on Friday, reports of rushes emerged as a Taylor Swift fan group on Telegram shared videos of crowds running up escalators in Northpoint City to queue for tickets.
At ION Orchard, on the other hand, fans queued as early as about 8pm on Thursday night but were asked to leave as the area was to be shuttered off. Many of them returned by the time Orchard MRT station opened at about 5.45am on Friday. Fifteen minutes later, the shutters opened and fans scrambled to be among the first to enter the outlet, with some crawling through the gap to get ahead of the crowd.
Staff then told fans to form an official queue, allowing about 30 people to line up and wait at the designated area. Those who did not make it to the official queue were asked not to wait at the premises.
CNA Lifestyle visited SingPost’s Tampines branch at around 11am on Friday to check out the crowd and suss out potential victors of "The Great War".
Celeste Ng (right) was the first person to score tickets at SingPost's Tampines branch. (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
About 50 people were waiting outside the outlet. The first person in line, Celeste Ng, had been there since Wednesday midnight.
“I brought a mat, a chair, a jacket and a portable charger. I feel relieved to be here first as (the SingPost branch at) Downtown East already had three people in the queue on Wednesday afternoon.”
Thankfully, Celeste’s efforts weren’t in vain as she managed to snag four tickets once general sales started.
So what does the lucky 25-year-old plan to do now that she will see Swift live?
“I’m gonna go home, take a nap and rest up,” she said.
Alden, who is the seventh person in line at SingPost's Tampines branch. (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
However, not everyone shared her luck.
Minutes after the start of general sales, multiple fans said that SingPost’s systems across all branches were hanging.
At 12.42pm on Friday, those who were queuing after Celeste at SingPost’s Tampines branch were still waiting at the counters, with only the fifth person in the queue being served an hour in.
20-year-old Alden, who was the seventh in line, expressed his confusion, saying: “It’s actually taking really long. It’s been about 40 minutes. I’ve queued for Coldplay, Twice and other concerts and I usually get (my tickets) instantly. Not sure what’s happening now.”
BAD BLOOD WITH TICKETMASTER
Online, things were not going that great as well. Besides the usual long queues, a few users reported issues with paying for the tickets upon checking out at Ticketmaster.
This Twitter user claims to have been kicked out while attempting to pay for her tickets.
These users got an error message saying “You have exceeded your promo code limit for this order. (#E0022)” and were kicked out and made to queue again.
Surprisingly, fans who opted for Klook’s packages seemed to have little to no trouble securing tickets. A Twitter user reportedly secured a package with VIP 1 Taylor Swift tickets and a night’s stay at a five-star hotel by 12.16pm.
A sign at Singpost’s Tampines branch, where Taylor Swift fans queue ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
A sign at Singpost’s Tampines branch, where Taylor Swift fans queue ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Time will tell if the Grammy Award-winning singer will pull a Jacky Cheung and add even more additional shows at the last minute. If the past few days have taught us anything, Swifties do not care about any potential sound problems at the National Stadium and will do anything to catch their favourite singer in real life.
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A few hours before the start of the battle, Swifties received a mean set of ammo in the form of extra seats and Klook’s hotel packages – thereby increasing their odds of scoring tickets.
While some opted to take their chances online, other Swifties began queuing outside certain SingPost outlets as early as 12am on Thursday, armed with food, foldable chairs and a fearless spirit. Despite SingPost issuing an advisory saying that those beyond the 30th in line will have a very low chance of securing tickets, fans remained unbothered and queued throughout the night.
However, upon the break of dawn on Friday, reports of rushes emerged as a Taylor Swift fan group on Telegram shared videos of crowds running up escalators in Northpoint City to queue for tickets.
At ION Orchard, on the other hand, fans queued as early as about 8pm on Thursday night but were asked to leave as the area was to be shuttered off. Many of them returned by the time Orchard MRT station opened at about 5.45am on Friday. Fifteen minutes later, the shutters opened and fans scrambled to be among the first to enter the outlet, with some crawling through the gap to get ahead of the crowd.
Staff then told fans to form an official queue, allowing about 30 people to line up and wait at the designated area. Those who did not make it to the official queue were asked not to wait at the premises.
CNA Lifestyle visited SingPost’s Tampines branch at around 11am on Friday to check out the crowd and suss out potential victors of "The Great War".
Celeste Ng (right) was the first person to score tickets at SingPost's Tampines branch. (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
About 50 people were waiting outside the outlet. The first person in line, Celeste Ng, had been there since Wednesday midnight.
“I brought a mat, a chair, a jacket and a portable charger. I feel relieved to be here first as (the SingPost branch at) Downtown East already had three people in the queue on Wednesday afternoon.”
Thankfully, Celeste’s efforts weren’t in vain as she managed to snag four tickets once general sales started.
So what does the lucky 25-year-old plan to do now that she will see Swift live?
“I’m gonna go home, take a nap and rest up,” she said.
Alden, who is the seventh person in line at SingPost's Tampines branch. (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
However, not everyone shared her luck.
Minutes after the start of general sales, multiple fans said that SingPost’s systems across all branches were hanging.
At 12.42pm on Friday, those who were queuing after Celeste at SingPost’s Tampines branch were still waiting at the counters, with only the fifth person in the queue being served an hour in.
20-year-old Alden, who was the seventh in line, expressed his confusion, saying: “It’s actually taking really long. It’s been about 40 minutes. I’ve queued for Coldplay, Twice and other concerts and I usually get (my tickets) instantly. Not sure what’s happening now.”
BAD BLOOD WITH TICKETMASTER
Online, things were not going that great as well. Besides the usual long queues, a few users reported issues with paying for the tickets upon checking out at Ticketmaster.
This Twitter user claims to have been kicked out while attempting to pay for her tickets.
These users got an error message saying “You have exceeded your promo code limit for this order. (#E0022)” and were kicked out and made to queue again.
Surprisingly, fans who opted for Klook’s packages seemed to have little to no trouble securing tickets. A Twitter user reportedly secured a package with VIP 1 Taylor Swift tickets and a night’s stay at a five-star hotel by 12.16pm.
A sign at Singpost’s Tampines branch, where Taylor Swift fans queue ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Taylor Swift fans queueing at Singpost’s Tampines branch ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
A sign at Singpost’s Tampines branch, where Taylor Swift fans queue ahead of the general ticket sales on Friday noon (Jul 7). (Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)
Time will tell if the Grammy Award-winning singer will pull a Jacky Cheung and add even more additional shows at the last minute. If the past few days have taught us anything, Swifties do not care about any potential sound problems at the National Stadium and will do anything to catch their favourite singer in real life.
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