don't blame me

Parents Are Sharing The Hell That Is Trying To Get Their Kids Taylor Swift Tickets

Parents waited in Ticketmaster queues for hours only to come up empty.

13 November 2022, North Rhine-Westphalia, D·sseldorf: Taylor Swift walks the red carpet at the MTV E...
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If you were one of the millions trying to snag some tickets for Taylor Swift’s highly-anticipated Eras Tour earlier this week, and you came up with a big, fat nothing, you are not alone. Parents all over the country sat at their computers for hours, hoping and praying for the opportunity to purchase tickets for their kids while they were at school.

What was supposed to be a birthday or Christmas surprise for their kids quickly turned into a stressful, disappointing venture as moms and dads were met with glitches, error messages, and hours-long wait times.

“I was trying to buy tickets so my best friend and I could take our pre-teens to their first concert and waited literally all day to finally get in to buy tickets and not one ticket was left,” Micah Woods told Fortune.

Vivica Williams in Clarksville, Maryland told Fortune that disappointing her daughter was heartbreaking. “It was sad. It was so sad,” she said.”

“They were so excited. I tried to get on and I tried to get on it. It crashes and it crashes and it crashes and it crashes. And so finally, eventually I get in the queue, and I’m like yay! Then, oh, there are 2,000 plus people ahead of you in line.”

After being kicked out of the queue four or five times, she gave up.

“I never got past 2,000 plus people in line. So finally around 2:30 - I gave up. I’m like, forget this, I’m an adult person. I can’t sit here all day with Taylor Swift on my phone,” Williams said. “I was complaining to my daughter the whole time. Like, this is for the birds.”

With the news of Swift’s ticket sale disaster being global news, many joked on Twitter, sending thoughts and prayers to parents who were in the trenches, trying not to kill their kid’s dreams.

New York Times reporter Nicole Sperling empathized with other parents who felt the pressure to deliver the goods while their kids were in school. “To all my fellow parents getting kicked out of @taylorswift13 Ticketmaster waiting room while your kids frantically text you from school, I salute you,” she tweeted.

One user genuinely empathized with the stress working parents. “At least Taylor Swift is only crushing my dreams. I can't imagine being a parent at a real job with your teenage kids dreams depending on you,” they wrote.

Another user made a hilarious video from the POV of a parent doing all they could to get Swift tickets. “How could there not be enough tickets? The stadium is huge!” @bottlerocket jokes in the video.

Another dad noted that he was unsure he could even handle the pressure of getting tickets. “Taylor Swift ticket duty has been delegated to me while my wife and kid are at the doctor's. I fear it is too much responsibility,” he joked.

He then began to live tweet the overwhelming experience with a play-by-play of the incessant error messages and glitches that many others experienced during the presale. “OMG, after endless hours, it is finally showing a number less than 2,000 people ahead of me. I think I'm actually going to have to purchase tickets. I hope I don't screw it up,” he wrote.

In the end, he actually did get tickets. However, the seats are less than desirable. “After hundreds of errors, I finally was able to purchase tickets. They are at a weird angle and in the upper deck. But beggars can't be choosers,” he reconciled.

The other hard pill to swallow is how much that dad probably paid for those “weird angle” seats.

One mom, who also happens to be Big Brother alum Janelle Pierzina, might have said it best. No matter if you got tickets or not, the experience of getting them was sucked of all joy and desperate parents spent way too much money on crappy seats.

“I could only get two tickets behind the stage. So I’ll have a view of her back ups dancers if that. And I can only bring one of my girls, not both. I waited 8 hours. I feel like a failure as a mother Fuck Ticketmaster and I said that shit! #TheErasTour,” she tweeted.

One mom replied, feeling the pain, “I’m so sorry! 5 hours for me and empty handed…kicked out at checkout. Trying again Friday because I have 2 very sad 14 year olds.”

Swift’s presale for her first tour in five years broke sales records. Her 52-date stadium run sold over two million tickets in just two days—more than any other artist in a single day, according to the company.

Fans and parents thought they had one more chance to buy face value tickets this Friday when tickets go on sale to the general public, but it’s looking like that won’t happen, either.

And while it would be great if Swift’s team or Ticketmaster did something to help stop the madness and fix this issue, it all seems a bit hopeless at this point.

As Swift herself sings on her new Midnights album, “You’re on your own, kid!”