Taylor Swift fans were left furious during the opening moments of the singer’s Wembley show, after being trapped outside the stadium as she kicked off her concert on Thursday.
The Cruel Summer hitmaker, 34, is back in London for five more shows – but some excited fans missed the opening moments of her first concert in the capital.
But MailOnline can reveal that some missed the first few songs – from the Lover era – as they were waiting to get their wrist bands.
Swifties were left angered as they were refused entry to the stadium due to a maintenance issue after security ran out of wristbands.
Fans were pleading to be let in quicker so that they didn’t miss the start of the show, where the star sang Cruel Summer, The Man and Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince first.
Taylor Swift fans were left furious during the opening moments of the singer’s Wembley show, after being trapped outside the stadium as she kicked off her concert on Thursday
The Cruel Summer hitmaker is back in London for five more shows – but some excited fans missed the opening moments of her first concert in the capital
A concert goer said: ‘It was chaos they wouldn’t let anyone in without a wristband. They would bring some up but run out and you had to wait ages each time before they got more.’
She looked stunning in her iconic pink sparkled Lover bodysuit as she took to the stage.
Ticketmaster also faced the wrath of furious fans after an apparent technical glitch prevented them from buying tickets, resulting in hundreds of empty seats.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, fans revealed alarmingly large blocks of empty seats that would ordinarily be filled by devoted Swifties.
And concert vendor Ticketmaster found themselves blamed for the apparent fiasco after a technical error resulted in fans not receiving the requisite access code needed to unlock and purchase tickets.
Others on TikTok claimed they were sent invalid access codes that also prevented them from buying highly desired tickets for what will be the final UK shows of Swift’s current tour.
Sharing a photo of the empty seats on social media, one disgruntled attendee wrote: ’empty seats cause Ticketmaster locked tickets with codes.’
Posting a similar photo, a second added: ‘not all these empty seats bc nobody had a code to buy tickets. this is so painful.’ [sic]
Pictures taken later in the evening revealed a notably fuller Wembley, with X users sensibly claiming the earlier pictures were taken before everyone had taken to their seats.
Commenting on the posts, one wrote: ‘Def thankfully late people. The streamer I am watching just showed that area and it is full!’
It has been a difficult time for Taylor, who was forced to cancel three gigs in Vienna this month after it emerged ISIS had planned to target her fans
She brought Ed Sheeran up to sing with her for the concert
He came up for the surprise songs section of the gig
A second added: ‘That arena is full. Because of heightened security measures people were more than likely late getting in.’
While a third wrote: ‘Hopefully people are just late.’
It has been reported the final leg of Taylor’s Wembley shows will be about ‘unity, love and bringing fans together’ following a foiled terror plot on her Vienna gigs.
It has been a difficult time for Taylor, who was forced to cancel three gigs in Vienna this month after it emerged ISIS had planned to target her fans.
The plot came shortly after three young girls were murdered at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside.
Her Wembley show on August 15 marks Taylor’s first performance since both incidents, which have no doubt been hard for her to navigate.
She broke her silence on the difficult time in a speech on stage as she said: ‘The way that you have chosen to welcome us.
‘There are 92,000 of you, out here, with your hands in the air – screaming the words . Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. We love you so much London.’
‘I know how much planning and energy and effort it took to come to these shows I really appreciate that.’
To help her through the gig – which has been surrounded by tragedy – her long-term pal and co-collaborator Ed Sheeran, 33, made an appearance on the stage.
During her surprise song set, which Swift changes each gig, the singer-songwriters’ performed their song Everything has Changed from the 2012 album Red, followed by End Game from Reputation.
The duo then sang an emotional acoustic rendition of Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud while bright green lights shone out from the stadium.
Before he left the stage, Swift showered him with compliments and while hugging him described him as a ‘second brother’.
She said: ‘Now he is someone that plays Wembley like every week. This is regular for him and he works so hard. He’s probably so tired but he wanted to come play for you and do this for all of you.’
Taylor also reportedly reached out to the families of the Southport stabbing before she took to the stage at Wembley Stadium tonight.
Speaking after the concert, another insider told the Sun: ‘Ed and Taylor have been friends for well over a decade and are very close. He has seen how the last few weeks have impacted her and wanted to be there to support her.
‘It meant the world to Taylor to have him there on such a tough night.’
A source previously told the The Sun how she will be putting on the ‘best show of her life’ for the next five nights in London.
An insider told the publication: ‘Everything Taylor does is for her fans and she will be putting on the best show of her life when she returns to Wembley.
‘Hate never wins and Taylor absolutely stands for that. Her shows are about love, unity and acceptance, and this is a message she will always want to convey.’
‘They will be back hard at work tomorrow for the first night at Wembley. It was packed in Annabel’s as there were 200 of them there, but it was a great night. Everyone was so appreciative of Taylor’s efforts.’
Fans were left angered as they were refused entry to the stadium due to a maintenance issue after security ran out of wristbands
It has been reported the final leg of Taylor’s Wembley shows will be about ‘unity, love and bringing fans together’ following a foiled terror plot on her Vienna gigs
Taylor broke her silence on the difficult time in a speech on stage as she said: ‘The way that you have chosen to welcome us
She added: ‘I know how much planning and energy and effort it took to come to these shows I really appreciate that’
She wore a tassled dress for the Fearless era
Taylor returned to London a day before the second part of London tour kicks off and hosted a party for her crew at private members’ club Annabel’s.
A source told The Sun: ‘Taylor is one of the most generous pop stars out there and she threw this party to thank her team for their hard work.
‘She hired out Annabel’s for the night and put on a free bar so her team could let their hair down.
The singer – who already had three shows in June – will be wrapping up this leg of her tour with five more gigs.
Her upcoming concerts could see private counter-terrorism security forces deployed to keep thousands of fans safe, according to reports.
Sources claimed the popstar’s shows will be relying on the extra security in response to the Vienna terror plot.
Taylor was due to perform in front of an estimated 170,000 fans on August 8, 9, and 10 at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion, which was set to be reinforced with more security measures before the three shows were cancelled.
‘Taylor has been devastated by this. She is devastated for the fans who have been waiting for years to see her,’ an insider told The Mirror, in the first indication of Swift’s reaction following the news.
‘But the thought of what could have happened if the concerts had been targeted by a terror attack is horrifying, and she would never risk the safety of her fans.
‘The memory of what happened at Ariana Grande‘s concert in Manchester is still very vivid in everyone’s minds. But she has told her team that she wants to try to return to Vienna as soon as possible in the future. She is very conscious of how disappointed her fans in Austria are.’
The hitmaker has not made any public statements since the alleged plot was uncovered.
The arrest of a third suspect was announced last week.
The teen, like the two others arrested earlier, was reportedly radicalised by the Afghanistan-based ISIS-K.
Police say the main suspect, a 19-year-old man, planned to attack the tens of thousands of Swifties who gathered outside the Ernst Happel Stadium, with knives and machetes.
The suspect, allegedly put together explosives as well in order to ‘kill as many people as possible,’ officials said.
‘The group is considered the greatest external terrorist threat to the continent,’ claimed UN undersecretary for counterterrorism Vladimir Vorokov, who said the group had increased its recruitment efforts on the continent, according to ABC News.
The hitmaker previously posted an emotional message after a knife attack at a dance class themed around her songs which left three children dead and six others critical.
A 17-year-old boy remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder and is being questioned following the incident in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children were injured with five of them – aged between six and 11 – in a critical condition alongside two female adults who ‘bravely tried to protect them’.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar (L), seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and six-year-old Bebe King were killed in the Southport attack in July
Fans had been seen queuing outside Wembley Stadium today ahead of the concert tonight
The American singer wrote on Instagram: ‘The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock.
‘The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders.
‘These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.’
A JustGiving page set up by fans has raised thousands to help families affected by the tragedy and pay for the two funerals.