Taylor Swift fans have received good news ahead of the singer’s Lisbon gigs this weekend.
The pop star is in the Portuguese capital as part of the European leg of her Eras tour. However, a message from the Estádio da Luz stadium sparked concern among Swifties.
On Wednesday, The Eras tour (@tswifterastour) X (formerly Twitter) account said it had been receiving reports from fans that water bottles of any kind were banned from the venue. The fan account has been sharing updates on the tour, including advice and guidance for ticket holders around the world.
As the show is three and a half hours long, not including the time attendees spend queuing to get into the stadium or to buy merchandise, the “no water bottles” directive ignited health concerns—especially following the death of a fan at one of Swift’s Brazilian concerts on November 17, 2023.
Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour at La Defense in Paris on May 12, 2024. Swift fans have received good news ahead of the singer’s Lisbon gigs this weekend. KEVIN MAZUR/TAS24/GETTY IMAGES ENTERTAINMENT
Ana Clara Benevides Machado died of heat exhaustion during a gig in Rio de Janeiro. According to a forensic report acquired by The Associated Press, the 23-year-old psychology student suffered a cardiac arrest caused by heat exposure. Temperatures in the city on the day in question were about 40 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit).
“Many of you have dmed/tagged me everywhere explaining that it has been newly announced that water bottles of any kind are banned from the stadium for the eras tour in lisbon, portugal,” @tswifterastour wrote. “I am going to further speak up on this to help amplify that I think that it is just quite ridiculous and hopefully something can be done about this before the shows.”
The fan account continued: “For a 3.5 hour long show where people are going to be queueing up hours before and crammed in packed and tight spaces standing most of the time… not allowing water bottles is just really not wise.
“I strongly request anyone, even if you are not attending the eras tour in lisbon to help our fellow swifties get this message to the people who can make a change.”
Fans were stunned by “no water bottles” rule, calling it “outrageous.”
“We do not need a repeat of Brazil. That was a horrible thing that happened,” commented Elena Porteous.
“Something has to be done,” agreed @alhssnm.
“It’s a shame really because people stay for hours waiting for the concert of their life and are treated like this,” said Ale.
“Thank you for speaking up!!” wrote @canyouswift, while @xiaoscecilia said: “You cannot let your greed take the life of another person.”
@tswifterastour asked X users to tag tour promoters Last Tour (@lasttourint), Swift’s official marketing team Taylor Nation (@taylornation 13) and the singer herself to help get the rules changed ahead of Friday’s performance. The post went viral, receiving over 568,000 views.
It seems that the fan account has been successful. In an update, @tswifterastour announced that the Estádio da Luz stadium is now allowing water bottles, as long as they’re “clear, soft plastic water bottles—no larger than 50cl.”
Some Twitter users suspected that Swift herself was responsible for the rule change, with Vikas commenting: “I have to believe Taylor’s team was involved in this after what happened to Ana.”
“[It’s the] Swift effect,” agreed Diane Whiffen.
“Taylor protecting her fans from crazy [rules] that make no sense,” said @LimitedEver12. “Great work as always.”
Source:https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-lisbon-water-bottles-estadio-da-luz-stadium-1904363?piano_t=1
