One Taylor Swift fan was left fuming after making the hours-long drive from Vancouver to Seattle to catch the singer’s Eras Tour show only to discover that it would cost $120 to park near the stadium.
Forking over $120 for parking is steep but it comes as an even bigger blow to those who were forced to pay thousands of dollars for tickets after last year’s Ticketmaster presale debacle that left many ‘Swifties’ empty handed.
The average price of an Eras Tour resale ticket is $1,605 whereas those who got their hands on regularly priced tickets paid as low as $70 with fees, according to SeatGeek.
So, the addition of a $120 charge to an already hefty total enraged plenty of fans online while others suggested concertgoers ‘plan ahead’ and expect price gouging.
The show was held at Lumen Field on Saturday, July 22 and Swift ended up breaking the venue’s attendance record by filling the arena with a reported 72,171 fans.
One Taylor Swift fan was left fuming after making the hours-long drive from Vancouver to Seattle to catch the singer’s Eras Tour show only to discover that it would cost $120 to park near the arena; seen on March 17
Gotta see it to believe it! Vancouver radio station 604 Now shared a photo of the $120 sign outside the Stadium Place parking lot in Seattle to Facebook on Wednesday night
Vancouver radio station 604 Now shared a photo of the $120 sign outside the Stadium Place parking lot in Seattle to Facebook on Wednesday night.
‘What a ripoff! Shame on them,’ read one angry comment, while another called the price tag ‘insane.’
‘I would have driven home,’ one commenter quipped.
As evidence that exorbitant prices are nothing new, one Facebook user recalled catching a Toronto Blue Jays game in 1995 and ‘parking cost us more than the game tickets!’
Another noted that a parking lot that was a 10-minute walk to Lumen Field charged just $10 for the day. Stadium Place is a three-minute walk.
Many reminded angry fans that Swift had no control over the price hike and that public parking lots commonly raise rates on major concert nights.
Swift kicked off the North American leg of her record-breaking Eras tour in Glendale, Arizona on March 17 — drawing an estimated 150,000 superfans to the city.
The pop powerhouse belts out 44 of her biggest hits during the show that spans over three hours and has featured a number of special guests — from Swift’s ex-boyfriend Matty Healy to rapper Ice Spice.
The U.S. leg of her sixth headlining tour will conclude with a slate of Los Angeles concerts at the Sofi Stadium in August.
She will then take the tour to Latin America, performing shows in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The Latin American leg concludes in Sao Paulo on November 26.
Tour will pick back up in February 2024 with back-to-back shows in Japan before Swift takes Australia and Singapore by storm.
The highly-anticipated European leg will kick off on May 9 and consists of 48 dates spanning from France to the United Kingdom.
Swift announced she would be going on tour for the first time in four years last June ahead of the release of her tenth studio album Midnights.
Pricey: Forking over $120 for parking is steep but it comes as an even bigger blow to those who were forced to pay thousands of dollars for tickets after last year’s Ticketmaster presale debacle that left many ‘Swifties’ empty handed
Reaction: So, the addition of a $120 charge to an already hefty total left plenty irate while others believe concertgoers should ‘plan ahead’ and expect price gouging
She described it as a ‘journey’ through all of her musical eras as she’s explored country, pop and folk over the span of her 17-year career.
After months of excitement, tour tickets went on sale in November.
But Ticketmaster’s catastrophic pre-sale debacle left pre-verified fans waiting in a virtual line for hours and others unable to purchase tickets at all.
Swift spoke out amid the chaos, telling her devout fanbase that she was just as ‘pissed off’ as everyone else is.
‘It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,’ she began in the lengthy post on Instagram.
‘We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in house.’
Taylor went on to explain – without mentioning the company by name – that she chose to use Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system because she thought it would ‘improve the quality of her fans’ experience,’ despite it being ‘really difficult’ for her to ‘trust an outside entity.’
‘I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team, who care as much about my fans as I do,’ she continued.
‘It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.’
The Cardigan songstress added that there were ‘multiple reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets’ and that she’s currently ‘trying to figure out how the situation can be improved moving forward.’
‘I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,’ she said.
‘It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.’
She concluded her message with a note to those who weren’t able to get their hands on a ticket, writing, ‘All I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us all to get together and sing these songs.
Impressive: Swift kicked off the North American leg of her record-breaking Eras tour in Glendale, Arizona on March 17 — drawing an estimated 150,000 superfans to the city (pictured)
Journey; She described the tour as a ‘journey’ through all of her musical eras as she’s explored country, pop and folk over the span of her 17-year career; seen on March 17
Star-studded: The pop powerhouse belts out 44 of her biggest hits during the show that spans over three hours and has featured a number of special guests — from Swift’s ex-boyfriend Matty Healy to rapper Ice Spice (pictured together on May 27)
‘Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.
The organization finally apologized to Swift and her fans, citing bot attacks and massive demand as the culprits.
The controversy triggered a lawsuit from fans and a furious response from Swift herself.
Fans who were successful in getting tickets also complained about the exorbitant prices, which were due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing scheme, which raises the prize significantly when demand is high.
