Snipers patrolled the stadium roof during Coldplay’s concert in Vienna amid heightened security after police foiled a possible terror attack at Taylor Swift’s shows in the Austrian capital.
Chris Martin and his band took the stage at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Wednesday night for the first concert to take place at the venue since the Eras tour shows were cancelled.
Pictures of a police shooter appeared on the Internet, in which the Vienna police reassured the public: “Our job is to fully secure the concert, including the location on the roof.”
“Don’t worry about the police and enjoy the concert!” the police added.
Coldplay played Swift’s 2008 hit, Love Story, during their performance, with frontman Martin paying tribute to “the beauty, togetherness and kindness of all Taylor Swift fans.”
Pictures of a police shooter appeared on the Internet, in which the Vienna police reassured the public: “Our job is to fully secure the concert, including the location on the roof.”
Armed Austrian police officers patrol outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, August 21, 2024.
Coldplay frontman Martin paid tribute to “the beauty, togetherness and kindness of all Taylor Swift fans”
Taylor Swift canceled her three concerts in Vienna after two suspects were arrested for allegedly planning a terror attack at her shows – Swift is pictured performing in London in June
Swift was scheduled to perform in front of an estimated 170,000 fans on August 8, 9 and 10, and the cancellation of the shows left many Swifties devastated.
The 34-year-old pop star was reportedly left “devastated” after being forced to cancel the Austrian leg of her tour and vowed to return to Vienna “as soon as possible”.
“Having our shows in Vienna cancelled was devastating,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday night.
‘The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new feeling of fear and enormous guilt because many people had planned to come to those shows.
‘But I was also very grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were in mourning concerts and not live.’
The American singer said the delay in issuing her statement was to protect the safety of her fans.
She continued: ‘Let me be very clear: I will not speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who want to harm the fans who come to my shows.
Fans queue outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, on August 21, 2024, ahead of the first in a series of concerts by British rock band Coldplay.
Taylor Swift fans react as they sing together in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral following the cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium due to a planned attack at the venue, in Vienna, Austria, August 9, 2024
In cases like this, ‘silence’ is actually a sign of restraint and waiting to express oneself at the right moment.
Swift was also said to be “horrified” by the idea of a terrorist attack happening at one of her shows, as happened in 2017 at pop star Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester.
Austrian authorities have since arrested three teenage suspects, aged 17, 18 and 19.
The 19-year-old suspect was later identified as Beran A, an ISIS member. fan who was building a bomb in his parents’ back garden while planning to run over concert-goers.
According to German intelligence sources, he was radicalised by a well-known hate preacher in Berlin.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told Channel X after news of the initial arrests broke: “Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly created DSN (Directorate of Security and Intelligence) with foreign services, the threat was identified in time, combated and a tragedy was avoided.”