Taylor Swift fans start queuing at SingPost outlets more than 24 hours before general ticket sales start

Taylor Swift fans who missed out on getting tickets during the UOB presale on Wednesday (Jul 5) clearly wasted no time just staring in disbelief into blank space. Ardent Swifties are right this instant lining up outside SingPost outlets all over Singapore – some even began queuing as early as 12am on Thursday, more than 24 hours before the start of general sales at 12pm on Friday.

And it’s easy to see why.

Aside from the fact that over 1 million people took part in the online UOB presales alone, several users also reported problems with Ticketmaster’s login page on Wednesday. As such, it stands to reason that Friday’s general sales will attract even more people to Ticketmaster’s page and potentially, lead to even more system problems.

The best way to avoid all that? Heading down to SingPost outlets where queues will be first come, first served. Fans can bypass Ticketmaster’s randomised online queuing system and buy straight off the counter. So the earlier they are, the higher their chances of securing Swift’s concert tickets on Friday. 

CNA Lifestyle visited SingPost’s Novena outlet at 1pm on Thursday and saw that a line of Swifties had already formed – most of whom had brought foldable chairs and portable chargers to brave Round 2 of “The Great War”.

Catalina, 52, started queuing at 9am and “will be rotating with her family” throughout the day. Surprisingly, despite calling Swift her “first love”, the housewife is not buying tickets for herself. She plans to buy four tickets for her daughters and their best friends. Instead, Catalina hopes to catch Swift during her Japan concert that’s happening in February 2024.

Accompanying Catalina is her friend June, 50, who resorted to queuing physically “because the (Ticketmaster) system crashed (for her on Wednesday)”.

June elaborated: “I tried (queuing online for) Blackpink, Jacky Cheung. Crash, crash, crash. I planned to come (and join the physical queue) tonight but she (Catalina) was like ‘No, no, no. Let’s see how it is.’ And then, there was somebody in line already.”

That “somebody” is Simone, an 18-year-old student at Nanyang Polytechnic. Like Catalina, Simone arrived at around 9am on Thursday. However, she was slightly ahead and ended up being the first person in line, that is, someone with a very high chance of scoring general sales tickets on Friday.

Despite the power she wields, Simone plans to only purchase Category 4 or 5 tickets (which cost S$248 and S$168, respectively) for just one show, citing budget issues. Like June, Simone opted to queue physically as “there were a lot of system crashes due to overload” and “there was a better chance of getting tickets (via SingPost) based on personal experience”.

Within hours of queuing, Simone had already formed a friendship with Catalina and June – the two women even helped watch over her spot as she went to have lunch with her mother. Swifties stick together, clearly. 

With queues for the concert happening throughout Singapore, CNA Lifestyle also dropped by SingPost’s Choa Chu Kang outlet at around 3pm and boy, were we in for a surprise.

While clutching a vinyl copy of Swift’s Midnights album, Qayyum, 25, told us: “I chose this outlet because it is the closest to my house and people say that Choa Chu Kang is quite ulu (remote), so this is the perfect place for me.”

Like most of the people we interviewed, Qayyum plans to attend only one show.

“I feel that everyone deserves to go to a Taylor Swift concert and the probability of getting a ticket is 1.5 per cent which is quite insane.”

Those trying to buy tickets on Friday have already cleared one hurdle – they are the lucky ones who have received a unique access code to participate in general sales, both online and offline. Some others have been put on a waitlist and will only be given codes should there be enough seats available.

However, showing up is not the surefire recipe for success that some think it is and SingPost has stepped in to curb expectations. At around 1pm on Thursday, SingPost informed fans in a social media post that "chances of purchasing tickets are very low beyond the 30th position in queue", much to the disappointment of a few fans.

So how are those in the coveted less-than-30 positions planning to pass the time with around 20 hours to go till the start of general sales?

“Chit-chat, watch some K-dramas and read books,” said June in Novena.

Over in Choa Chu Kang, full-time National Serviceman Qayyum will be “streaming Taylor Swift and watching Netflix shows” while waiting for Friday.

Given the influx of high-profile concerts held in Singapore in the coming months, such as Twice and Coldplay, more and more fans are turning to SingPost outlets to secure their tickets. Yet, some netizens feel like the act of queuing overnight outside a post office borders on “excessive”. What do these fans have to say about that?

Catalina quipped: “It’s not excessive as we like (Swift’s) songs and we like her. That’s why we think it’s worth queuing up. We just buy enough for our own use and not for resale.”

Simone echoed her sentiments, saying: “It isn’t obsessive and I shouldn’t risk anything (for this concert). If you want something and are passionate about it, you should do all you can to get it.”

In any case, time will soon tell whether the efforts of these fans will be worth it.