Taylor Swift arrived in Brazil on Thursday and was greeted by a projection that made Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue look like she was wearing a T-shirt similar to the one she wore in “You Belong to Me.” . The music video is decorated with symbols from her songs.
But tragedy and trouble also ensue.
A fan died in the sweltering heat during a show in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night. At the eleventh hour, Ms. Swift postponed Saturday’s show to Monday, much to the dismay of thousands of fans who had begun to fill the stadium. Carabinieri said a fan attending a regular concert in Rio de Janeiro was stabbed to death on Sunday morning.
The deaths and other issues ran counter to the triumph of the first leg of Swift’s Eras Tour, a career-spanning performance that broke records in North America. As Sunday night’s second show of the tour approaches in Rio de Janeiro, fans are left in limbo. Travel plans, heat and disappointment.
Anne Di Motta, 30, a psychologist in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was supposed to attend Saturday night’s show but said she would go home before Monday’s rescheduled concert, Because she has to work.
“I’ve been waiting for the past 17 years for the chance to leave and fulfill my teenage dream of meeting someone I’ve known since her first single,” Ms. DiMotta said. Sitting in a chair for three hours, completely sweating it out, having to overcome several personal challenges to get there completely on my own, to receive the news of the cancellation – it was completely devastating.”
Swift posted on Instagram hours before the concert was scheduled to begin at an open-air football stadium that Saturday night’s show had been postponed due to extreme temperatures. “The safety and well-being of my fans, performers and other performers on the crew must and will always come first,” she said.
Thousands of fans braved 93-degree temperatures to see Ms. Swift before being asked to leave the venue.
Representatives for Swift did not immediately respond to emailed questions about the postponement of Saturday’s performance.
The Rio show follows Ms. Swift’s performance in argentinaIt is the first stop of Eras’ tour outside of North America. She had to move one show to Buenos Aires because of the hot weather. She plans to perform in Sao Paulo on November 24, November 25 and November 26 before heading to her next stop in South America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Social media influencer Julia Alvarenga at the stadium When the concert was postponed and said in the video Share widely online “Taylor, I’m wearing a senior diaper and it doesn’t fit tightly,” Ms. Alvarenga said.
“I bought water, I bought fans, and everyone was crying and screaming because you were on this stage!” Ms. Alvarenga said.
Gabriela Werner, a 24-year-old marketing analyst who bought tickets to every show in Rio and two shows in São Paulo, said she started preparing for the heat three months ago, at noon Exercise in a gym without air conditioning. Lives in Porto Alegre, about 700 miles southwest of Rio.
As she waited in line for Sunday night’s concert, Ms. Werner said the atmosphere was much calmer than Friday’s show. “It wasn’t too hot and everyone was a little hesitant because of what happened the night before,” she said.
She did not expect Ms Swift to return to Brazil. “I’m sure she was traumatized,” Ms. Warner said.
Ms Werner, like many other fans, blames the problems on Happy Hour, the Brazilian company that organizes the show. Wadih Damous, head of Brazil’s consumer protection agency, said the government would investigate Happy Hour. The company said on Saturday it would add staff, provide free water and allow fans to bring water and food into the stadium.
Police said there were reports of disturbances near the venue as crowds left the stadium on Saturday night.
Matheus Duarte, a 24-year-old warehouse worker, saw people shouting that an attack had taken place after leaving the stadium and heading to a nearby shopping mall.
“I really don’t know if this actually happened, but I saw people running in desperation. As soon as I saw it, I started running and hiding in the parking lot,” Duarte said.
On Sunday, military police said there were no reports of robberies or robberies the night before. But before Sunday’s concert, a concertgoer in Rio de Janeiro was stabbed to death during a robbery attempt on the famous seaside Copacabana. Gendarmerie said two men were arrested. Police said the fan, named Gabriel Mognot Santana Milholm Santos, was with friends when he was stabbed.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died after losing consciousness during Friday’s show, officials said. Ms. Swift was taken to a hospital where she died of cardiac arrest, according to city officials and the Brazilian company that organized Ms. Swift’s performance. .
Ms. Benevides, a psychology student, traveled from Rondonopolis, about 880 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, to attend the concert. Globe reportHer friend Emiliane Félix, 22, told O Globo that Ms. Benevides had been sending photos of her concert outfit to friends for “more than a month.”
Taking to the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform, Ms. Benevides shared her excitement for the concert, writing November 7, “I don’t know what my life goals are after meeting Taylor.”
Fans at the concert on Friday People complained of lack of water and intense heat. The heat index, a measure of how hot the air feels due to humidity, hit 139 degrees Fahrenheit, a record for Rio de Janeiro.
Swift said in a post online that she was “devastated” by the fan’s death. “I can’t talk about it on stage because I get so sad when I try to talk about it,” she said.
Economist Luiza Guimarães, 33, said she was disappointed it took so long for Saturday’s show to be canceled because some fans were already unsure about the show following Ms Benivedes’ death Will it go ahead and worry about it being too hot. The show was produced very recklessly and everything was poorly managed,” she said.
Ms Guimarães said she did not blame Ms Swift for the problems and believed the musician must be “very, very frustrated”.
Jack Nickas Reporting from Buenos Aires.