By the time fans learned that Taylor Swift‘s three-night run in Vienna would be canceled due to a terror threat, authorities had already been working tirelessly behind the scenes to uncover and foil a plot that threatened the lives of thousands of people. The week’s events have rekindled concerns internationally about large-scale event safety, with Swift’s concerts the largest to face such a threat in years.
Multiple experts in live event security and risk management tell Rolling Stone that canceling the concerts was the correct decision, even though the police intervened before the attack could take place. Neither Swift nor promoter Barracuda Music were legally compelled to stop it, but the decision, the experts say, comes down to common sense.
“There was a credible terrorist threat, related to ISIS. The guy who was arrested had the means of committing mass carnage,” Steve Adelman, an attorney who serves as vice president of the Event Safety Alliance, tells Rolling Stone. “That’s more than enough to warrant a cancellation.”
Mark Camillo is senior advisor for Contemporary Services Corporation, which provides security and crowd management expertise for sports and entertainment events in the U.S. “From all that I’ve read, and looking at security information and unclassified intelligence briefings, it appears that the promoters made the decision out of an abundance of caution and that authorities didn’t know how far-reaching this was, so I think they made the right choice,” he says. “Touring artists have to be ready for this … because the popularity of different artists could bring an interest in exploiting the event for political gain or, in this case, to promote an extremist agenda.”
When the authorities don’t forcibly cancel a show, Adelman says, it comes down to the promoters and talent to determine the cause of action. “There is a famous line from a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1964,” he says. “Justice [Potter] Stewart wrote [of obscenity], ‘I know it when I see it.’ This is like that: There’s not a bright line or specific criteria. It’s not that clear. It’s going to be in the eye of the beholder. It’s going to depend on countless circumstances on the ground.”
Camillo says that while there is a protocol for hazards like bad weather at large events, “man-made threats,” like terrorism, are largely uncharted territory. “There is no standard,” he says. “There’s only best practices and what security professionals take as being experienced by observing. What the Austrians are doing right now will be studied very carefully, and that’ll allow other host venues around Europe and perhaps in the States in their decision-making matrix.”
There is no uniform federal regulation in the live-events space in the U.S., though the Department of Homeland Security does apply “special event assessment ratings” to events of national significance, from parades to the World Cup. It’s up to sporting venues and governing institutions like the NFL to determine their own best practices. They can also follow guidelines from organizations like the International Association of Venue Managers and the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security. The way that concerts are sometimes planned with less than a month’s notice makes it difficult to pursue federal support, Camillo says.
What made Swift’s shows a greater risk were the 10,000 Swifties expected to be listening in outside of the stadium at each concert, with Austrian officials saying Thursday that the suspect’s goal was to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.” Fans outside would be more vulnerable because they’d be outside of the event’s official perimeter, lacking security.
“It’s a super soft target,” Adelman says. “There is no security perimeter for people sitting on a hill outside the stadium. In light of the fact that these people couldn’t be protected … I don’t imagine [canceling] was a complicated decision to make.”
Camillo says it’s up to security officials to work with local authorities to have resources available to protect crowds in the event of an attack. This can be difficult if there are limited police available; the law enforcement that people see at stadiums are often off-duty cops earning overtime. The more time organizers have to plan ahead and work with local authorities, the safer an event would be.
Russ Simons, a managing partner at venue consultancy company Venue Solutions Group, adds: “They handled it exactly correctly. On the surface, it might seem like what happened is understood, but [they] can’t know who else might be involved, who might’ve been a part of a collective plot. It easily could’ve been with more people, you don’t know. You can never know everything and out of an abundance of caution it’s the right decision.”
To mitigate risks for the outdoor fans, Adelman says event organizers could establish a perimeter around the venue or merely encourage them not to congregate outside for their own safety. “If someone with the level of influence that Taylor Swift has says, ‘Swifties, I love you. I don’t want you to be in harm’s way, please don’t congregate en masse outside of where I can protect you because I don’t want you to be at risk,’ my guess is a lot of fans would be heartbroken but it’d be very effective,” he says.
The planned attack against Swift’s shows is the latest in a line of terrorism threats to hit concerts around the world over the past decade, as attacks have escalated since the late 2000s, according to a 2022 study from the Cambridge University Press. There were the devastating attacks in Paris, Las Vegas, and Manchester, and more recently, Sabrina Carpenter and Noel Gallagher have had to cancel shows over bomb threats.
The reason groups like the Islamic State target concerts is simple: “It’s not Taylor Swift or her fans specifically that they were targeting, it’s the large crowd,” Pieter van Ostaeyen, a historian and Arabist with expertise in the Islamic State, says. “When the Islamic State wants to carry out an attack, they target large groups of people because they want as high of a body count as possible.”
The Vienna plot demonstrates how the Islamic State remains a capable organization intent on carrying out attacks around the world, van Ostaeyen says. The Islamic State’s global operations are coordinated through a “general directorate of provinces,” which assists potential attackers with logistics and resources and gives them missions and guidance. “How they do it, we don’t really know,” van Ostaeyen says. “They somehow get in contact and get their instructions.” In Europe, many of the potential attackers have been teenagers with local citizenship and roots in the Islamic diaspora, like the teenagers arrested so far in the Taylor Swift plot.
The Islamic State has conducted a steady drumbeat of attacks globally this year, including notable attacks at a ceremony in Kerman, Iran, in January that killed 103 people and at the Crocus City Hall outside of Moscow in March that killed 145 people. “All security services are aware that the Islamic State remains a real threat,” adds van Ostaeyen, noting that despite regular successes by Western intelligence agencies in foiling plots, capturing suspects, and killing Islamic State leaders, the group persists. “This problem will be with us for years to come.”
It’s unclear if this week’s scare will prompt changes in security for Swift’s upcoming London shows. A rep for the city’s Metro Police told The New York Times that there was “nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London.” Adelman doesn’t “anticipate anything will change for the vast majority of venues or events,” regarding security protocols internationally. But it’s safe to assume the live-events world is watching Austria’s reaction and reassessing its safety measures holistically.
Simons tells Rolling Stone several organizers he works with intend to add more visible security measures at upcoming shows to help ease concertgoers. “A case like this starts the conversation. ‘What should we be thinking about? What can we do that’s effective with the resources we have?’,” Simons says. “The best thing that happens, in the context of our industry, is that the phones start ringing, we start talking to each other, we start sharing ideas, and hopefully everyone can be a bit safer.”
Perhaps the scariest lingering fear is how one of the suspects had gotten a job with one of the Austrian stadium’s vendors. Given that the suspect is only 17, Adelman and Simons say there’s likely little information available to catch on a background check.
Nevertheless, background checks would be useful to catch what Camillo calls “insider threats.” He says special events he’s worked on have required background checks on employees, including vendors, people who sell concessions, riggers, and even security screeners. “They should all be subjected to a background check,” he says. “But a background check should not be confused with a background investigation, which goes much deeper … Those are very expensive. The question is, ‘Would a venue be willing to pay or expect a third-party venue to pay for a background investigation on an employee that may be there only four to six weeks in preparation for an event?’”
Camillo says safety is also up to concertgoers, who should use common sense and plan ahead when attending mass gatherings. He says people should read the guidelines on a venue’s website so they don’t accidentally bring contraband (like the wrong-sized bag) and distract security screeners from catching a real threat. They should also refrain from going into venues already “buzzed”; terrorists’ intentions are to create panic and cause casualties, and people who are feeling out of it could be vulnerable. Lastly, the safest place to be is inside a venue rather than tailgating outside since there is security there. “I would always plan on entering the stadium or arena when it opens rather than wait and be caught in a dense crowd that can trigger a stampede,” he says.
And he also subscribes to the advice that “if you see something, say something.” “If somebody or something seems out of place — a satchel, a backpack — please let the authorities know that it’s there,” he says. “As hard as they work, they can’t see everything. The best eyes and ears are the eyes and ears of an attentive crowd.”
Mac William Bishop contributed to this report.
