Early January, students around campus scrambled to secure tickets for upcoming music tours. Each teen faces multiple challenges, whether it be with the school wifi or facing the consequences of skipping school. Millions around the world are fighting for a chance to see their preferred artists including Taylor Swift, SZA and the Arctic Monkeys. Were any of the Wildcats lucky enough to be in the 2% of people who got tickets?

When McKenzie Thompson didn’t get presale tickets, she said panic started to set in and she tried to find alternate ways to see her favorite artist face-to-face. Thompson stayed home in hopes to have better results in getting general sales. 

“I stayed home the whole day because I didn’t get presale, so my chances were already low and I didn’t want school wifi to make it worse. Luckily, my mom has a Capital One credit card which gives us lots of advantages because the tour is sponsored by Capital One,” Thompson said. 

Students around the world including McKenzie were prepared for the classes they were going to miss. Taylor Swift has been a huge sensation for years, so Thompson said she knew how to prepare for success. But the chances of getting a ticket wasn’t the only problem many had to face, as the price of the seats were unreasonable.

“After being stuck in the waiting room for 45 minutes, websites started to crash and venues started to pause. There was no way to get tickets. My mom and I decided to see if there were any tickets getting re-sold. These prices were unbearable. We discovered tickets that ranged from $1,000 to even $12,000,” Thompson said. 

Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” wasn’t the only tour with known price issues. SZA, an R&B artist, announced her tour “SOS” shortly after Swift’s was announced. Many rushed over to buy tickets after hearing SZA was going on tour. She has come out with 16 hit singles through the years and hasn’t toured since 2018, so people were eager to figure out ways to get their hands on tickets. 

“After SZA announced her tour, I was so excited to get tickets, especially because I knew this would most likely be her only tour for a while. I knew that the prices would be high for the tickets because her most recent album has been so successful, but it was worth it. I was shocked after finding out bad seats were being sold for around $700,” Addi Baker said. 

Tyler Nygren worried about the school’s wifi interfering with his chances of securing a ticket to the Arctic Monkeys concert coming up.

Nygren said, “I knew that I was getting these tickets no matter what, but the school wifi made it so hard. I kept having to reload and refresh, and it took me so many tries just to get into the waiting room.”

by AVA SAMULEWSKI AND MIA ESTRADA