The Swifties made a swift departure.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert was one of the biggest concert performances ever held in Singapore.
With 22 million fans who registered for Eras Tour in Singapore, and six sold-out shows, over 300,000 Swifties are estimated to have seen Taylor Swift perform live all under one roof, sweating and screaming their lungs out and throats dry in the humidity.
Recently, with the hype of the concert, Singapore has also received international acclaim for its swift (haha) crowd control and its efficient public transport system.
Safely evacuating around 55,000 people in one night, including the massive number of Swifties camping outside the National Indoor Stadium is no small feat, so how exactly did they do it?
DJ hosts Taylor Swift Karaoke Session Outside Indoor Stadium
No, I’m not kidding. Here’s a picture of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
While the exit points were located relatively near the Indoor Stadium, remember that this is 60,000 people we’re talking about, including those outside, all rushing to leave the fastest to escape the sweltering heat.
A massive crowd of people racing to reach a single destination usually doesn’t bode well, especially when the weather is as hot and humid as it is in Singapore. Stampedes have been known to cause fatal crowd crushes, as well as asphyxiation and brain swelling, similar to what happened in Itaewon, October 2022.
In order to ensure that the fans didn’t crush each other on their way out, the production team set up a stage, a host, countless barricades, and hired a hyperactive DJ with a dream to play Taylor Swift classics as concertgoers were safely guided out.
People grooved and moved to the music, and some even stayed behind to participate in the collective Karaoke session, belting out the heartfelt lyrics to Cruel Summer; this ensured that the train station wouldn’t be congested when the trains arrived.
International fans were impressed by the efficient crowd control and the staff’s efforts to maintain the safety of the concertgoers even in such a chaotic situation. In fact, they were so impressed that they took to social media to express their amazement.
TikTok user @jaredcadz, who seems to be from Malaysia based on their profile, even cited that they “salute” and have “massive respect for the crowd control and smooth operations.” Another international Swiftie from the Philippines said that ”Singapore just proves that they are [a] 1st world country.”
Truly, something to be proud of.
So, who is the man behind the microphone?
In response to the viral positive reception by concertgoers, @rosssarpani on TikTok, who hosted the Karaoke session and entertained Swifties, allowing the MRT stations to not become congested, said that it was, “[his] pleasure.”
If you’ve seen enough trending #SGErastour tiktoks, you’ve probably seen many people talking about the efficient public transport system.
What did SMRT do?
To prepare for the Great War after the Taylor Swift concert, SMRT had increased the frequency of trains traveling to and from Stadium MRT; while the intervals used to be from around five to seven minutes, it’s been reduced significantly to as low as two minutes between every arriving train to accommodate for the large number of commuters. Here are some other changes they’ve implemented to better the commuting journey for concertgoers:
- Hiring more staff to guide commuters through and to the station in large batches
- Keeping faregates open (the gantry) to ease movement in and out of the station. (This means that you don’t have to pay.)
All these changes have exponentially shortened the waiting time, and coupled with the Taylor Swift Karaoke session? I really don’t know how it gets better than this.
This just shows how committed SMRT is to ensuring a seamless and safe MRT journey for its commuters. “We are heartened by the compliments from commuters commending SMRT staff for their excellent work and the positive experience they had with us after recent concerts.” — President, SMRT Trains, Mr Lam Sheau Kai says on Instagram in response to the positive reception from fans of Taylor Swift.
Not the first time this has happened
During best selling artists Coldplay’s world tour, Music of the Spheres, the band came to Singapore in late January to perform 6 of its sold out shows at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
With International fans hailing from all over the world, including fellow South East Asian Fans and those from the West, Singapore just had to impress!
Deploying a strategy similar to the one used in Taylor Swift, Viva La Vida, one of Coldplay’s most famous songs, blared from towering speakers as concertgoers made their way towards the MRT stations. Fans cheered and laughed and vibed as they slowly marched towards their destinations, singing in unison by their shared passion for the artists.
Concertgoers praised the innovative thinking employed by the staff involved in managing the crowd, even going on TikTok to say that the concert’s “after show” was very ,”vibes” and that the efficiency of Singapore’s public transport system is on another level.
Singaporeans may have a lot to complain about, but this certainly isn’t one of them.
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