'I just spent four hours in a Ticketek queue and I am a shell of my former self.'

Okay fine, insert all the Swiftie puns here:

We've got 'Bad Blood'!

We can't shake this off!

And we might be okay but we're not fine at all!

I bet $20 at least one of those makes it onto a major newspaper front page tomorrow morning.

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ICYMI, which I'm sure you didn't, today the presale for Taylor Swift's upcoming Sydney and Melbourne stops on her record-shattering Eras Tour took place.

I had spent the eight days since the show announcements preparing mentally, financially and... technologically. I also hadn't really slept since the announcement, which is half down to insomnia and half down to my 'Anxiety (Taylor's Version)'.

I think we all knew it was going to be a s**t show. And a s**t show it was!

I, along with more than 800,000 others, have just come out of very long, very tedious online queue. Personally, I was there for FOUR goddamn hours before Ticketek announced general tickets allotted for the presale had sold out. Some VIP packages remained, but after ANOTHER hour in the queue, I finally conceded defeat and closed my tabs.

If you're wondering what that journey was like, these tweets sum it up nicely:

everyone on ticketek rn: pic.twitter.com/9tkkqcw2F5

— tamsyn ♡ (@tamsynkelly_) June 28, 2023

ITS BEEN AN HOUR WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM STILL ON THE SAME PAGE #ticketek #ErasTourtickets pic.twitter.com/U0Q4Jowjt2

— ashley (@ashbarinn) June 28, 2023

POV: me in the queue rn#ticketek pic.twitter.com/OmCzTW7ni8

— ally is trying for Taylor Swift tickets… (@whothehellslexi) June 28, 2023

"Get in the queue 15 minutes beforeha-" I HAVE BEEN QUEUING FOR TWO HOURS WHERE ARE THE TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS FOR SYDNEY TICKETEK pic.twitter.com/wVyDn9Zg6z

— Owen Murphy (@foreveralowen) June 28, 2023

Dearest Ticketek Gods I love your website and most specifically the lounge! Love what you’ve done with the place and if you see this remember my name and that I respect the lounge but I think I’m ready to move on from the lounge. #Ticketek

— Hannah (@HannahWolfy) June 28, 2023

If Ticketek would just say "Sydney Taylor Swift presale is fully sold out" then I could at least move on with my fucking day. I'm still in my pyjamas.

— MattyG (@AmmoGlitter) June 28, 2023

everytime it pauses at 0 seconds #ticketek pic.twitter.com/hwXgUKBio2

— sarah ♡ (@sarahgracepena) June 28, 2023

I love how they call it ‘lounge’ more like the pits of HELL #ticketek

— chelsea (@sweetenedqueen) June 28, 2023

The queuing system itself caused a lot of frustration as well. The queue does not work chronologically, so there's just as much chance someone who has been there for 10 minutes could make it through as someone who's been there three hours.

Ticketek insists it's not 'randomised', but it certainly feels... quite random, based on everyone's experiences today.

Long story short (another pun!), this blue line will give me flashbacks for the rest of my life:

Brand new definition of the word 'soon' just dropped!

The 800,000 people – a number that came out of just the Sydney presale, before Melbourne's had even begun – is a new national record, according to The Guardian. Across the two Melbourne and three Sydney shows, there are about 450,000 seats available.

(Note: two additional shows have since been confirmed, another in Sydney and another in Melbourne.)

I've been a Taylor fan for half my life (literally!), and those numbers are ASTOUNDING. She was always popular but never THIS popular???? For the large, large majority of my 15 years as a fan, people made fun of me for how much I loved her. 

And now they're all in the damn queue too.

It's baffling and incredible that 17 years into her career, Taylor has managed to find a totally new level of world domination.

I would like to be able to see it for myself, though! Please! No seriously, please? I'm begging.

Despite the demand, Ticketek Australia has confirmed the scheduled general sale on Friday will go forward as planned.

So I'll see you there for another battle in 'The Great War'.

Chelsea McLaughlin is Mamamia's Senior Entertainment Writer and co-host of The Spill. For more pop culture takes, recommendations and sarcasm, you can follow her on Instagram.

Feature image: Getty/Supplied/Twitter.