Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Anger as tickets to see singer touted for £440
TICKETS to see Take That star Gary Barlow at two Tayside venues are being touted for sale at hugelyinflated prices — despite not going on general sale until tomorrow.
The singer will bring his solo tour to the Caird Hall in Dundee and Perth Concert Hall next April.
Some fans snapped up pre-sale tickets through a special promotion yesterday.
But dozens of the briefs are already available on resale sites including Viagogo and StubHub.
When the Tele visited Viagogo today, several balcony tickets were being offered for sale at up to £440 — more than twice the price of the most expensive face-value tickets and a staggering 11 times the cost of the cheapest.
StubHub had Dundee show briefs for sale at prices of up to £325.
Meanwhile, Perth tickets were being sold for prices upwards of £330.
Councillor Brian Gordon, who sits on the board of Leisure and Culture Dundee — which oversees the running of the Caird Hall — branded it “an absolute scandal”.
He added: “It is happening more and more often.
“They keep saying they are going to clamp down on it but that doesn’t happen. To fleece people like that is despicable.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager at FanFair Alliance — which campaigns for fair ticket selling — said that Barlow’s fans should steer clear of resale sites.
He said: “These listings do not provide such crucial details as seat and row numbers, so there is every chance that the tickets have been posted speculatively.
“The Caird Hall box office also makes it crystal clear that the reselling of tickets on a third-party website will result in the cancellation of a booking.”
A spokesman for Leisure and Culture Dundee said that “the reselling of tickets on a third party website will result in cancellation of the booking”.
Fans have also been told that it’s unlikely they will be able to book tickets for the show in person or by phone through the Caird Hall box office — saying that tickets for the singer’s tour normally sell out online within minutes.
Briefs will be available through the box office website, Ticketmaster and See Tickets.
The Tele contacted Barlow’s representatives but had not received a response at the time of going to press.
Viagogo and StubHub were also asked to comment but did not respond. Our