The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Not a nice day for Phonics fans as ticket touts strike
MUSIC: Tayside gig briefs selling online at five times the asking price as fans miss out
Tickets to see one of the UK’s most popular bands in Dundee were being touted for five times the asking price hours after locals queued for four hours in the rain to snap them up.
More than 100 fans lined up outside Dundee City Box Office yesterday morning in the hope of seeing the Stereophonics at the Caird Hall on August 22. However more than half were turned away after they sold out within 30 minutes, leaving devoted fans “gutted”.
Within minutes tickets began appearing for resale on websites like eBay-owned StubHub and Viagogo for as much as £200 per person – fives times the asking price.
Adam Webb, campaign manager at the FanFair Alliance, accused “low-heel operations” of “profiteering” by the reselling of tickets through online marketplaces.
Briefs bought through Dundee City Box Office then re-sold are being “policed”, with staff vowing to cancel any such bookings.
Tickets to see one of the UK’s most popular rock bands in Dundee were being touted for five times the price just hours after locals queued in the rain in vain for up to four hours to snap them up.
More than 100 music fans lined up outside the Dundee City Box Office in City Square yesterday morning in the hope of seeing the Stereophonics at the Caird Hall on August 22.
However, more than half were turned away after they sold out within 30 minutes, with several angrily confronting box office staff.
Devoted fans said they were “gutted” after braving the rain to snap up briefs to see the Welsh rockers – only to miss out.
Within minutes, tickets began appearing for resale on websites like eBay-owned StubHub and Viagogo for as much as £200 per person.
They had gone on general sale at 9am priced at £38.50 for both the standing and seating sections.
StubHub prices for the standing section of the venue were £200 each, while centre balcony ones were between £67 and £99.95, with gallery ones ranged between £89.99 and £175.
Viagogo was offering tickets for the gallery section at £69.98, while balcony prices were between £88.93 and £109.95 and those in the standing section were valued at just under £110.
Briefs bought through Dundee City Box Office and then resold are being “policed”, with staff vowing to cancel any such bookings. However, those sold on through others websites such as Ticketmaster, or by the band themselves, are outside its control.
Dundee City Box Office is a member of the FanFair Alliance, which campaigns against “industrial-scale online ticket touting”.
A box office spokesman said: “We do actively police the reselling of tickets which we can identify have been purchased via Dundee City Box Office but cannot control any tickets sold through other agents.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager at the FanFair Alliance added: “It is these kind of low-heel operations that dominate the so-called secondary ticketing market – all looking to make a quick buck at the expense of genuine audiences.”
Angela Ferry was turned away emptyhanded, having queued since just after 7am. The 51-year-old support worker said: “I was gutted, totally gutted. I half expected the queue to be bigger. I was at the door when I was told (they had sold out).
“Why aren’t they playing Slessor Gardens?”
Jenni Mitchell also missed out: “We tried online as well, they sold out within five or six minutes there. I am totally gutted, honestly I love Stereophonics.”
Dundee man Stewart Owen was one of the last people to grab a ticket in person, having to settle for a standing one. The 36-year-old said: “I came down at 7am. I knew I had to be down here early. It’s a major thing for Dundee. ”
A StubHub spokeswoman said: “StubHub believes that when a fan buys a ticket, they are free to do what they wish with the ticket.
“It is inaccurate to say that ticket resale websites prevent fans from accessing tickets.
“Caird Hall has a capacity of more than 2,000 and there are just 14 tickets listed on StubHub for the Stereophonics concert. We should instead be asking if all tickets for this concert were made available for public sale in the first place.
“The vast majority of sellers on StubHub.co.uk are private sellers – fans who occasionally sell a small number of tickets – but a mature ticket market will always have a small number of professional sellers.”
Viagogo and Stereophonics have both been approached for comment.