Dark Mofo scam warning
DARK Mofo and Mona Foma organisers have warned festival-goers against purchasing tickets from third party websites after Bon Iver tickets appeared on Viagogo at a 257 per cent mark-up.
The American indie folk act was the first artist announced on the Dark Mofo 2020 lineup.
The band will be performing songs from their new album i,i (pronounced i comma i) at MAC2 on June 12 and 13 as part of their national tour.
Tickets to the sold-out shows were $99 but yesterday appeared on Viagogo for $354.
Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael said legitimate tickets would not be distributed until days before the event.
“It’s come to our attention that Dark Mofo Bon Iver tickets are for sale on the Viagogo website at a 257 per cent markup,” he said. “We strongly advise our audience not to buy tickets from Viagogo or any other third party. No tickets have been created or sent yet. They are sent three days before the performance. This is designed to thwart scalpers.”
Mr Carmichael said every ticket had a unique barcode that could only be used once.
“If you purchase tickets from a third party like Viagogo, Gumtree or eBay, we cannot guarantee that they will be valid,” he said. “Your best bet to get tickets to a sold-out show is to join the waitlist on our website, which is powered by our official ticket resale platform for those who are no longer able to attend.
“We want to protect our audience from paying inflated prices for their tickets; having their tickets cancelled and subsequently being denied entry to the event; or falling prey to a fraudster and not receiving the tickets at all.”
Mona Foma curator Brian Ritchie said event organisers, artists and the public needed to join forces to put a stop to the “spurious activity”.
“The entertainment industry has always been full of slippery creatures exploiting artists, and now ticket onsellers are manipulating the wild western frontier known as the internet to fleece the public,” Mr Ritchie said.
“As both an organiser and a musician, I want ticket holders to have legitimate access to our festival and events at the appropriate price — first to actually get into the venue, and second to have enough spare change to buy something to eat or drink. This will not happen when dealing with scalpers and fraudulent operators.”
Mona Foma takes place from January 11-20 in Launceston — www.mofo.net.au
Dark Mofo takes place June from June 10-20 in Hobart — www.darkmofo.net.au