And so just under a week away until the first show in Newcastle next Sunday and the excitement mounts.Just to give you a heads up.
I was at Easter Road at the weekend and bumped into a fan who wants to come to the Glasgow show but expressed disappointment as he had seen on a ticket site that it was sold out. There’s a really annoying phenomenon coming into play with these sell on ticket sites. They are announcing gigs are sold out when the fact is they have sold out of their allocation and the gig itself isn’t.
There are still tickets left for the final show in Glasgow and none of the UK dates apart from Saturday in Islington are sold out. Friday in London has about 40 or so left but the others still have tickets available.
I’ve just come off the phone to Mark at the Gig Cartel and he is becoming increasingly frustrated at the way the sell on sites are operating and what they are charging above and beyond the actual ticket price. We are going to have a conversation in London and I plan to write up an article outlining the issues that are beginning to cripple the live scene and touring in general.
It’s time the government stepped in and dealt with this rather than giving the problem lip service. Fans and bands are being ripped off with the current set up and the venues/ ticket agencies and international corporations behind the scenes are making more money than the promoters and artists.
When ticketing agencies are announcing sold out shows and pushing people onto other agencies which they have an involvement with who are selling at inflated prices it is nothing short of a rip off and should be made illegal.
The add ons to ticket prices such as ‘restoration’ contributions and ‘research and development’ are invalid and should not be allowed.
As I said I’ll be doing some more research into this after the tour and I’ll publish here as well as take it up with my local MP as this needs to be urgently addressed.
Surf around when looking for tickets for my UK shows and don’t give up if you want to come along. There are still reasonably priced tickets out there but be wary of who you buy from.