U2 Joshua Tree Tour 2017 / 2019 **No Ticket Sales**

ThisRegard

The Popmart gig in Dublin was great too and I don't recall it being too difficult to get a ticket, plus I strolled in and got a wristband for the pit area or whatever it's called. Only issue I remember was the poor signage and direction back towards the city afterwards.

I'm not someone who went for tickets or got burnt by the process this morning, but am someone who watches the ticketing industry closely. It deserves a thread of its own, but in this particular case the content of the last 30 or so pages is of no surprise to me.

The odds are so stacked against the regular punter in a general on-sale, it's eye-opening. Also, only a fraction of the overall amount of tickets for an event actually make it to the general on-sale.

Some relevant videos have been posted here today, I didn't see the following posted though. It's an article written for The Ringer last June by Nathan Hubbard who was CEO of Ticketmaster from 2010-2013.

Titled 'Why You Can’t Get a Ticket to the NBA Finals...and every other major event on the planet. This is a fan’s guide to why you’re totally screwed.' it tries to address everything from pre-sales and fanclubs to the bands and artists' own role in the reselling market and their profiting from it. It's about 10 minutes of a read, but can shine some light on why many genuine fans end up ticketless and rightfully frustrated.

https://theringer.com/ticket-industry-problem-solution-e4b3b71fdff6#.2q5pgtij4

horseburger

Andres Brave Ping-pong wrote: »

It's the lyrics to one of his songs.

I know a lot about him. Forced to listen to his two albums, for months on end, to the point where I can tell you what notes he sings and in what bar of the song.


He's utterly dreadful and I'm not afraid to say it. I can see the merit and attraction in all music that isn't rap, but he's a different kettle of fish

Why do you exclude rap? If you do, how could you exclude Public Enemy?

Ally Dick

ThisRegard wrote: »

The Popmart gig in Dublin was great too and I don't recall it being too difficult to get a ticket, plus I strolled in and got a wristband for the pit area or whatever it's called. Only issue I remember was the poor signage and direction back towards the city afterwards.

I suppose 20 years ago was in the days before touting became endemic

tritriagain

The internet ( root of all evil ) has made the world small for touts who have now become corporate. I used to go to loads of gigs years ago and bought many tickets outside venues for face value or less even when supposedly selling for big money. But now some believe the hype in the media and thinks they can make a quick buck.will tickets be sold for extravagant amounts.? Of course but I'd bet not as many as you might think. Big difference in advertising tickets at a price and actually selling them at that price.

Argo foc yourself

Did all the people that queued at ticketmaster outlets get tickets? Is there only a certain for sale at the outlets?

samo

stankratz wrote: »

An article written for The Ringer last June by Nathan Hubbard who was CEO of Ticketmaster from 2010-2013.

Titled 'Why You Can’t Get a Ticket to the NBA Finals...and every other major event on the planet. This is a fan’s guide to why you’re totally screwed.' it tries to address everything from pre-sales and fanclubs to the bands and artists' own role in the reselling market and their profiting from it. It's about 10 minutes of a read, but can shine some light on why many genuine fans end up ticketless and rightfully frustrated.

https://theringer.com/ticket-industry-problem-solution-e4b3b71fdff6#.2q5pgtij4

Very interesting read, I suppose somewhat unsurprisingly as the ex-ceo of Ticketmaster he absolves ticketmaster of much of the responsibility and re-directs accountability back to the artists but it would be interesting to see if politicians (and the artists!) had the teeth to go after a proper solution that it could be done.

marvin80

Ally Dick wrote: »

I remember I went to U2 Popmart in Madrid around 20 years ago. It was great. Tickets were half the price of Dublin, and got one handy enough. They played the Vincent Calderon stadium. Was a beautiful summer night, and had a seat in the stand. Who needs Dublin

I did the same for Muse a few years ago in that stadium - lovely stadium, great weather, cheap tickets - that's how you do it!!

sydthebeat

Ally Dick wrote: »

I remember I went to U2 Popmart in Madrid around 20 years ago. It was great. Tickets were half the price of Dublin, and got one handy enough. They played the Vincent Calderon stadium. Was a beautiful summer night, and had a seat in the stand. Who needs Dublin

I saw their popmart tour in Rotterdam back in the day, just such a fun experience. Nothing topped zoo tv in the rds though, one of my first ever gigs.

johnpatrick81

Ian Dempsey dropping loads of hints about a Parc Ui Chaoimh gig this morning on Today FM. He's usually ITK with regard U2 announcements.

psychozeb

johnpatrick81 wrote: »

Ian Dempsey dropping loads of hints about a Parc Ui Chaoimh gig this morning on Today FM. He's usually ITK with regard U2 announcements.

That'd be nice,fingers crossed.

Veloce

Anyone going to try and buy tickets for the North American gigs today?

dinevalesco

Care to give non-listeners the general gist? (In relation to Ian Dempsey)

johnpatrick81

dinevalesco wrote: »

Care to give non-listeners the general gist? (In relation to Ian Dempsey)

He seemed to be discussing it just before I tuned in, but was transferring to sport and asked the sports guy about whether he had heard anything about a second gig(Croke park connections). Yer man said he'd heard a flat no. Then Dempsey mentioned Cork and the re-opening in June of the new stadium...and was all *wink wink nudge nudge* and the two of them were like "you never know!! they played there in 87!".

Gift grub was Joshua tree related, after which he mentioned Cork again, and said about a twitter handle u2cork and a website trying to drum up interest.

Coulda been pure trolling by Dempsey but he's usually on the money with U2 news.

dinevalesco

Cheers for taking the time to post. Appreciated.

neiljung

Possibly some good news for some folk on here.

I tried like many on here to purchase tickets when they went on sale yesterday morning. Was delighted to get 2 tickets in the basket pretty early on but the system kept failing when I tried to complete the purchase using a credit card. This failed about ten times before I was kicked out of the purchase section to re-select tickets which were by that stage all sold out. No sign of any booking from within my ticketmaster account and no emails either.

By complete chance I was looking at my bank account last night and saw a pending transaction with ticketmaster. I rang their customer support this morning and after a little back and forth was quoted a confirmation number over the phone and told that I did have 2 tickets alright. When I pushed as to when I would get an email or any other confirmation I was told that they were having problems at their end. So if you got that far in the purchase system it would be worth checking out your bank account ASAP.

Tombo2001

greenspurs wrote: »

Seriously ?! :eek:
The Strolling Bones ?! jaysus ..........

They have a super new album out, which is more than you can say for U2.....

Tombo2001

Much as I like U2, and the Joshua Tree, I just think this ticket nonsense is beyond me for what at the end of the day is a two hour concert. I just couldn't be bothered. The system is clearly against the regular punter.

There were probably no more than 40000 tickets on sale yesterday. Any individual can buy 8 tickets. That means probably 12000-15000 individuals got to buy a ticket yesterday.....that's not very many, compared to demand.

Would have been very easy to do 2 or 4 tickets a head, they didn't; if they cant be bothered, then why should I.

irishgrover

U2 are managed by Live Nation
Live Nation own TicketMaster
TIcket Master own SeatWave
It's basically a big circle jerk with U2<>LiveNation<>TicketMaster<>Seatware ....with the fans in the middle getting screwed.

There are no innocent parties in this. It's just a case of how much fans will swallow before getting the **** out

hatrickpatrick

In case anyone still wants to claim that Ticketmaster are somehow behaving ethically with their seatwave sh!te,

https://www.thesun.ie/archives/irish-news/231921/ticketmaster-fights-touting-law-as-coldplay-tickets-go-for-eye-watering-prices/

TICKETMASTER lobbied the Government over its opposition to tough new anti-touting legislation, the Irish Sun can reveal.

The ticketing giant, which makes a fortune from its touting website Seatwave, is against proposed laws aimed at protecting consumers from scalpers.

Representatives from the multi-million euro international company lobbied Noel Rock TD ahead of a Private Member’s Bill to highlight their concerns at the potential closure of Seatwave.

Mr Rock told the Irish Sun: “In a meeting I held with two Ticketmaster representatives at their request, they outlined some concerns with the Bill.

“These included their assertion that any ban on above cost ticket selling would result in the potential closure of Seatwave, as was the case in Belgium when similar legislation was enacted there.”

Noel Rock TD is bringing forward a bill to tackle touts

Ticketmaster insisted the meeting was to offer their advice, to assist Rock in whatever way it could, and to point out areas he might not have been familiar with.

The company’s “resale” website Seatwave is an online marketplace guaranteeing hard to get tickets for a premium, facilitating sales between buyer and seller.

When Coldplay’s Croke Park 2017 gigs were sold out in 30 minutes on Ticketmaster yesterday, fans were offered the chance to search for “resale” tickets via the Seatwave facility — but only for an average price of €248.53 rather than €69.50.

Rock announced a Bill in August to crack down on above-cost touting which, if passed as it appears certain, it could eliminate scalping at sporting and music events.

Well placed sources insisted Rock had “no interest” in what Ticketmaster had to say, adding: “Their focus is primarily about how Seatwave would shut if it (the Bill) was introduced.”

The Coldplay gigs are set to take place in Croker next year

Rock added: “It’s interesting you asked me today as touts are selling Coldplay tickets for €800.

“They are gouging hard working people left, right and centre. I’ve been at work on my own Private Member’s Bill on this topic. The Government must act now to protect consumers.

“Consumers are facing high day-to-day costs already, they shouldn’t have to pay over face value for something meant to be an enjoyable experience.

“I think a €3,000 fine will act as a heavy incentive, and will also give the sporting organisations, the IRFU, FAI, GAA, a renewed impetus.

“They are against touting but because the laws didn’t exist to back up their policy it was difficult for them.”

A Ticketmaster spokesman said: “We went to Leinster House to meet Noel Rock to help him whatever way we can. We mentioned some aspects he wasn’t aware of.

“Ticketmaster set out their position as regards the proposed Bill: that they were opposed to it, in principle.”

When asked what the legislation would mean for Seatwave, the spokesman said: “I have no comment on that, it’s speculative.”

So there you go - Ticketmaster opposes anti-touting legislation. Ergo any BS from them about being ideologically opposed to touting is just that, BS.

lambayire

Tombo2001 wrote: »

There were probably no more than 40000 tickets on sale yesterday. Any individual can buy 8 tickets. That means probably 12000-15000 individuals got to buy a ticket yesterday.....that's not very many, compared to demand.

Judging by how I was able to mess around last week on the presale, I'd be surprised if 15,000 tickets went on sale yesterday.

Croke Park season ticket holders also have options on their tickets for a while yet, so those tickets will eventually be released if the options are not taken up.

I get that folk didn't want to take up the $50 U2 membership but if you divide that down by 4 tickets, it's just over a 10 extra to get the tickets.

And it wasn't like the option was hidden. If you clicked on the U2 tickets on Ticketmaster last week, it was there right in front of your nose!!

My family all got sorted this last week and we were happy to do so.

Tombo2001

lambayire wrote: »

Judging by how I was able to mess around last week on the presale, I'd be surprised if 15,000 tickets went on sale yesterday.

Croke Park season ticket holders also have options on their tickets for a while yet, so those tickets will eventually be released if the options are not taken up.

I get that folk didn't want to take up the $50 U2 membership but if you divide that down by 4 tickets, it's just over a 10 extra to get the tickets.

And it wasn't like the option was hidden. If you clicked on the U2 tickets on Ticketmaster last week, it was there right in front of your nose!!

My family all got sorted this last week and we were happy to do so.

Look, in retrospect yes that was a better way to get tickets; but for the regular joe such as myself who doesn't often go to concerts, all the promotion is telling me tickets are going on sale on Monday morning at 9.00am....as it happens I just wanted two tickets, not four, and to be honest I'd only have wanted standing tickets, as sitting in the bog-end of Croke Park is crap for any concert. I'd rather be standing on Jones Road.

lambayire

lambayire wrote: »

Judging by how I was able to mess around last week on the presale, I'd be surprised if 15,000 tickets went on sale yesterday.

Croke Park season ticket holders also have options on their tickets for a while yet, so those tickets will eventually be released if the options are not taken up.

I get that folk didn't want to take up the $50 U2 membership but if you divide that down by 4 tickets, it's just over a 10 extra to get the tickets.

And it wasn't like the option was hidden. If you clicked on the U2 tickets on Ticketmaster last week, it was there right in front of your nose!!

My family all got sorted this last week and we were happy to do so.

You're missing the point. The only reliable way to get tickets shouldn't be to spend an extra €50 on a membership most people have no interest in. We're being taken advantage of. I am glad it worked out for you but I'm a student, only wanted 2 tickets (standing), an extra €50 is quite a significant cost for me. I probably could have stretched my budget to pay for it (and I considered it), but decided against it on principle as much as anything.

You don't need to rationalise your decision to pay the extra €50. It's ok that you did, I probably would have too if I had more money to spare, but you can still recognise that it's ultimately unfair.

Nunu

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

Did all the people that queued at ticketmaster outlets get tickets? Is there only a certain for sale at the outlets?

No.

I queued at Easons Balbriggan and after a complete farce for 12 mins at the start where only one person got tickets they started issuing max 2 per person. About 30 in the queue and all got 2 tickets. Keep in mind they were stilll issuing them well after 9:30?! Not sure how?

On the flip side my brother queued at an outlet in Cornelscourt. A staff member came out at 8:55 (yes EIGHT FIFTY FIVE) informing them that standing was sold out. What the **** was that about?! In the end all they could offer were single seated tickets dotted around the stadium.

The whole system is either rigged or completely unfit for purpose for in demand gigs.

rubadub

Nunu wrote: »

Keep in mind they were stilll issuing them well after 9:30?! Not sure how.

My understanding was that they have certain numbers set aside for each outlet, and so you have more chance with less popular ones. I remember people used to go to bray as a popular one.

Maybe some outlets would get more, I would guess the stephens green kiosk would get more.

Your cornelscourt story therefore sounds well dodgy, I suspect the people in londis were holding their allocation for themselves. Probably far less likely to happen in a ticketmaster stand alone kiosk.

I could see in photos the eejit who queued 56 hours in town at least got pitch 2 tickets, as did his buddy.

I reckon the presale thing also would have caused more people to buy their max allowance, knowing they would easily sell them on, and to feel they got better value for their $50.

They could just have slapped another 10 euro on all tickets if they wanted. If touting laws did come in they can just up the price. I wonder how high a price the market would have bore for a standing ticket. I reckon it would have easily sold out at €200 per ticket. There would then be cries of them being ripoff merchants.

In the bob dylan thread I was saying there could be some sort of auction system, so artists could say it is out of their control and just what the market says its worth. Seatwave might get ridiculous percentages but its still stupid to let all that money to to touts when the artist could be getting it. This of course would mean the average Joe could not afford to go to many big acts.

PTH2009

Maybe outlets are allocated a certain number of tickets before the online sale and there all printed out before 9am. I imagine it would be very stressful and dangerous for the TM outlet staff members if they had too snap up tickets from the online allocation (imagine having to tell people who qued all night I wasn't fast enough and I got no tickets). I imagine the Garth Brooks/older audience type gig's ticket lines were full of people who don't understand today's ticket allocation systems and they turned quite nasty

I don't think the TM outlet in Waterford city even got an allocation

Bonavox

I don't understand the hate to U2 over the ticket issue. They enforced anti-touting measures for I&E and were roasted then too. They can do no right it seems.

MisterAnarchy

PTH2009 wrote: »

Maybe outlets are allocated a certain number of tickets before the online sale and there all printed out before 9am. I imagine it would be very stressful and dangerous for the TM outlet staff members if they had too snap up tickets from the online allocation (imagine having to tell people who qued all night I wasn't fast enough and I got no tickets). I imagine the Garth Brooks/older audience type gig's ticket lines were full of people who don't understand today's ticket allocation systems and they turned quite nasty

I don't think the TM outlet in Waterford city even got an allocation

A guy I know was walking past his local ticketmaster yesterday morning and queued up .
He managed to get 4 decent seats ,he said the outlet had 94 tickets to sell ,so they must obviously have had them printed out already/preallocated.

PTH2009

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

A guy I know was walking past his local ticketmaster yesterday morning and queued up .
He managed to get 4 decent seats ,he said the outlet had 94 tickets to sell ,so they must obviously have had them printed out already/preallocated.

If there all printed before hand I reckon Staff prob get first choice ( prob a limit of 2 per staff etc)

SteM

Bonavox wrote: »

I don't understand the hate to U2 over the ticket issue. They enforced anti-touting measures for I&E and were roasted then too. They can do no right it seems.

Think there might be a happy medium like not allowing 8 per person on general sale. They're also a big enough group to have some clout with Ticketmaster, if they wanted their tickets banned from being sold on Seatwave (or price restrictions put on the tickets) then I've no doubt that Ticketmaster cave into them.

I think they can do right but they seem to have given up even trying at this point.