Coldplay gig: Organiser voids tickets on resale market

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin at the band's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2009. The British band's upcoming concert here will be held on April 1 next year.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin at the band's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2009. The British band's upcoming concert here will be held on April 1 next year. ST FILE PHOTO

Live Nation Lushington has voided "a number of tickets" to the sold- out Coldplay concert found on the resale market, and said reselling the tickets contravenes its terms and conditions.

"We would like to urge all fans to refrain from purchasing tickets through unauthorised resellers as these may have already been voided and holders will be denied access to venue," the concert organiser said in a Facebook post yesterday.

About 14,000 tickets to the British band's upcoming concert on April 1 next year were sold out before noon yesterday, after going on sale at 10am.

About 40,000 tickets were sold altogether, including the first two batches of tickets released for Citibank customers last Thursday and for Live Nation Lushington's mailing list subscribers on Sunday.

In its post, Lushington said it was confident more seats would be made available in the next few days.

"We hope to announce any additional capacity we can offer for sale by this Wednesday or Thursday," it said.

The tickets were sold through Sports Hub Tix at prices between $78 and $298. But those put up for resale were found to be going for as much as $800 on online classifieds website Craigslist.

Fans were split over the move by Lushington to void resale tickets.

Lab technician Azuandy Aznan, for example, said he would still try to get resale tickets if he does not manage to get the additional tickets. He added though that he thinks resellers should lower their prices. "They are going for $500 a ticket, and it is insane and unfair," said the 23-year-old.

Civil servant Jonathan Lim, 28, who tried but failed to buy tickets on all three days, said he would not try for resale tickets as he does not want to encourage profiteering by scalpers. "I hope that Lushington will give these profiteers a one-off opportunity to sell the tickets back to the system, to be resold to the public," he said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 22, 2016, with the headline Coldplay gig: Organiser voids tickets on resale market. Subscribe