If you tried queuing up virtually to get presale tickets to catch Coldplay on June 20 and found yourself with over 700,000 people in the queue – so did a lot of other people.
When British rock band Coldplay announced more dates for their Asian tour on June 12, Singapore struck lottery got the bulk of it. The Music Of The Spheres World Tour would be at the National Stadium for four days next year: Jan. 23, 24, 26 and 27.
Seems like enough to accommodate all the Coldplay fans from Singapore and the region right? Well, not quite.
Trouble
Within minutes, over 200,000 tickets for the original shows were sold during the pre-sales period, breaking Singapore’s record for most tickets sold in a single day.
Despite technical issues on the ticketing website during the pre-sales, general sales began again on Tuesday with ticket prices ranging from S$68 to S$298.
On top of that two new dates were added to the Singapore leg – making that six shows in our city itself. So much for an “Asia” tour.
The presale for the Singapore shows on Jan 23, 24, 26 & 27 is now closed. Due to incredible demand, a 5th show at Singapore National Stadium has been added for Jan 30. The general sale for all five shows begins at 10am local time tomorrow (June 20). pic.twitter.com/gycY0h5qgw
— Coldplay (@coldplay) June 19, 2023
Coldplay’s concerts in Singapore mark their return after their 2017 performances and follow sold-out shows in Malaysia and Indonesia.
How did it get like this?
I mean it’s Coldplay – they have plenty of fans everywhere, so why are people so mad with the ticket platforms?
Complaints about ridiculous queue numbers and getting frozen out of the platform while waiting started flooding social media.
Comedian Hossan Leong shared his experience buying tickets on Facebook with some screenshots. He started at the beginning with over 600,000 people in the queue.
Eventually, he got to the end of the queue but said it lead him to a “dead end” – and ended up without any tickets.
Almost everyting is UNAVAILABLE(even 4 random single seats) for presales day. Started 930am 2 queue online(opens at 10), got my turn ard 12ish & after clicking dis dat, signing up etc i got booted out & had 2 restart. Alas heres my outcome. So fuck it. Im done. #ColdplaySingapore pic.twitter.com/fn5mPtvtnE
— bev ng ( 베브엔 ) (@bevng1971) June 19, 2023
Twitter user Bev Ng also faced the same problems and also noted that almost all the seats were unavailable despite standing by since 9:30am (tickets were launched at 10am).
But it wasn’t all bad outcomes for everyone.
Clara Lim who managed to secure tickets said, “I started with a big waiting number – upwards of 100k but it was also nothing different to my previous experiences with Ticketmaster.”
She also admits that she uses multiple devices but also does other work while leaving the screen open.
A video on TikTok showed a mad and complicated set-up of someone buying Coldplay tickets.
Of course, the commenters were out for blood, one even saying that they “deserve a special place in hell.”
Among those who got lucky is mega fan and Twitter user Neil Lenore who managed to get a ticket to every show in the Asia leg of the tour.
I HAVE TICKETS FOR THE ENTIRE ASIA LEG 2 ✨@coldplay's Music of The Spheres World Tour
— Neil (@neilenore) June 19, 2023
✅ PH DAY 1 🇵🇭 Jan 19
✅ SG DAY 1 🇸🇬 Jan 23
✅ SG DAY 2 🇸🇬 Jan 24
✅ SG DAY 3 🇸🇬 Jan 26
✅ SG DAY 4 🇸🇬 Jan 27
✅ BANGKOK DAY 1 🇹🇭 Feb 3
We'll see once the extra dates has been officially… pic.twitter.com/rwewZXjDmm
More troubles: scalpers
Lim also added, “Buying tickets is definitely a patience game if you don’t have money to throw at the problem or in this case, scalpers.”
With the band’s immense popularity, scalpers are taking advantage of the high demand for tickets, attempting to resell them at exorbitant prices. Even now, there are already cases of tickets originally priced at reasonable rates being listed on resale platforms like Carousell for several times their face value.
Cat 1 tickets – the most expensive available – are priced at S$298 on the Ticketmaster site but on Carousell, you will find prices ranging from S$450 to even S$888.
Organizers and promoters have issued warnings against purchasing tickets from unauthorized sellers, emphasizing the risks involved in acquiring potentially invalid or counterfeit tickets.
As fans eagerly await the tour, it is crucial to remain vigilant and purchase tickets only from authorized sources to ensure a legitimate and memorable concert experience.
As more artists are starting to announce their world tours including Asia, we can only imagine the situation to get more chaotic when buying tickets online. But if you still remain hopeful and patient, the universe (or the coding powers of Ticketmaster) will reward.
Or you can try this cheat hack by TikTok user Drishti Panjwani who got her tickets via the Live Nation site without much waiting.
@drishtipanjwani This is how I got my #Coldplay tickets to their #Singapore #concert. It went on pre-sale today but try this hack tomorrow morning during the public sale and let me know if it works for you! #ticketmaster #livenation #coldplayconcert #dripdroptiktok ♬ original sound – Drishti Panjwani
And if all else fails, I guess you just have to depend on patience and determination.
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