Crackdown could see concert-goers locked out

Music lovers who buy tickets for this summer’s gigs at inflated prices from touts or on auction websites could find themselves turned away at the door.

In a clampdown on what is widely seen as an easy money making racket, Ticketmaster warned it will cancel tickets for two in-demand shows being offered online through ebay, needaticket and also in free ad magazines.

Rather than targeting the touts, genuine fans will be refused entry to gigs even after forking out grossly exaggerated prices.

Several hundred tickets for various events have already been cancelled.

Eamonn O’Connor, Ticketmaster Ireland managing director, warned that people will be stopped at the front door of concerts.

“We are determined to beat the touts and where we find tickets being resold for inflated prices on outlets such as eBay we will cancel those tickets where we can,” he said.

“This means that people who buy from unauthorised outlets could find themselves in the embarrassing situation of being refused entry to one of these concerts.”

Ticketmaster said it is liaising closely with concert promoters to stop the touts in particular for shows by The Who and Damien Rice in Dublin and Cork this summer.

Tickets for the gigs go on sale within the next fortnight and will be limited to four per person.

Ticketmaster was criticised last month after a computer glitch allowed fans to buy 50 tickets at a time online for the Arcade Fire concert in the Olympia next month.

Tickets for the band’s two nights at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in March sold out within two minutes of going on sale.

Within hours they were being offered online and can now be bought on needaticket.net for €180 – almost five times the face value.Ticketmaster said it will be closely monitoring the resale of tickets for summer shows.

The agency said that with the help of MCD and Aiken Promotions it was determined to ensure tickets for these shows only go to real fans when sales open.