Welsh rock band Stereophonics has urged its fans not to buy tickets through the secondary market in a effort to stop touts from profiting ahead of its Dundee gig.
The concert, which is scheduled for August 22, sold out after half an hour of hitting the primary market.
Many fans who lined up outside the Dundee City Box Office in the rain from as early as 3.45am to try and get tickets for the local Stereophonics show were left empty handed, according to The Courier website.
Tickets for the show quickly appeared on the StubHub and Viagogo marketplaces for as much as £200, which is almost five times the face value of the original ticket.
Sterophonics’ promoter Regular Music has cautioned fans not to buy tickets through secondary sites, as they could be fake.
Original tickets were sold at the box office through Ticketmaster and Songkick, and have claimed to “police” any orders that look to be resold.
A spokesman for Regular Music said there is “nothing we, or even it seems the UK Government can do, about Viagogo letting people post non-existent tickets for sale on their site”.
He also said that anyone who exceeded the four-ticket limit would have their order cancelled.
“There are a few methods we employ to prevent tickets being re-sold,” the spokesman said. “We also have the name of the lead booker printed on the tickets and the ticket buyer will need to present a matching photo ID to the name on the ticket to get entry.
“We will be following up to make sure that all the outlets have informed buyers that photo ID matching the name on the tickets is required.
“As people were queuing at the box office from 3.45am in the morning to make sure they got tickets, there are a small number of tickets from counter sales in circulation but these also have the booker’s name on all tickets.
“We strongly advise that no one buys tickets from the secondary market, and especially Viagogo, as there is a very good chance that the tickets will either not be genuine or, if we are able to identify from any re-sale site, will have been cancelled.”
The band’s spokesperson previously warned fans that they would be taking a “massive gamble” if they bought through the secondary market, and Stereophonics is yet to confirm whether cancelled tickets will be made available to fans who missed out.
The spokesperson added: “Regular Music have a very clear plan in place to (ensure) that as many fans as humanly possible get into this show. It is pretty strict. It was always going to be a huge gig.”
The band announced its surprise Dundee concert two weeks ago in advance of the release of its new album ‘Scream Above the Sounds,’ which comes out on November 3. Stereophonics will also be playing in Bridlington on August 23, in Portsmouth for three nights from August 25 to 27, and in London’s Hyde Park on September 10.
This announcement comes a few weeks after Ed Sheeran cancelled around 10,000 tickets that were being offered for hundreds of pounds on resale websites.
Sheeran’s team warned buyers ahead of the launch of sales for his 2018 tour earlier in July that action would be taken against those who did not purchase tickets for personal use.
