Fans complain about “fiasco” of Beyoncé UK tour ticket pre-sales
Beyoncé fans hoping to get their hands on tickets to her ‘Renaissance’ world tour have taken to social media to voice their “disappointment” over what some have described as a “fiasco” in pre-sales.
Yesterday (February 1) Beyoncé announced her tour for 2023, with the European and UK leg of the stadium tour kicking off in May before heading to North America from July.
Ahead of tickets for the UK shows going on general sale next Tuesday (February 7) at 10am GMT here – and with select European dates going on sale elsewhere an hour earlier next Friday (February 10) – various UK pre-sales were listed for this morning (February 2), including ones by O2 Priority and Ticketmaster UK.
While some fans were lucky to secure tickets, others have claimed that they were never able to access the pre-sales. “First the O2 Priority app was down. Now I’ve waited in an O2 Priority queue on @Ticketmaster website behind 200,000 people and it still won’t let me access Beyoncé tickets. Waste of time,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
First the O2 Priority app was down. Now I've waited in an O2 Priority queue on @Ticketmaster website behind 200,000 people and it still won't let me access Beyoncé tickets. Waste of time.
— André Rhoden-Paul (@bbcandrerp) February 2, 2023
Elsewhere, a fan said: “Once again a ticket fiasco. Had tickets reserved wouldn’t let me check out. It’s the same on every big gig sale, always apologies but no solution…”
Another claimed in a reply to O2: “Girl the app has been down since like 15 mins before the presale even began.”
Some tweets by fans suggested that there were as many as 200,000 people ahead of them in the pre-sale queue.
O2 has said that it was aware of the difficulties surrounding ticket purchasing. “We apologise to anyone experiencing difficulties trying to get Beyoncé tickets through Priority. Tickets are selling and we’re seeing huge demand,” its official Twitter stated.
We apologise to anyone experiencing difficulties trying to get Beyoncé tickets through Priority. Tickets are selling and we're seeing huge demand. We're doing everything we can behind the scenes to help keep the app running smoothly.
— O2 (@O2) February 2, 2023
Although O2 didn’t confirm an app or website crash it did acknowledge the need to keep the app stable: “We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes to help keep the app running smoothly.”
Another person replied to O2’s tweet, saying: “Didn’t you learn from your mistakes with the Peter Kay issues?”
Meanwhile, those attempting to buy pre-sale tickets from Ticketmaster UK appeared to have issues. “Wtf i was ahead in the queue and suddenly i was taken off!!!!!” one fan wrote, while another asked: “Has the site crashed?!”
O2 and Ticketmaster UK have both been approached for comment.
Fans complained on social media of lengthy wait times and website outages when pre-sale tickets for Swift’s 52-date tour went on sale on November 15, 2022. As The Guardian reported at the time, shortly after tickets went on sale, some were re-listed on sites such as StubHub for as much as $22,700 (£19,100) each.
Swift fans in the US have since sued Tickemaster following the ticket controversy over ‘The Eras Tour’ tickets. Ticketmaster’s botched first attempt at selling tickets for that tour had political implications, with US lawmakers calling for an investigation into the company.
Meanwhile, last month Beyoncé performed her first concert in four years at the launch of a luxury hotel in Dubai although no ‘Renaissance’ material was played.
The post Fans complain about “fiasco” of Beyoncé UK tour ticket pre-sales appeared first on NME.
Charlotte Krol
NME
