17 - Opinion (State, National, or International Issue)

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media

Fall 2024

17 - Opinion (State, National, or International Issue)

Ticket scalpers ruin concert experiences for fans

 

Pierce The Veil "Eras Tour," anyone? If you can afford it.

Rock band Pierce The Veil recently announced its 2025 world tour. The "I Can't Hear You" arena tour, beginning on May 13, will feature stops in North America, Europe, and Latin America, bringing fans along a musical journey through the band's five albums. Direct supporting artist Sleeping With Sirens will be along for the ride in North America, along with Beach Weather and Daisy Grenade on select dates. In Europe, artists including Cavetown, Hot Mulligan, and Crawlers will support the band on stage. Pierce The Veil shared on its social media platforms,

"Nearly two decades in the making, this tour is a monument to everything we've built with our fans. These shows will honor our roots, spanning all five albums and the music that brought us here."

The tour will include shows at world-renowned venues, such as Madison Square Garden in New York, Kia Forum in Los Angeles, the Wembley Arena in London, and Espaço Unimed in Brazil. It will be Pierce The Veil's biggest headline tour to date.

Ticket presales opened December 3 at 10 a.m. local time, with general ticket sales starting December 6 at 10. Venues in major cities like Dallas, Tampa, Los Angeles, and Nashville quickly sold out during presales, and many fans eager to see the band found themselves disappointed as ticket scalpers resold tickets at outrageous prices.

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A post shared by PIERCE THE VEIL (@piercetheveil)

Fans have criticized Pierce the Veil for using TicketMaster and giving scalpers priority over genuine fans of the band. On TicketMaster, seat tickets for the opening show in Charlotte, North Carolina, are being resold for $160-$714. Not all buyers can drop what they are doing to wait in a long ticket queue, so resales are often the best option, especially as ticket sites do not offer great customer service. One Instagram user reported that it took her an hour to secure tickets and checkout without the platform removing them from her cart. At that point, shortly after the presale began, prices were already in the triple digits. 

Ticketmaster has been the subject of several controversies in the past and has even been sued by the United States Department of Justice for monopolization and anticompetitive conduct.