Music

If you want to buy a ticket for performances by international superstars, you need one thing above all: a lot of patience and luck. Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour pre-sale just put fans to the test, with the exception of expensive VIP packages, all tickets sold out within minutes. And a little less than two weeks later, the next pre-sale of similar dimensions is coming up. Because Coldplay will give a total of four concerts in two German cities in July and August 2024.

To prevent the site from crashing, Ticketmaster opted for a staggered system within the presale. Like the UK Taylor Swift pre-sale, the pre-sale is meant to be spread out over several days. But judging by early reports, the portal plan didn’t work. Now the fans are angry.

Coldplay fans disappointed after pre-sale

On July 20 and 21, 2024 Coldplay will play in Düsseldorf, on August 15 and 17 they will be on the stage of the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Ticket sales for this one have several stages.

On July 25, tickets went on sale to fans who had registered for pre-sale on the band’s website. On July 26 there was another advance sale, this time exclusively for Telekom customers. On July 27, the official advance sale will take place from Ticketmaster itself.

But shortly after the start of the first presale phase on July 25, it became clear how many fans had already registered for this first date alone. Shortly after the pre-sale began at 10 am, the first screenshots of users who had won a place in line circulated on Twitter. But that was by no means a guarantee for tickets.

The numbers are sobering: According to Ticketmaster, fans sometimes had several 100,000 people in front of them. One fan expressed anger over the hideously long line. “I asked if you were kidding?” the person wrote, obviously stunned.

Several images of the queue prove it: places with such a long waiting list were not rare. “Under 100,000, how does it feel to be among the chosen ones?” asked one frustrated fan.

The fact that so many fans were admitted to the presale in the first place, even though it’s clear this means many won’t get anything, infuriates fans. “Ticketmaster, why is there a presale with an exclusive access code when everyone gets a code anyway?” asked one fan.

Here you can see it in the video: The fans go wild when a global star takes the stage at the Coldplay concert:

Then, about half an hour after the pre-sale officially started, a fan asked, “When do you drop everything?”

But long wait times aren’t the only problem Coldplay fans struggled with when pre-selling. Apparently, despite staggering pre-sales, the service provider’s technical infrastructure was overwhelmed by the onslaught of fans.

“We were in the Ticketmaster store, choosing tickets. What’s up? 404,” a disappointed fan described their experience. Instead of tickets, there was an error message. After that, he said, his code no longer worked. Although Ticketmaster points out that the code can be used again later, the user is quick to refute this with a video.

After just under half an hour, the first rumors surfaced on Twitter that at least the concert in Munich should have been completely sold out.

Coldplay pre-sale: Even “Taylor Swift was easier”

For many fans, for whom this isn’t the first big pre-sale in recent weeks, bad memories are quick to stir. “If you missed Taylor Swift and now you’re doing it again on Coldplay,” wrote one user. “Did everyone actually get a code? Taylor Swift made it so much easier,” one Twitter user complained.

And those who finally made it through the line were dejected by the ticket prices.. Screenshots circulate on Twitter according to which prices of up to 997.50 euros per seat are paid. The fans don’t get that either. “Dude, is there a band for that?” Someone commented indignantly. “I want to be able to sit on stage for the award,” another post captioned the post.