Page 2 | To hate the process for buying concert tickets☹️

Onthemoooove · 2025-09-13T10:11:11+00:00

First the Oasis debacle and now Radiohead. DD is a massive Radiohead fan. Neither she or any of her friends were lucky enough to get codes which would allow them access to the booking site and, from what I hear, even those who did struggled to get affordable tickets or had countless issues with the site crashing, being kicked out under suspicion of being a bot etc etc. Getting tickets for any popular artist these days seems to be an extremely painful and complicated process! I saw many big artists when I was younger and don't recall having much trouble getting tickets. For example, I saw Madonna at the height of her fame. I remember seeing it advertised, asking around my friends and 6 of us wanted to go so I collected their money and, as I worked near Wembley at the time, sauntered down to the box office in my lunch hour. It wasn't busy and I came away with my 6 tickets no problem. While the Internet has certainly made many things easier, this is not one of them! Is the demand greater these days? Doubt it. It's so bloody frustrating!

Rhaenys · 14/09/2025 21:29

It’s bad even amongst artists who aren’t especially popular. Trying to get tickets for anyone mainstream is like trying to get tickets for Glastonbury now.

ManteesRock · 14/09/2025 19:58

I've never missed out on a gig I've wanted to go to, including Ozzy Osbourne back to the beginning, Linkin Park last year at the O2, Green Day twice, MCR twice, Blink-182 twice.
Radiohead - codes were only needed for the presale not the actual sale.

KmcK87 · 14/09/2025 19:44

Yeah I’ve not bothered since oasis last year but even before that it was a stressful process. Shame as I really enjoy gigs.

LinaLouLa · 14/09/2025 17:55

I absolutely hate the ticket buying process now. It's bloody stressful. Whenever I try and get tickets for me or my daughter, my app decides I am a bot straight away and kicks me out!!

I miss the old days phoning up the box office on a Saturday morning and speaking to a real person who helped me get the best tickets. Or even better, queuing up at rhe box office at 5am....fun times!!

TessoftheBurgervan · 13/09/2025 22:10

In some ways it really puts me off going (not that the acts give a shit, given the massive demands). They’re my favourite band but I really cannot be bothered with all the faff.

GingerBeverage · 13/09/2025 22:05

Haven’t rtft so sorry if already mentioned by AXS have been emailing people to say their Radiohead tickets are cancelled!

Lots of posts on reddit about it

https://www.reddit.com/r/radiohead/comments/1nfuxbq/if_your_tickets_were_canceled_its_not_possible_to/

Imagine going through all that effort, thinking you’d got tickets and then having them snatch it back.

Numnumbirdy · 13/09/2025 21:57

Not Radiohead but another act. Had an artist presale code but it was impossible to select seats as they kept becoming unavailable and new dates were being released while sale live. Had to exit and keep re entering the queue for each new date. Finally got some tickets - not on the day I wanted but it literally took me 7 hours of trying.

OwlBeThere · 13/09/2025 21:27

ValleyClouds · 13/09/2025 15:21

Preach. The Ticketmaster shite site has never once shown me available access tickets. I much prefer going through the venue. Doesn’t always work that way.

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Same. It’s infuriating!

CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/09/2025 21:08

PoppySaidYesIKnow · 13/09/2025 19:08

We used to have to phone up, and redial, manually on the old house phone until we got through! Never managed to not get a ticket though, saw all the big acts, Prince, Queen, Whitney Houston & tons more. Now I just cannot be bothered, it’s not a fair system at all.

Edited

Yes, I always got tickets to whoever I wanted that way.

One thing, I do think is a major factor, though, is the much lower number of quality acts. And THAT is what is creating the competition and demand for tickets. It's not easier accessibilty, it's simply because there aren't the same number of artists around these days. Where are all the massive young rock or indie bands, or even big pop acts? Can count them on one hand.

And what else is the result, apart from increasing competition for tickets? Venues slowly becoming a place for "tribute acts" to become the main shows. I mean, god, when I was young, tribute acts were only for evening entertainment in Tenerife, or for free at a local community festival. How on EARTH have we got to the stage where venues in big cities are filling their listings full of mostly tribute acts of bands and singers I used to watch for real years ago?

I absolutely refuse to pay the amounts of money they're charging to go and see people pretending to be someone else, singing and playing someone else's music. Sad times.

BreakfastClub80 · 13/09/2025 20:57

I also think demand is higher. In my day, my parents never went to gigs but now a lot of bands have multi-generational appeal. I wanted to get tickets for Radiohead (didn’t get a code) and my DD wanted to come with me. With all the music used on social media platforms, the kids have access to a lot more than we did.

But it’s crazy and seems to be getting worse.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/09/2025 20:50

Didimum · 13/09/2025 16:43

As I mentioned, I could get decent tickets for most things by calling even if that was days or weeks after they went on sale. Painless. Now we have a crazy system where people are tethered to phones in interminable queues without any guarantee they'll get anything at the end.

And as I mentioned, that’s due to volume of people now trying because of greater accessibility. Better access means worse availability.

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I disagree. People knew about upcoming gigs by looking in music magazines, or perhaps they were in the fan club. often tours were advertised in newspapers. It was very easy to find out when a band was touring. Then you simply phoned the box office to get your tickets, or got them in person.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/09/2025 20:25

FanSpamTastic · 13/09/2025 15:23

What really annoys me is when you get to the gig that you sat hours in a q for and then there are sections of empty seats. I took DD to see One Direction at height of that madness in the Cardiff stadium and there was a whole block opposite us where there were only a few people. Someone must have bought up those tickets then tried to offload them as a reseller. I know they will have taken a financial hit but that also there were lots of young people that would have liked to have the chance to see that show.

I've seen that loads of times. It will only get worse.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/09/2025 20:24

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:47

Totally agree. I honestly don’t recognise the other poster’s description of improved travel, either rail or air. Both have deteriorated significantly since the 2000s - and probably the late 1990s too, although I was travelling much less then - in terms of service and value for money. Especially value for money.

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Rail travel is terrible. All the different ticket prices for th\e same journey. Prices fluctuating. Just set the ticket prices for the year and leave it at that till next year when you could put them up a bit to factor in inflation etc. That's how it used to be....

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:54

Didimum · 13/09/2025 19:50

Again, affordable and accessible don’t mean the same thing. Affordability is only part of access. And more people do travel internationally to gigs now compared to the 90s.

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Yes, by choosing to spend relatively more on gigs and experiences. Not because it’s more accessible/affordable to go and see your band in another country than it used to be - that’s a nonsense. It’s a shift in spending habits that applies to me and most of those around me. We are paying the ridiculous prices.

Didimum · 13/09/2025 19:50

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:41

I’m not saying £29 flights to Barcelona are not possible if one looks, but it still reflects a six-fold or more increase in prices for budget flights. Meaning hopping to Europe to see your favourite band because you didn’t get a ticket to a UK show is most certainly LESS accessible now. I still remember getting £4 flights to Spain once, how I took those days for granted…!

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Again, affordable and accessible don’t mean the same thing. Affordability is only part of access. And more people do travel internationally to gigs now compared to the 90s.

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:47

ClafoutisSurprise · 13/09/2025 17:30

Yes, if by greater accessibility you mean access to trying to buy tickets anywhere and everywhere, then yes, obviously that's easier. Actually getting your hands on them - not so accessible. I think it's absurd to argue that there are swathes of people buying tickets now just because they can do with a smartphone - even if it takes hours and numerous attempts - who just wouldn't have bothered in the 90s because waiting to get home to use a landline was too effortful.

It makes far more sense that this is largely down to the resale market, as well as what at least one pp has referred to above - increased willingness to spend on experiences over stuff in younger generations.

I also don't recognise your depiction of travel, which sound more like shifts in travel over the last 50 years rather than the last 20-30. I was talking about the late 90s to 2000s, and I really have not noticed train or plane travel getting easier since then. Quite the reverse. Yes, being able to buy a train ticket with an app is handy. Really hasn't made the difference in choosing to travel by train, though, and the experience as a whole has not improved.

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Totally agree. I honestly don’t recognise the other poster’s description of improved travel, either rail or air. Both have deteriorated significantly since the 2000s - and probably the late 1990s too, although I was travelling much less then - in terms of service and value for money. Especially value for money.

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:41

Didimum · 13/09/2025 19:21

That was just a quip at the end – though it is true, so it’s not that difficult. Nevertheless, for all the reason I stated, air travel is more accessible now for all than in the 90s. That you personally can’t get tickets for a few quid anymore doesn’t change that.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on travel clearly.

Post Covid has been an extraordinary set of circumstances globally – Russia/Ukraine/ Trump/ Brexit … so I don’t think a thread about concert tix should have to encompass all that.

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I’m not saying £29 flights to Barcelona are not possible if one looks, but it still reflects a six-fold or more increase in prices for budget flights. Meaning hopping to Europe to see your favourite band because you didn’t get a ticket to a UK show is most certainly LESS accessible now. I still remember getting £4 flights to Spain once, how I took those days for granted…!

SouthernBelle21 · 13/09/2025 19:29

It used to be that you went to a gig, enjoyed it, and that was that.
These days, half the people (if not more!) who go are doing so just so they can say they've been, and put photos/videos online. They wouldn't be getting tickets if they couldn't tell other people they were going. Honestly!

And like others have said, the scalpers are a major issue, too.

Original poster

Onthemoooove · 13/09/2025 19:28

Remembered that back in the 80s I got a lot of my tickets from this place. It was by Oxford Circus tube so I always had a look in the window on my way to work, popping out at lunchtime to buy tickets if friends were interested. Those were the days! I see it was there until as recently as 2019 which surprises me.

To hate the process for buying concert tickets☹️

OP posts:

Didimum · 13/09/2025 19:21

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:03

You did argue price by telling us you got flights to Barcelona for £29 last summer as if that’s somehow comparable to being able to get flights for <£5 not long ago.

Also, hard disagree on travel service - the train route I used to get in the 2000s used to be 3 trains an hour and now it’s down to 2 an hour and cancellations are far more common. And as I mention, I have to pay literally 4x for the privilege of using this reduced, shoddy service compared to the 2000s.

I have focused on the 2000s over the 1990s as I wasn’t going to concerts in the 90s, but many posters have pointed out how things have deteriorated since much more recently than the 1990s. I agree with PP, things have really become a shitshow since Covid.

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That was just a quip at the end – though it is true, so it’s not that difficult. Nevertheless, for all the reason I stated, air travel is more accessible now for all than in the 90s. That you personally can’t get tickets for a few quid anymore doesn’t change that.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on travel clearly.

Post Covid has been an extraordinary set of circumstances globally – Russia/Ukraine/ Trump/ Brexit … so I don’t think a thread about concert tix should have to encompass all that.

Pedallleur · 13/09/2025 19:21

CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/09/2025 17:57

I remember getting Red Hot Chilli pepper tickets by phone in the 90s. It was the evening, it was direct to the box office, I got “you are number 10 in the queue” type of message, I hung on, I spoke to a human, paid by card over the phone and that was that, tickets sent by post to my home address. Result: I had 4 tickets at face value, direct from the box office, no messing, no hassle. Or you could turn up in person and get them if you lived close enough.

come on, they are all in on it now, everyone involved in the industry . They CAN do it a different way, they just choose not to cos it’s a big money spinner. They can go back to that way. They can start ticket sales from 6pm or something so that most people can try to get them. No online tickets, just the old fashioned way.

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You have to understand that TM monetised the box offices by providing incentives and taking over the headache of running them. They even own the box offices in many places. T onM is a platform that sells tickets on behalf of the artists. The artists are in on it but want their money and TM get it. I know that at eg Co op Live TM own the tills. All the money from drinks etc go to them and if the artist takes a % TM can easily do that. Radiohead don't care. Sell our tickets, make money for us

Pedallleur · 13/09/2025 19:15

BigBoots67 · 13/09/2025 18:55

I’d listen to this tbh. Just experienced Ticketmaster releasing more lady gaga tickets for her gig that was apparently sold out for the last few months. Absolute scores of rows that weren’t there before (albeit horrendously expensive) and no one said nothing , they were silently dropped

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These are often production seats that are sold once the staging is in. But TM do sneak tickets on to maintain the price and also choose to release certain areas when they want

Pedallleur · 13/09/2025 19:12

Idinnaenah · 13/09/2025 11:11

It’s the online tout bots, they ruined it unfortunately

Bit more to it. Acts touted their own tickets and TM monetised the tickets. Acts now make the big money touring and want whatever they can get. TM will use any trick to get more out of us. But yes the bots are a major issue. Suspect they could be stopped tho.

PoppySaidYesIKnow · 13/09/2025 19:08

We used to have to phone up, and redial, manually on the old house phone until we got through! Never managed to not get a ticket though, saw all the big acts, Prince, Queen, Whitney Houston & tons more. Now I just cannot be bothered, it’s not a fair system at all.

Crushed23 · 13/09/2025 19:03

Didimum · 13/09/2025 16:52

I disagree affordability has been the focus of the thread. The focus of the OP is clearly the process, which is what my posts have been about. If you want to discuss affordability, I have already said that price and resale is a huge issue, so there’s nothing to disagree on there.

I didn’t say travel was cheaper than it was 20 years ago (and I actually was referring to 30 years ago in my post), I said it was more accessible – again, which cannot only be determined in terms of price.

There are more services (as in trains and flights running), there is better disability access, ticket buying and travel planning are more convenient and infrastructure and technology has improved – but then I’ve already said all that.

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You did argue price by telling us you got flights to Barcelona for £29 last summer as if that’s somehow comparable to being able to get flights for <£5 not long ago.

Also, hard disagree on travel service - the train route I used to get in the 2000s used to be 3 trains an hour and now it’s down to 2 an hour and cancellations are far more common. And as I mention, I have to pay literally 4x for the privilege of using this reduced, shoddy service compared to the 2000s.

I have focused on the 2000s over the 1990s as I wasn’t going to concerts in the 90s, but many posters have pointed out how things have deteriorated since much more recently than the 1990s. I agree with PP, things have really become a shitshow since Covid.