Something Really Stinks About the Presale for the Tragically Hip Tour
UPDATE: Another Toronto show added for August 14. Same password, so the bots won’t be fooled. More shows across the country, too.
This morning, untold thousands of people waited by their computers and handheld devices watching the countdown click towards 10:00:00 so they could use their pre-sale code to buy tickets to what could very well be the last Tragically Hip tour. Predictably, things went pear-shaped quickly. Emotions be damned. Cold-blooded capitalism is ruling the day–and people are mad. In fact, mad doesn’t begin to describe the mood across the nation.
Comments to my post on Facebook are still pouring in.
My Twitter feed looks like this:
@alancross seen this before, presale tix sell out ASAP, pop up right away on @StubHub for $$$$.#scum #fuckticketmaster @thehipdotcom
— Grizz (@DRex88) May 30, 2016
@alancross Calgary was sold out immediately at 10am and by 10:01 there were 44 listings on stubhub. Something is very wrong here indeed.
— Scarecrow Boat (@scarecrowboat22) May 30, 2016
@alancross @lululindberg this shit has to stop! I can’t afford to go to concerts anymore!
— Jason Kowch (@kowchothorpe) May 30, 2016
@alancross 1 code for everyone doesn’t work. Need to generate unique codes for everyone
— Ryan (@rye_guy83) May 30, 2016
And email has been going crazy. Here’s just a small selection of what’s come in so far today.
Hey Alan,
As a loyal fanclub member I was ready at 10am for my tickets. There was nothing. They were all gone. Immediately. I was trying for the Hamilton concert and it’s like they were never on sale. Immediately they are available on stubhub and alike for thousands of dollars. Greedy people capitalizing on a cancer diagnosis. It’s absolutely sickening. The ‘legit’ tickets donated a portion of the sales to gord’s fund at sunnybrooke hospital. Do you think any of these thousand dollar ticket scalpers are going to donate? Of course not. I don’t believe that Ticketmaster cares about whether or not tickets get into the right hands. They must get some kind of kickback from these resales. I just wish musicians would refuse to sell tickets through ticketmaster. We will never be free of this garbage until they fix it. I have never been able to see the Hip live and it looks like I never will…
Please investigate this and raise hell. Your voice is louder than any of ours.
Yours in music,
Sara Languay
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First let me say that I’m stating this simply to shake my head at an unfair system, as one person’s individual anger will do nothing but give him a heart attack.
Isn’t it ironic that the outcome of today’s Fan Presale of Tragically Hip tickets has resulted in few fans with smiles on their faces and lots of overpriced tix now on StubHub?
Think about it… these tickets were for FANS. Fans wouldn’t double, triple, even quadruple the prices and sell them for a profit. What makes this even worse is that the people/businesses snatching up these tickets to sell them again are taking advantage of true Hip fans who want to see their favourite band play for the last time, because its lead singer is dying of cancer.
Therefore, the blocks of seats sold today will not truly mark the “fan sections,” but rather the “people with lots of expendable income” sections.
True fans can buy their tickets on Thursday.
Sincerely,
Mike Richardson
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Check out this scumbag: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-tickets/calgary/the-tragically-hip-scotiabank-saddledome-mon-aug-1-8:00-pm/1169675230
–Doug
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Calgary counted down and refreshed the page, which took 30 secs, and then there was nothing (was trying for 2). I refreshed for 25 mins, and my daughter was trying as well, as were several friends. Nothing. About 10:15 I looked for a single in Edm and got one halfway down the side in the 14th row, so at least I can go. Tried again in Van at 11 their time, only for a single, nothing right off the bat.
I used to be able to score great tickets for most shows I wanted to see. Friends used to joke I had a black belt in Ticketmaster, and would ask me to get them tickets (if I wasn’t going to a show). In the last couple of years, it’s dwindled to almost nothing, even on fan club presales like today (which used to be the best).
It’s the damn bots, and TM feeding StubHub. I bought a pair of front-row tickets off StubHub for Billy Idol here (yes, I’m a big fan), and the seller had the 8 front row centre tickets. A normal buyer would be lucky to get 1 or 2 front row, but this “guy” had the 8 in the middle. Tell me those weren’t fed to him.
I saw a newsmagazine show from the UK a few years ago (similar to W5) where they planted one of their staff working at StubHub, and Ticketmaster would send over hundreds of tickets, and it was the office staff’s job to make up accounts to sell them. Then there are the Britney Spears of the music biz who stipulate in their rider that tickets be held out for the secondary market.
Something needs to change.
Doug
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Hey Alan,
I was trying to purchase tickets for the Vancouver show this AM. I logged into my ticketmaster account yesterday and double-checked my payment info to make sure it was accurate and up to date so that it would work at game time this morning. I had the website up at 9:45 PDT and watched the countdown.
The countdown finished and I instantly requested 4 tickets at “best available.” That bounced back as “Not available.” I changed my request to 2 tickets, again, no dice. Then I did 1 ticket, still coming back Not Available! WTF?? That was insane. Not even a single ticket available within 30 seconds of the start of the pre-sale.
I kept refreshing and refreshing and yelling a string of profanities at my computer in disbelief until I was finally was able to secure two tickets at 10:19 AM. Both in the nosebleeds. Non-alcoholic section. Sweet. I’m still happy to get to see them one last time, but I mean, come on, right?!?
Kyle Hagel, Vancouver BC
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Something stinks with the presale! I was logged in, ready to go and NO Tickets were available.
Looking online? I saw 40+ tickets for Kingston on stubhub going for $950+ per ticket
I’m a member of the TTH Fan club facebook group, I would say 85% of the posts today were to do with not getting tickets.
Josh
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Hi Alan,
My wife and I had 5 screens with 5 different connections on the presale and were trying for Kingston, Ottawa, and Toronto.
Ottawa: We got Ottawa on the presale. OK Seats, no real difficulty. Presale seemed to take 5-6 minutes to sell out.
Kingston: I was redirected to the “select seats on the map” page for Kingston, selected seats, and after waiting 10 minutes to “verify my purchase” were told that they were gone. For what I can tell, Kingston’s presale sold out in 15 seconds or so.
Toronto:I don’t know anyone who managed to get anything at the ACC either night. Seems shady. Maybe leafs season license holders got to buy them first and there were no presale seats off the floor?
Resales I’ve seen as high as $3,000 USD for floors at the back for kingston,
$2500 USD for Ottawa stands, and Row 11 for $1125 for ACC Friday.
I really hope TM makes good on their promise to cancel resold seats and have creditcard entry at all venues. This SHOULD mean that seats will open up over time.
Seen the hip 17 times now and got every album since Fully, Completely on it’s release date. Learned to play bass and guitar from their songs and they’ve truly been the soundtrack to my life. I feel fortunate to have tickets to one show, but it would have been unreal to see Kingston. Maybe they’re hiring crew for this tour?
Andrew
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I’m both furious and heartbroken. No surprise here: Spent an hour and a half using two browsers (Chrome and the godforsaken IE) plus the browser on my phone and nothing. A friend has already paid $520 for a pair for the 8/10 show on StubHub. Rat bastards.
Amber
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I had 3 browsers opened, on three different internet connections at 9:55a – YYZ on the 10th, YYZ on the 12th (which is what I really want), and YOW on the 18th. At 10a, each browser refreshed when the clocked turned 10a and at 10:00:13 in every single case, they showed sold out. My wife also tried from her office in the city, and my brother-in-law too from Ottawa. Not a single hit. 13 seconds to sell out 3 venues? Now I’m sitting here watching twitter and see people posting they just got tickets (up to two hours later) for these venues. Something just does not sound right.
We were looking for four tickets (my wife, me, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) and we were going to meet in Toronto since there are no shows in the Maritimes.
Ticketmaster is known to be pretty crappy, and this just helps add to the reputation. There are a lot of things TicketMaster could do better and to prevent this sort of crap.
Personally – I’d love to see some sort of statement from The Tragically Hip about all this. I’m sure there is no way they released all the seats to presales, so I’m hoping for better luck on Friday.
It also appears they just released platinum seats for YYZ / Aug12 as I was typing my email to you. Why were these not released at 10am?
dcc
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Hey Alan
Tried to get Toronto tickets right at 10-10:05, “none left” (constantly re-searching). Found Hamilton floor tickets minutes later, but got lost during the purchasing process (ticketmaster error?).
Finally got a floor ticket for the Calgary show.
I did notice that StubHub had tickets for sale before the presale even opened!
Owen
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First,I’ve seen the hip about 36 times..Markham, Kingston,st Catherines, Syracuse, erie pa, Cleveland, Rochester and many times in buffalo .so this was a MUST. I tried on 2 phones and a laptop but, nothing for Hamilton,London or To. So after 30 min of trying, I did something I swore I’d never do. I went on Stubhub. They were $129 each but were gone when I clicked on them. Then they were $150, then more..I gave up on the cheapest and paid 210 each for 300 section on 8/10 in Toronto. I’m happy but ashamed, as well. I’ve paid alot before but NEVER on secondary mkt. I’ll try again tomorrow too. That’s my story. Barb Hahin (age 54 and ive been to thousands of shows)
PS:Amber Healy is such an awesome person and I am glad (and lucky) to have her back in Buffalo
-Barbara
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1:55PM
I sat poised and shaking at 9:55 am. I am a long time Hip fan, and I just must be there for at least one show. At 10:05 the site rejected my pre-sale code more than once. Frustrated and yelling into the ether, I kept trying and waiting watching that image of the ticket fill over and over as the “available tickets were searched”. At 10:11, eyes full of tears I gave up. At 10:15 am defeated and depressed I fed the beast that caused my earlier frustration….I bought from Stub Hub. You know what, they were some good prices at the time when I first started looking (good prices compared to now). But they were getting snapped up like crazy. I feel lucky to have paid what I did. But I HAVE TO BE THERE! So I forked out the cash. I am a fan of music in general so this is not the first time a pre-sale has passed by me, Pearl Jam last summer comes to mind. The only pre-sales that seem to work, is when the group themselves invest in sending them out individually at that I believe I only experienced when I bought the Chili Peppers tickets from a code provided by the CD in a presale on iTunes.
Also there was no link to buy platinum seats for Toronto shows – what’s up with that??
Thanks dude for all you do for the music industry… I am a long time fan of your work at CFNY, Ongoing history of New Music and all your journalistic work on music in general!
Cheers,
Carol
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I was reading your facebook and blog about the fiasco with the Hip Ticket Pre-Sales. I guess I was a lucky one.
At first, I was trying for 2 tickets to the London ON show and was all prepared as expected. I was signed in with my Internet Browser on my laptop computer to Ticketmaster and was ready and determined to obtain 2 tickets. As everyone has been reporting, there were none to be had by 10:01 AM EST but already 22 were posted on StubHub at that exact time for about X 2.5 the price.
Still – I was determined and I know that tickets can get held up from people with multiple browsers who are hanging on to tickets and then refreshing to get better ones (or so I believe). I refreshed and refreshed my browser ever hopeful.
I also started an internet search for the best way to buy tickets from Ticketmaster. I thought I was all set as I followed the standard preparations. I found a site that suggested downloading their Mobile App as there are potentially tickets set aside for their mobile client. I don’t know how much truth there is to this as it was a simple Internet search….but still, I donwloaded the App and tried finding tickets through that option as well.
Lo and behold…after 27 minutes of refreshing, I was presented with 2 tickets in a reasonably good section with Row A seats using the Mobile App. I immediately purchased them grateful that any were available to me ….. and at face value.
I continued, out of morbid curiosity, to see if any would come up on the Internet Browser but I gave up after 60 minutes as no tickets had become available.
Just thought I would share my story as I was quite irate when I wasn’t able to get tickets right away but was eventually rewarded with my persistence.
Cheers,
Greg
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Hi Alan. I wanted to add my voice to the ever-growing number of respondents. While I understand the frustration completely, and while something seems very suspicious about the way things have transpired, I managed to get 2 individual tickets to the Hamilton show through the pre-sale. Some people, including myself, have been very lucky. Let’s hope Gord’s health allows for more shows, giving more fans a chance to say good-bye.
Mike
P.S. Why do you think there aren’t any Saskatchewan shows? A friend of mine from Regina is pretty devastating by the whole ordeal and would have loved to see the band one last time.
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Hi Alan,
Just responding to your tweet in regards to presale tickets for The Hip. Unfortunately I did not get tickets this morning; I tried for tickets for the Friday show at ACC and there was nothing available at 10:01. I also tried for tickets to the Kingston show and had four floor seats until the site kicked me out. I was also to get four more in the second level, yet was kicked out again after five minutes of trying to process my order…by that time there was nothing left anywhere. I totally understand the demand for tickets being at another level given the circumstances surrounding the band, but I still have a tough time seeing an entire arena sold out in 90 seconds. Adding the fact that the site booted me twice after I had thought I got seats for another show and needless to say it was a very disappointing morning.
Enjoy listening to your show from Buffalo,
Tyler Roeder
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Hi Alan!
I sat at my desk and watched the count down to 10amET, and I managed to get tickets without any issues for the show in Ottawa during the pre-sale. I got 2 sets of 2. Floor seats and section 200.
I was trying for Kingston and Toronto, but no luck. Just a screen with no tickets available.
However I can empathize with those that were not so lucky to get tickets during the pre-sale. The current ticketing system is not working. Clearly when I go onto “stubhub” and see tickets going for $2500 USD a ticket!! There is a problem. Maybe its time we go “Old School” and line up in person for tickets?
Thanks
Heather
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Hi Alan,
First, thank you for all you do for music.
Next, this Tragically Hip presale crap is devastating to us long-time fans with limited budgets. I received my presale code last night for the Victoria show and sat by my computer with the window ready to go diligently this morning. Nothing – nothing – available but tickets were selling on Stubhub.
Now Stubhub is trying to justify their involvement with this juicy little pop-up: (see attached screen grab)
I’m sick and despondent. I have a chronic migraine condition, so I don’t make an effort to get out to much live music these days, sadly. I was making an effort for Gord and the boys this time.
Greed has taken away an experience from me and many other dedicated fans to connect once more with a band we care about.
It would be nice if they could cancel all the ticket sales so far and do a do-over to try and rectify this. It would also be nice if Ticketmaster took some responsibility. I won’t hold my breath
To Gord, Gord, Paul, Rob, and Johnny, if you ever get to read this – have a hell of a tour. I’m devastated I can’t afford to see you now, but I bet it’ll be a great show.
Sincerely,
Morgan
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Hi Alan,
So I’ve been throwing around an idea for the past few days about Tragically Hip tickets that I would love to present to your blog or anyone else who thinks this would be a great idea for an add on to the story of how quick pre-sale tickets sold out.
I’m in Ottawa. Public sale of the tickets start at 10am on Friday. I’m going to do this the old fashioned way – I’m going to haul ass to the Canadian Tire Centre at an ungodly hour to wait in line. Judging by the reaction to the presale, I am starting to think of heading after work Thursday and pulling an all-nighter.
I’m doing this for two reasons:
1) I have never trusted online ticket sales. I have only a prepaid credit card, so the times I’ve tried to take advantage of first day sales through the Ticketbastard website, I had to literally prepare for it days in advance and I’ve never been able to get tickets to the shows I want. Not to mention, in the cases of some area venues, it actually saves money to physically go to the box offices. If there’s a kiosk, I do that.
2) Back when Sarnia Bayfest got the Hip for the first time, my 17-year-old self was in the line up for passes at 5am they day they went on sale. I didn’t regret it then, and I certainly won’t regret it now.
In what will more than likely be a long wait, I would love to submit some kind of blog post documenting the wait and to see if lining up for concert tickets are still a thing. After all, I’m going to need something to do.
Let me know what you think. Add another level of investigation to the mess that are these ticket pre-sales.
Thanks!
Emily
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Hi Alan,
Let me first say that I’ve been a huge fan of the Ongoing History of New Music since I was but a wee lad. As I’m sure this was the case for 1000’s of Canadians, and particularly Torontonians, it was a huge influence in developing my love and respect for music and musicians. For me, it led to founding a student-run media outlet, Slope Media (www.slopemedia.org) during my undergraduate years at Cornell, hosting my own radio show/podcast and interviewing bands/musicians/artists like Editors, The Decemberists, The Strokes, and, more controversially, Girl Talk. So, a belated thank you for your inspiration and excellent work.
Like many Canadians of a certain vintage, I was sitting at my computer at precisely 9:22am EDT with my pre-sale promotion code in hand and my Ticketmaster account properly set-up. The next 38 minutes felt like an eternity, but I knew such over-punctuality would pay off with tickets to see The Tragically Hip on their devastating but inspiring good-bye tour. At 10:00:00 EDT, I promptly entered the promotion code “machine” into the designated area on the TicketMaster website. Shockingly, it came back with an error code. I thought I must have been overly excited and spelled ‘machine’ wrong or had the caps lock on. So I entered it again – still to no avail. I continued to enter the code in while communicating with my friend who had the same results. After a brief but sharp panic attack, I scoured Twitter and saw similar complaints of the promotion code not working. I continued entering it after refreshing my browser. Roughly at 10:06am EDT, the promotion code finally worked and I searched for best available tickets for the August 12 show in Toronto. Response after at least a minute of the search engine searching: “Sorry…no tickets match your search.” I tried August 10, the other show in Toronto with the same result.
This is truly a disappointment. I will continue to try to get tickets at tomorrow’s freshly announced pre-sale for the newly added August 14 Toronto show, failing which I will try again during the regular sale on Friday. Given this experience, and other recent past experiences with TicketMaster, this is not at all surprising. This specific attempt at getting tickets is just that much more disappointing given the personal importance of seeing this particular concert. I hope nothing fishy went down. I’m not sure I could think of the accurate word to describe how awful it would be if there proves to be corruption/profiteering in light of the circumstances of Gord Downie’s prognosis.
Thank you for your willingness to investigate this.
Take care,
Jeff Bookman
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Re hip tickets.
Just a thought & warning if anyone buys through outside sources ie scalpers stubhub & Gord’s health turns to the worst making him unable to perform all concerts. I’d think the only refund you’d get is the price on the ticket. Little food for thought & you have the outlet for informing fans of this. Hate to see profiteering of fans especially in cases like this. Would be great to see them stuck with all their tickets. The hip wouldn’t loose because of all tickets sold at face value. Their only loss would be from merchandise.
–Greg
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As if by (black) magic, tickets showed up on StubHub at the speed of light. Michael sent me this screenshot. These prices are in USD, by the way.
And this is the situation in London.
And here’s Calgary.
Things are already heating up on eBay:
And the tickets are on Kijiji. Love the last post, though.
Was in queue for Kingston show for 20 minutes, then lost my tickets. Got 2 tix to Hamilton show around 10:25am after being kicked out a couple times.
Wow. I actually got a pair for the ACC on the 10th of August. I knew i was lucky but not just how lucky. I got floor seats, row 36 maybe not prime but considering that’s only the second time in about 40 years of buying tickets to arena shows in toronto floors were even possible I’m pretty happy.
I’m also disappointed so many went on stubhub so quickly and that so many die hard fans seem to have missed out. I was in my little bubble and didn’t realize what was going on until just a few minutes ago.
Ticketmaster really should get a grip. It’s really too bad that Pearl Jam failed in their protest years ago.
With 4 more shows added I hope some of the diehards got seats.
And i have to say regarding the emails above , I’m not quite so sympathetic to people who are pissed about missing out on tickets for multiple shows. If you have some for one of the shows you should be happy in my opinion . Not that i think you shouldn’t get more if you’re inclined and have the cash but I find the bitching a bit much.
An absolute joke Alan.
I took the exact same approach this time as I did for the last tour (Fully Completely Anniversary) which, back then, snagged me 4th row tickets at the ACC. Today, nothing. It’s a shame. I’ve been a hard core fan since the beginning of the 90s, had stopped counting the shows I have been to once I got over 20 shows…
…oh wait, just got an email from The Hip. They added another Toronto show. Tues 10am presale for Aug 14th show.
The story (frustration?) continues. Let’s just see what tomorrow brings…
…ok, it’s “tomorrow”. It took less than 30 seconds for both my phone and my laptop to tell me that there are not tickets available. I refuse to feed the monster and pay a scalper for tickets. As others have mentioned, the whole process needs to be revamped.
It’s too bad that so many long time fans get the shaft on this deal.
I see someone came up with an idea to petition to have CBC broadcast their last show in Kingston. Nothing replaces the live experience but this is a great idea.
Thank you for bringing attention to this. We need to make changes in the industry. Stubhub is ruining everything. I am an avid concertgoer and a huge music fan – I have noticed a massive difference in ticket availability and procurement in the last few years. Even my favourite band, Eels – I have had no problem securing front and centre spots over the years. Most recently? The first 20 rows were immediately snapped up as soon as the sale started. That is IMPOSSIBLE. And of course they were being re-sold on Stubhub within minutes. It is so very wrong and particularly disgusting with Gord Downie’s situation. Please do what you can to make some noise about this, Alan!!
StubHub didn’t do anything. It’s a service to buy and sell tickets. I have used StubHub many times and it is a great site. What you’re referring to are the people who are using StubHub to make a profit. There is a difference.
You are ridiculously naive if you believe that its just people completely unassociated with StubHub themselves. These are diehard fans and members of their fan club. Sure, money is a powerful motivator,but not in these numbers under these circumstances. Ticketmaster flips these tickets to their buddies at StubHub. Period. Hell, Ticket Master told my wife at about 10:20 they have lots of tickets. Starting at $780 bucks, through their own resale department. And they take 10% from any resales on their site. We cant afford to be this naive. Literally.
I finally scored a pair at the back of Rogers arena after about 25 min of trying ($280-gulp!). I think the system got logjammed so even though tix were available, search wouldn’t yield any until the logjam cleared. They should tweak their search to queue better than that – search times out and reports no find when tickets do still exist in the system. This has happened with other shoes too, nothing at first then success after 10+ minutes of reloading.
Really disgusted at the scalpers nabbing and reselling so quickly. FU ticketmaster for enabling this!
I tried and tried… finally got a ticket to the Ottawa show at around 11:15 AM….
Don’t be so quick to blame Ticketmaster, these days it’s pretty much a given that bands set a batch of tickets aside for sale on the secondary market with the reason being they don’t want to miss out on the extra cash that those sites garner. So after that and presale (fan club/Amex front of the line, etc) there isn’t much left for the general on sale.
I think the only things I gained from today’s presale is that Ticketmaster knows that I’m definitely not a robot (since they asked me around 75+ times). And that I greatly dislike pictures of trees, river, storefronts and street signs.
LOL, amen brother.
why is anyone shocked by this…..Madonna keeps the first 20 rows of floor seats for her own shows and scalps them for ridiculous prices….other acts do the same…….this world revolves around 1 word…GREED
whole ticketing system is bad……..needs a complete overhaul…..
Ticketmaster is also gouging in Calgary with their “Premium” seats. Over $600/ticket for floor. How do they get away with this?
#TragicallyHip adds 4 shows in #Vancouver, #Edmonton, #Calgary, #Toronto bringing total to 14. Pre-sale tickets on sale Tuesday at 10 am ET.
Stinks seems such a mild word for what this is. I was on two computers before sales ‘started’ logged in and ready to go. My code stopped working a few minutes in so I called TM 45 times to a busy signal while continuing to work the keyboards. It started working again but then there were two ‘fanclub presale’ links to choose from – odd. We are all being had.
I ensured that I was preregistration with ticketmaster, made sure my info etc was correct, even managed to get 2 tickets however when I went to purchase it sent me to capital tickets and asked for my sign in
Didn’t recognize my username/password I ended up loosing the tickets because it took so long to sign in
Tickets all sold out now???
Stinks big time!
The key to fixing this problem is not doing what many here have done. When you don’t get tickets to a show you want to see simply don’t pay the crazy mark ups in the secondary market. All it would take is 5-6 shows in a market sticking brokers / scalpers with tickets and bands / teams having empty seats before the practise changes.
That is the key. If only people would do it. Bottom line is $$$$$
Yeah. And maybe if all the Leafs fans stop coming out regardless of how dismal their play is they might actually have to get a real team. (Yes I know, a little off topic, but definitely an idea worth trying.)
You know what REALLY sucks? I actually had my hands on 2 floor tickets in the 4th row, and never had the time to click “Buy Tickets”. Just by the time I moved my mouse, I got a popup saying that another “Fan” had snatched them from me. SERIOUSLY??? Happened again with the absolute last 2 tickets in the Arena. they were again snatched from me before I had time to click on buy…
There was something really wrong this morning. Between my sister and I we had 8 devices trying for Kingston tickets. Screen refreshed at 10am and there was nothing but platinum tickets. Finally tried for a couple of those but couldn’t get them. I live in Victoria so 3 hours later, tried Victoria, now armed with the knowledge that there doesn’t appear to actually be any presale tickets available. So had three devices, two open and ready for platinum seats and one for regular seats. Couldn’t get regular seats, none available less than a minutes after 10am. Went for the platinum instead. Ended up paying $325 each for floor seats in around the middle of the floor. And that’s all that “platinum” got you, no other perks, just seats mid floor. I’m a die hard fan and was ready to pay but I totally cry foul on this presale.
38 of us in London trying to get tickets…. NONE! I have seen the Hip in 8 provinces and a territory over 30 times but I guess not this one. I can’t pay 4 days wages for one ticket.
So sad ….had tix and dropped me from queue….sure can’t afford 500 a seat…hopefully tomorrow…cheers
Big fan since the beginning, lake view manor, terrapin tavern , even one of the 50 or so who heard a surprise peeformance of Road Apples at the Toucan. Cut a day of vacation short in France so I could log in at 9:30. Got thru right away but either kept being told my request could not be filled or when I picked them on the map ( about 5 times) I was informed there was trouble with the map and then that someone else beat me to them. Something has got to change. The only people attending the Kingston show will be the rich or connected. Not a way for the real fans to say a final thanks.
Mark McMullan
Kingston, ON
I failed today to for Kinston venue. I am a early fan too. First time I saw them was at the Terrapin. The Manor, Alfie’s student pub and at a basement bar called Dolans were some of the small venues I had the privilege to witness this great Canadian bands birth. I hope if we cannot get tickets Friday the city will at least stream concert to a larger venue. After all the hometown band and everyone wants to be at this party. Good luck too you and I hope you get tickets!
Charmaine
Kingston, ON
There is now a guy/site with an ad posted on kijiji with no less than 251 Tragically Hip tickets for sale. Yes, 251 tickets!. Including 6 front row floors for $5,808 each. Somehow he’s calculated that this is the market price and notes that he donates to cancer research yearly. I guess that’s why the tickets aren’t an even $5,800. What a frustrating joke.
I got one ticket, but was trying for more. I was trying to get four tickets for each Toronto show. Was logged in right at 10 AM, and kept refreshing/changing the quantity. Took about an hour, and within minutes of the presale starting, there were tickets as high as $1200 on Stub Hub. And considering the fact that Ticketmaster is saying that you need to present a credit card if that’s how you paid, it’s possible that some people buying on Stub Hub are getting ripped off and wont get in at all.
and another person selling a pair of tickets to the London show for $6,000. According to the ad, “This package was limited to people who own boxes at the Budweiser Gardens.”
Is that where all the best seats disappeared to so fast? The box owners at all the venues had PRE-pre-sale access to tickets?
if we can expend all the resources we did to raid these dispensaries here in Toronto – why can’t they do anything about this scalping scam that has been taking advantage of people for years?
Ticketmaster credit card check doesn’t stop scalping. You simply call them and they let you change the card number and buyer name before the show date.
Great radio segment on this exact issue – http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-286-parliamentary-brawls-transgender-rights-the-raptors-secret-weapon-migrant-ships-and-more-1.3591232/here-s-why-you-can-t-get-good-concert-tickets-anymore-1.3591266
This is not a Hip related scam, TM and SH have been doing for the last few concerts I have tried to purchase tickets for (Mumford & Sons in TO & Fight of the Conchords in Van). With tickets been made available on US ticket sites 2 – 3 days before presale but miraculously nothing available by the time of presale. It’s a complete CON!!!. You either have to take your luck with an unknown US site probably selling ghost tickets or wait until stub hub when you pay more than 3 times the sale price.
I also heard that if you have AMEX it doesn’t matter what country you live in you can purchase the advance tickets, so someone buys through AMEX (up to 8 tickets) and then scalps them.
My girlfriend and I were both ready to go for the 10 a.m. presale. I was covering kingston and she was covering Ottawa, just in case the demand was high. We both got an error message at the start, kept reloading and trying, and eventually it said no tickets were available. We were ready and signed in and watched the timer count down to the second. I cannot accept that the amount of tickets for sale on the re-sale sites is a coincidence. I know the demand was high but I just think the scalpers got the upper hand. I have my fingers crossed that we can at least get tickets on Friday when they open up to the general public.
Looks like the shows in Edmonton are Credit Card Entry only, which should ensure only real fans get to go. But doesn’t help me use my mother’s Amex for the presale (she’s not going):(
I can’t seem to find info on which locations are the “SELECT LOCATIONS are Credit Card Entry Only…” and whether Ticket Transfer will be available or not. Kinda risky to purchase tickets on Ma’s Amex if she’s not going to be able to transfer to me so I can get in…
If you call ticketmaster they let you change the card number/persons name. My parents bought me tickets for another show that was credit card entry and I called ticket master, explained to them that my parents bought the tickets with their AMEX and they said no problem and changed all the information to my visa.
hope that helps 🙂
So unlike most people on here, I must have won the ticketmaster lottery today. I have never had this experience and typically don’t even get tickets during the presale as every attempt has left me empty handed. I am a fan club member and used the code today, after at least a dozen attempts this morning, I was ready to give up. I decided to change the ticket parameters, it worked! I not only snagged 2 tickets to the Vancouver 24th show, I GOT FRONT ROW!
I am absolutely boggled how this happened, i feel like the luckiest Hip fan in the world!
I was lucky enough to get a pair in the 200s for Hamilton after trying Toronto for about 35 mins. Why did the password not change?
This was really the way it is with Ticketmaster these days. Had the same thing with another concert not even a month ago. With the Hip, I tried for Toronto and Hamilton, different browsers and on mobile. I had actually given up by 10:10 or so, and the Toronto window I had open suddenly refreshed and tickets were there. Just short of 10:15 I got 4 tickets. Some bands do this well – NIN and Radiohead come to mind: CC holder must be present at the gate to be let in for pre-sale tickets. There are blips as they are not using the kind of computing power Ticketmaster must have available now, but it’s pretty fair. Ticketmaster could make it impossible to resell tickets and close the secondary market completely. The tech would be *really* easy now. They are clearly choosing not to.
Hi Alan
I was so disappointed today by the presale today. All I had to do was press one button and I should of had tickets, nothing. There really should of been no reason why I couldn’t get a ticket. 4 tickets maximum for credit card, address, same name, whatever, so why did I not even get one! Well after waiting to “check for tickets” it told me there were none, then again and again and lets not forget how many times I was rerouted to make sure I wasn’t a “robot”. Kingston was my choice as I live here, went to school here with Gord himself, watched this band grow and followed them for many a years. I’ve been to many a concerts, , spent many a nights listening to , he’s an old friend. Devastating news for him and his family and though I may not be able to attend the show in Kingston I will be there in spirit toasting him and his band members, his family, his friends and his fans.
To the persons, businesses or whoever feel the need to profit from this may the kindness showed by many others creep inside of you when you most need it and remind you that that will not change a many of us, but it will change you and affect you in ways you never thought possible.
Teresa
I am in Victoria and had my code ready and my computer and phone ready at 10. First Ticketmaster redirected me to evenue.net which completely crashed. Just a page with hundreds of Chinese characters. My phone just hung for about 10 minutes. Finally connected. Nothing on either device. Stub hub had dozens of tickets available for hundreds of dollars. I agree, something is fishy.
Here is the screen grab of the Chinese character screen I was talking about. https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/13301417_10153938838890141_5668171216958183809_o.jpg
Wow. Very weird. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Meanwhile apparently my entire ISP is blocked from Ticketmaster because a user allegedly tried abusing the system. Been dead for weeks. Wised up last week … ISP contacted Ticketmaster, still waiting for the ban to be lifted.
If we go to ticketmaster.ca or .com all we see is a HTTP “forbidden” error code.
My comment is the same as the other 99%. Staying in, missing a previously planned function to be ready to hit the buttons…got nothing! Now I know why! So sorry this has put a negative feel to what I am sure will be a great show! My nephew had brain cancer I am sure whatever donations are given will be an amazing support for others! Good luck everyone!
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I didn’t manage to read through the entire comments section, but I do want to say one thing in case it’s been missed. This outpouring of rage and frustration is also a tribute to how much people love Gord and The Hip. I’m sure they’d do a thousand concerts if they could folks.
I wish you all the best of luck, and for those who’ve already got their tickets, be ready to cheer extra loud!
I think we need to back to the day of just lining up to buy concert tickets in person. I am a lucky Winnipeger that was able to buy tickets online in the 300 section of MTS. It infuriates me that this reselling BS is still going on. And don’t tell me that “StubHub is commited to ensuring fans have access to buy and sell tickets to the events they want to see,”. Bullsh5t!!
Why do the people not get alan cross to ask the band why they are selling platinum seats for every show on ticket master for over $500 for the better seats and this is right on ticket master. Check out the second calgary show when the presale goes on sale , you cannot buy the seats up front on the regular presale yet you can get these if you are willing to pay over $500 a seat and over as a platinum seat . That is part of the problem they are doing this for more and more for all the shows this is half the problem , yet no one mentions these platinum seats.
All of these comments are odd. I was able to purchase tickets twice in Winnipeg on Monday. One set in the afternoon – right near the stage even.
Pay close attention to the purchase page. Click the Fan Presale icon below the Premium option – mid lower left side of purchase page. Do not click the normal sale search button by the “Best Seats Available”.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that’s what THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE DOING WRONG
I know this is easy for me to say as I was able to get tickets for London. But Is anyone actually surprised that tickets sold out in seconds? Don’t get me wrong, I really hate ticketmaster and reading about those ticket-bots and someone with 250tickets for $5000ea. But it was only the pre-sale, which I understand to be minimal amount of mid to lesser desirable seats. Best available when I got through was upper bowl back for London. Over the years, I’ve never got any really good seats on presales.
And why are people are already paying scalpers big bucks for tickets?? The bulk of the tickets haven’t even gone on sale yet. Not until Friday. At least wait until those sell out (in seconds/minutes) before going to scalpers.
Good luck to all on Friday.
Amen. This is a great comment.
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I hope everyone here signs this, for those that can’t get tickets to these shows…
Let’s get their last show broadcast on CBC!
https://www.change.org/p/hubert-t-lacroix-president-of-canadian-national-broadcasting-request-for-live-broadcast-of-the-tragically-hip-s-final-show-in-kingston-on-august-20-16?recruiter=7229893&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink
I have a petition I started against ticketmaster . Please cheek it out.
https://www.change.org/p/ticketmaster-better-event-ticket-sales-for-true-fans?recruiter=41449960&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink
I had five computers, with real people sitting at them, running in three different houses – simply to get one set of tickets to a show I could possibly get to from Buffalo, NY – which is (don’t get mad, now) as much Hip Country as any Canadian city.
I have incredibly fast wifi, know technology, and shut down anything that could be adding to interference.
I just wanted regular priced tickets to one show in order for me, my wife, and son to have the opportunity to say goodbye. I have so many unique Hip memories I’ve shared with my son and my wife, that it’s impossible to not go with both.
I tried for three, two, and single tickets, and had no luck, even with a pretty solid strategy.
I got in. No problem. In fact I screwed up and got in twice at 10:00.
I just didn’t have an Amex Card, so that’s my fault.
If you’re mad at ticketmaster or mad at stubhub: GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE. Supply and demand is a thing. That’s why tickets are LISTED as expensive right now. Don’t be an idiot and buy them for 5000% the retail price.
I can list my car for $88M on Kijiji right now but that doesn’t mean that all 2008 Honda Civics are worth $88M. If someone BUYS it for that much… well maybe then the market has changed.
Starting a petition or complaining because you don’t understand how supply and demand works is a terrible idea. My 2 cents.
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Easy solution for Ticketmaster, just void any ticket that is being resold on 3rd party sites and resell them for the normal price; they get twice their money and fans get tickets and Stubhub can honk on bobo.
Hello all hip fans.
I have been thru this so many times, radiohead, pearl jam, neil young…… The system is fucked. But something kind of peculiar is this, i live in NYC, my aunt called me and asked to buy tix bc she was worried bc of the recent ticket troubles, the way it works is its 4 tix per credit card and the more tix a credit card purchases from a certain venue or ticket selling co (ticketmaster, which owns stubhub) get VIP access when they are logged in. So guys set up a program which automatically buys the tix with howevermany credit cards they have 4 tix per card and puts them up on stubhub immeditely.
But I had the thought that my US ip address may not get caught in the traffic jam that all of ontario was stuck in
I got 4 tix first try 10:01
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no way would TM feed tix to stubhub (which is owned by eboay), since TM owns its own secondary market reseller (ticketsnow). this is the problem: http://ticketbots.net/
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What would be cool is if the band bought all the tix from StubHub and resold them. They’re not poor, and if this is for the fans, do it for the fans.
Or force ticketmaster to do it somehow. Maybe threaten to not tour after this tour.
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This really does suck! I’ve been listening to the The Hip for over 25 years. I have seen them over 10 times. I even met Gord at a Much Music I&I when he was promoting his solo work. I tried multiple venues with the presale code, my aunt even gave me her AMEX info to try that route, and I wasn’t able to get tickets. I will try again for the general sales on Friday, but I am not holding out much hope. This sucks!
We need to go back to the “old days” when you got your wristband and then STOOD IN AND ACTUAL LINE to get tickets. It would help ensure the true fans, that would do anything to see their band except feed the greedy scalpers, actually get to see their band.
Just my $0.02.
Here’s a thought – Live Nation (owners of Ticketmaster) has received $300,000 as part of the Ontario Music Fund since the Fund’s inception for its Ontario operations. One would think that they would be most interested in upping the security of their online businesses, to provide secure platforms for their customers, and to ensure that Ontario taxpayers and concert-goers, who have – let’s reiterate – supplied them with $300,000 via the OMF, can actually afford to see the events they promote. One would also think that 300 grand should be enough to invest in robust security against reseller bots.
This is, of course, assuming that LN wants to actually fix the problem… or even sees it as a problem.
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Here’s a thought. 15 shows across an ENTIRE COUNTRY…probably a low estimate of 200,000 people trying to buy tickets, for somewhere around 50-75K tickets total. There are a few HUNDRED tickets on Stubhub per show. So in reality, a large percentage of actual fans got tickets. You are all not entitled to a ticket, so I dont get why everyone is complaining and attorney generals need to get involved, news stations freaking out everywhere, etc…its pretty simple supply and demand. There is a finite amount of tickets available for a very popular bunch of shows….so if you want to go, try hard for tickets…if you REALLY want to go and dont get tickets from ticketmaster, pay for a ticket from the small supply of tickets available on the secondary sites. At the end of the day, its a concert…you dont NEED to be there, you just want to be there. calm the heck down….
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I use a little-known website called Ticket Club, which unlike Ticketmaster, Stubhub and the rest doesn’t charge any extra service fees. Instead they require a yearly membership fee but I use a promo code NoMoreFees when checking out and the membership fee gets waived entirely! It’s a lifesaver for when I’m buying tickets.
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