Scalpers move in as Elton John shifts 50,000 tickets in ten minutes
Michael Chugg, Sydney-based promoter of Elton John’sOnce In A LifetimeAustralian tour this September, is among those railing against lack of government action against online scalping.
Just last week, he told triple j’s Hack program: “It’s disgusting. This is just out of control now. They’re ripping off the punters… because somebody’s buying the tickets at the legitimate places then selling them on.”
Chugg had more of a reason to be angry. Yesterday the British superstar shifted 50,000 tickets in the first ten minutes that the shows went on sale at 9am yesterday.
John’s strategy to play in relatively out-of-the-way cities he had not performed in before – or in the case of Hobart, not been for 27 years – worked.
But within hours, tickets were being offered in secondary sites at inflated prices, from $283.50 for $99 standing room only to $1486.25 for a front-row seat.
Ticket sale patterns showed that fans were travelling from major cities to the regional areas for the shows.
“This has been a phenomenal result for an artist much loved by all Australians,”Chugg said.
“Elton really wanted to play to audiences where he had rarely travelled and the excitement was huge from the day that the tour was announced.
“From one end of Australia to another, the Elton John magic is infectious, with audiences young and old keen to be a part of these spectacular concert events.
“We are all blown away by the sales results. It is now my job to negotiate with Elton to see if there is a chance of any more concerts dates on this tour.”
Much to Tasmanian-born Chugg’s thrill, the first to sell out was the Hobart show, the smallest of the shows, at the 7500-capacity Derwent Centre. It went in eight minutes with a second show added this morning for Thursday September 28.
“Pretty much every seat at the Derwent Entertainment Centre is a platinum ticket by comparison to any of the other venues Elton is playing in September,” Chugg pointed out yesterday.
“Tassie really has got something special on their hands, and something that’s extraordinarily great value by anyone’s standards.”
The outdoor stadium shows in Wollongong, Mackay and Cairns, of about 12,000 seats each, followed suit, in a matter of minutes.
Fans from Brisbane are travelling to Mackay and Cairns, respectively 11 and 19 hours’ drive.
According to reports, they were so desperate to get tickets that they tracked down a media release from last month announcing the shows, which had a media contact number for Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office. The Premier’s staff had to fend off calls from fans asking to help get tickets.
Mackay and Cairns are setting up tourism events so that out-of-towners will be tempted to stay longer and spend more.
Similarly, Marc Swan, Venue Manager of Wollongong’s WIN Stadium, said that having someone with the profile of John playing the stadium and the city would entice more international performers to play open-air shows there. Promoters were already including WIN Stadium in schedules for other tours.