Frustrated Little Monsters faced long waiting times to secure tickets to Lady Gaga long-awaited return to Australia, with many crushed by the prices when they made it through the queue. Some fans trying to buy tickets for the Mayhem Ball show at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium alleged dynamic pricing was active, and a nosebleed seat would cost almost $500.
Happy, sad and angry emojis flooded social media as hundreds of thousands of Little Monsters tried their luck in the ticket lottery via Ticketmaster for the Melbourne show and concert at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
“Ticketmaster does not have surge pricing or dynamic algorithms to adjust ticket prices. Tickets were priced in advance of the sale and set at the individual seat level,” a Ticketmaster spokesperson said.
What agency handles the Lady Gaga show?
Ticketek is the official agency for the show at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in December. A spokesman confirmed there was no dynamic pricing for the Sydney concert.
Demand is huge for the three December concerts.
It has been 11 years since the pop queen last toured here, and her triumphant return to the stage at the Coachella festival on the weekend has further stoked the desperation of fans to see her.
Before the MasterCard and Vodafone pre-sales opened on Monday, a message on the Ticketmaster website advised fans prices ranged from $118.68 to $1,586.76 with a handling fee of $7.95 per order.
One Melbourne fan said there was “no bloody way” they were paying $499.38 for a ticket in the back rows.
Also another fan posted that due to demand, prices from $550 to $650 were being charged for other seats in the stands.
General admission tickets, which are standing, ranged from $204 for the back of the floor to $306 for the front area near the stage and runway.
Fans posts
“Dynamic pricing is on (ticket prices rise due to demand),”. This reported one fan who posted screenshots of four different pricepoints for tickets. “Meaning cheapest ticket is around $300 for nosebleed seats. And a whopping 550/650 for mid to front seated in the stands. ”Many fans lamented they just couldn’t afford to go after they made it through the queue.
“The ticket prices for Lady Gaga are actually insane,” posted one fan.
There were plenty of ecstatic fans celebrating they had secured tickets. This is in the Mastercard and Vodafone pre-sales which set a limit of four tickets per purchase.
Within hours of the pre-sales going live, social media sites were flooded with bots and touts. They were offering to sell “extra tickets” to the Australian concerts. The Live Nation members pre-sale will be the next opportunity for fans to secure tickets on April 16.
The next shot at tickets will be the general on sale. This opens at noon for the Melbourne concert, 1pm for the Sydney show and 2pm for the Brisbane gig.
Finally, ticketing details are available via livenation.com.au
