There were a lot of pissed off The Black Keys fans in Los Angeles last week.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, there was a significant amount of ticket holders for the band’s show at The Wiltern who were turned away after their tickets were deemed invalid.
Tickets that were purchased via third party vendors (StubHub, etc) were dishonoured, a result of an anti-ticket transfer policy the band had put in place.
The policy meant that only tickets bought through Ticketmaster or The Black Keys’ website directly were deemed valid.
The Black Keys – ‘Go’
The show at The Wiltern was The Black Keys’ first in over four years with their latest album, Let’s Rock. According to the band, the decision to enact this policy was so their fan club would have priority access for tickets.
“Last night’s concert tickets were $25 and geared toward the fan club. This was our first show in over four years and the kickoff of the Let’s Rock Tour. Because we were playing a venue far smaller than the rest of the venues on the tour as a warmup show, we turned off ticket transferability to ensure that our fans in the door at the low ticket prices we set for them.”
Ticketmaster have stated that the policy was clearly indicated from the beginning, though judging by the amount of fans who were turned away at the venue, and voicing their disappointment on Twitter, this might not have been the case. At least, the message wasn’t clear.
We were turned away. Apparently the rotating ticket policy was put into effect 40 min. Before showtime. And people were being treated like garbage by the staff. pic.twitter.com/33QRcpWcbS
— Sherry Sabety (@SSabety) September 20, 2019
So Ticketmaster issues a static barcode in their app…. then changes it at the last minute to a rotating barcode thus denying hundreds of fans entry at the Wiltern. Disgraceful behavior by the Black Keys, Ticketmaster, and the Wiltern. All of them. https://t.co/1jGBmEemKy
— Brad Brickell (@bradbrick) September 20, 2019
