Ticket scalping is fast becoming one of the most serious issues facing live music, and Melbourne rockers The Smith Street Band are the latest to hit out against the practice which has now left their own fans staring down the barrel of tickets priced at many times their value.

The band lashed out at scalpers on social media last night after spotting their tickets being sold for over four times their initial value in an eBay sale, expressing their anger through an exclamation of “This is fucked!!” – as well as plenty of frowny faces – and begging fans not to give in to the temptation.

The band were earlier celebrating their Melbourne show selling out, but the knowledge that some of those tickets were intended to be sold to fans at a huge markup took the shine off that victory somewhat.

As Music Feeds report, tickets have been listed on Ticketmaster Resale for up to $345, leading the band to lash out at the resale site, which has in recent weeks been brought in front of the ACCC for the alleged dodgy practices that allow this sort of situation to occur.

One fan responded by jokingly pointing out a comparison to prices for the sought-after Midnight Oil tickets, which, despite the band’s best effort to thwart scalpers, have been subject to insane markups.

There’s hope of some action being taken against scalpers in the near future, thankfully, with a motion having just passed the Australian Senate imploring the Government to implement measures against the use of ticket bots, as have recently been introduced in the U.S.

Until we see some action, bands will continue to do all they can to stop their fans from getting ripped off.

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