Elton John promoter addresses Eden Park and Viagogo ticket issues

Elton John performs during his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Sacramento, California. Photo / Getty Images

The promoter who has brought the likes of Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan to play shows in New Zealand says Eden Park is too difficult to secure.

Michael Chugg, who is bringing Elton John to our shores next year, said he'd love to bring acts to Eden Park but local residents make it near impossible.

"It would be amazing but we have tried so many times over the years and it rarely gets past first base," the Australian promoter told Newstalk ZB.

"We'd love to play there but the restrictions ... it's not that easy."

Instead, the English singer will perform at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium, Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium and Napier's Mission Estate early next year.

The visits are apart of his final world tour and will be the 13th time playing Auckland, second in Dunedin and first at Hawke's Bay.

Legendary Australian rock promoter Michael Chugg talks about life and promoting rock stars in 2010. Photo / Dean Purcell

Chugg said it was important John toured the country being his final visit and said despite not having Eden Park, Mt Smart Stadium was a great backup.

"We've done a lot of shows there over the years going right back, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses", the 71-year-old said.

"I think it's a pretty good stadium and I know they're working very, very hard to keep building it and getting it better and better."

General sale tickets for John's Auckland and Dunedin shows go on sale at 9am tomorrow and the Mission Estate concert has already sold out.

One woman called Andrew Dickens on Newstalk ZB to say she had been fleeced for around $8000 trying to buy tickets for the Mission concert.

The caller, called Rosie, explained she was getting tickets for her family but didn't know the price of the tickets when she bought them.

Elton John plays in concert at Aucklands Vector Arena on May 14, 2008. Photo / NZPA

"I got tickets and all the tickets I wanted for my kids and then the confirmation came through and it is Viagogo," Rosie said.

"Consequently, $7930.64 later I now have this bill on the credit card."

Chugg said with the concerts around a year out, tickets will be constantly up for grabs even after they are "sold out" with people needing to resell them.

The veteran promoter also warned hopeful concert-goers about the infamous online marketplace Viagogo.

"You can officially resell your tickets if you can't go to the concert. So there will be tickets across the year. Don't panic," he said.

"But don't go and buy tickets off Viagogo or any of the other reseller sites. The tickets won't be honoured.

"Half the time they don't even have the tickets. They're taking the money and speculating that they're going to get tickets."

Viagogo said "it would be good to know from Mr Chugg how many face value Elton John tickets are actually being made available to the general public. Insiders predict a majority of tickets are being sold through VIP and Platinum channels at extremely high prices.

"In fact, last week so-called 'platinum tickets' were already on offer on Ticketmaster (ahead of the Elton John fan club presale) for upwards of $1000 per ticket.

"The fact is that most of the people who sell their tickets on Viagogo provide a competitive price to these Platinum and VIP Packages, which are just window dressing to charge triple the face value for a cheap glass of wine and a lanyard."