U2 fans turn on ticket scalpers

Lisa Stokes queued overnight to get tickets for herself and friends to U2's concert at Ericsson Stadium. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Outraged U2 fans have railed against ticket scalpers on auction website Trade Me, bombarding them with insults and trying to scupper sales.

Tickets for the Irish band's first New Zealand concert in 12 years sold out within 90 minutes of going on sale at 9am yesterday.

The unprecedented demand led tour promoters to announce yesterday afternoon that a second Auckland concert would be staged.

But as early as 9.30am, some who had been fortunate enough to get tickets were selling them on Trade Me.

Bids were in the hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars.

By 3pm there were more than 100 U2 ticket listings on the site.

But some angry fans used the website forum to attack the sellers.

"I hope you bunch of vultures choke on your profits. Swine," wrote one.

Another wrote: "Genuine fans who wait for years for this opportunity miss out because of scum like you."

Others tried to undermine the auction by bidding huge amounts under online identities such as Iwillneverpayu and Scalpersbeware. Trade Me staff were working fast yesterday to remove erroneous bids.

U2 tour manager Michael Coppel echoed the concerns of many in the online community. He said scalpers exploited true fans. "I think it's despicable. It's a growing problem in major concerts and sports events and something needs to be done."

However, some fans were clearly willing to pay. By 4.30pm two tickets costing $99 each had sold for $806, with 79 bids.

Trade Me business manager Mike O'Donnell said scalping was not illegal in New Zealand and in a "moral survey" in October, 85 per cent of Trade Me members voted to allow concert tickets to be auctioned.

But the sales yesterday added to frustration among some fans.

Tens of thousands were left ticketless and dejected after either queuing without luck or making futile attempts to buy tickets over the phone or online in the morning.

Mr Coppel said Ticketmaster, which was dealing with sales, was at full internet capacity and had operators on every phone.

"I'm sure some people were frustrated but sometimes there's just a level of demand you cannot cope with."

The lucky ones queued overnight to ensure they could be part of the 38,000 crowd at Ericsson Stadium on St Patrick's Day.

It was appropriate that U2's hit Desire was playing inside Real Groovy on Queen St as up to 600 people queued for tickets.

First in line was 20-year-old Lisa Stokes, who began the queue at 9pm on Sunday.

"It was a really uncomfortable night, but I knew today would be crazy and it was worth it when I got the tickets," she said.

The music student bought eight tickets for herself and friends and said that despite the cold and the lack of sleep, she would not have missed the chance to get tickets.

"They have just everything that makes a brilliant rock band."

Ben Brewster, Jonny Crawshaw and Brandon Johnston, all in their early 20s, were also looking worse for wear after a night on Queen St.

They had been walking home from John Cleese's stage show on Sunday evening when they noticed the queue building. "It's on Paddy's day and we couldn't miss it," said Mr Brewster, triumphantly waving his tickets.

For the record

* Gig 1: March 17, 2006 - sold out 90 minutes after going on sale with tickets limited to eight per buyer.

* The 90-minute sellout broke previous New Zealand box office records for a single concert date.

* The Rolling Stones sold 35,000 tickets to their 1995 Voodoo Lounge concert in a single day and Neil Diamond sold 45,000 tickets to his 1996 New Zealand concert, also in a single day.

* Gig 2: March 18, 2006 - announced yesterday.

* Tickets on sale from 9am next Monday through Ticketmaster Ph (09) 970-9700 and online (see below for a link to the site) or from Real Groovy Records in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and Rebel Sport in Rotorua and Tauranga.