Hundreds of Foo Fighters fans turned away from gig after ticketing 'shambles' at O2

Huge queues: Foo Fighters fans at the o2 in Greenwich
Twitter/@paul_honey14
Barney Davis @BarneyDavisES20 September 2017

Hundreds of Foo Fighters fans were turned away from the band's sold-out show at the O2 after a "shambolic" ticket mix-up.

Ticket-holders who could not present a photo ID matching their booking were barred from entering the Greenwich arena due to security. The venue said the arrangements were made at the request of the band.

It included fans who had paid more than £200 a ticket through the gig’s official resale partner StubHub and travelled hundreds of miles for last night’s one-off show.

Concert-goers said they not had not been made aware in advance of the restrictions.

Following a barrage of complaints the restrictions were later eased and fans without ID were allowed through the doors, but not before many had left the arena dejected and out of pocket.

Tori Rosenbaum, 23, said she bought four tickets at face value for £65 for her family before her changing work schedule meant she was unable to attend.

Sell-out show: Foo Fighters
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The film production worker, from Sutton, said: “My brother is absolutely heartbroken.

“They saw some 14-year-old girls getting turned away too and were left sitting on a bench sobbing their hearts out.

“I totally understand the thing of stamping out touting, but this is punishing actual fans and is so easily avoidable by saying bring a copy of the ID or card that bought the tickets, or their confirmation, or anything. It’s a shambles.

“It’s just not on, it’s not even the money that bothers me, it’s knowing that people are having their excitement crushed.”

Images posted on social media showed hundreds of people queuing outside the 20,000 capacity arena.

US band Foo Fighters were in London for a one-off arena gig to promote their latest album Concrete and Gold.

Paul Younger and his wife Alison had travelled from Suffolk and spent £420 on two tickets through official resale partner Stubhub only to be refused entry when they arrived at the O2.

The mechanic, who was later allowed into the concert, showed the Standard a picture of an email from StubHub which read: “It’s fine to see someone else’s name on the tickets.”

Niki McGrane, 45, went to the gig were her 19-year-old son Harvey but left the venue after being refused entry.

The HR director said: “They policy came out of the blue. My daughter bought tickets for me and my son but she couldn’t come because of work.

“They refused entry even though my son and daughter have the same surname and we had our own ID. We even got her on the phone but still no luck.

“The O2 customer service approach is to stonewall with ‘it’s not us it’s the band’.

“It’s left us feeling we will never go to the O2 again. We are huge Foo Fighters fans but we’re feeling very let down to be honest.”

An O2 spokesman said: “At the request of the band, all tickets are being verified for tonight’s show at The O2. All fans are required to show proof of ID. This does mean that some who have bought through secondary sites, including our partner Stubhub may not be able to see the show.

“Ticket buyers should contact their original point of purchase if they encounter issues.”

Foo Fighters’ representatives have been contacted from comment.

A spokesman for StubHub today said ticket-holders denied entry would be eligible for refunds, adding that the strict ID policy was ‘not fair to customers’.

He said: “The problem with putting restrictions on tickets is that there are often unintended consequences.

“Many fans will receive tickets as gifts, will have a change of plans, or will want to enter the venue separately from the lead booker, and these restrictions mean that they can be denied entry. This is simply not fair for consumers.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT