Foo Fighters have issued a statement after hundreds of fans were turned away at the door of their huge London gig at The O2 last night (September 19) after falling victim to a ticketing mix-up.
The Dave Grohl-led band played a career-spanning set during their one-off show at the 20,000-capacity venue, which was reported to be sold out.
However, hundreds of ticketholders were denied entry to the gig for failing to present a photo ID which matched their booking.
Punters claimed that they were not told of the arrangement prior to the gig, and many were shocked to discover at the door that their tickets were not valid. After numerous complaints, security relented and allowed ticketholders without ID to enter the venue – but by then many of those who had initially been refused entry had left.
“Foo Fighters, SJM and The O2 are frustrated and saddened that despite their best efforts tickets for last night’s show at the O2 fell into the hands of unscrupulous secondary ticket agencies,” said the band in a statement.
Foo Fighters continued: “Unfortunately, this meant a small number of fans purchasing bogus tickets from these unscrupulous outlets did not get into the sold out show… Foo Fighters, The O2 and SJM strongly advise and sincerely hope that in the future ALL fans buy tickets only from legitimate sites to ensure they are not defrauded out of their hard earned money.”
Promoters SJM said: “Fans that bought tickets through our official box offices had to agree that they were buying named tickets prior to purchase. This was not a ‘last minute’ decision but was clear from the outset. We did this to prevent tickets being re-sold at extortionate prices. The vast majority of fans understood and adhered to this.”
“As event organizers of last night’s concert, we implemented a policy from onsale to limit secondary reselling of tickets. The only official outlets were the venue box office and SEE Tickets and all purchasers were clearly informed that ID checks would be in place on entry.”
Meanwhile, venue The O2 added: “Some ticket holders who arrived without ID or who had bought through secondary sites were unfortunately left disappointed.”
Meanwhile, Foo Fighters recently confirmed that they will appear on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke.