Not again! Rock band Coldplay's Ahmedabad tickets sell out in minutes, listed in black at six times the price

Rock band Coldplay. Pic/Instagram

Several Coldplay fans trying to book tickets for the band's upcoming gig in Ahmedabad on Saturday were let down yet again despite BookMyShow, the official ticketing agency, implementing an automated queue randomisation system this time to create a virtual queue for customers. Booking was opened at 12 pm and tickets were sold out in 44 minutes flat. The reporter logged into BookMyShow at 11.45 am via a phone and laptop but couldn't score a single ticket as 4,06,945 people were ahead of her.

Screenshots of the BookMyShow app during mid-day's failed bid to book tickets for the band's Ahmedabad gig

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According to BookMyShow's app, the British brand announced the Navi Mumbai and Ahmedabad legs of its Music of the Spheres world tour in September and November respectively. While the Grammy-winning band will perform at the DY Patil Stadium on January 18 and 19 next year, the Gujarat gig is scheduled for January 25 and 26 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. In September, fans faced difficulties booking tickets for the Navi Mumbai gig, expressing their disappointment on social media platforms. Following the backlash, BookMyShow introduced automated queue randomisation for the Ahmedabad tour.

When booking for the first slot (the January 25 show) was opened at noon on Saturday, this reporter saw around 5 lakh people waiting to book tickets in the virtual waiting room. When the tickets were sold out at 12.44 pm, around 4 lakh people were in the virtual waiting room, according to the app. The website faced no technical glitches. Booking started for the second slot (the January 26 show) was opened at 1 pm and this reporter was alerted that 4 lakh fans were in the virtual waiting room. When these tickets were also sold out 44 minutes later, there were around 3 lakh people waiting room ‘occupants'. In the meantime, concert tickets were available on ticket selling/re-selling platform Viagogo at six times the official price.

Fan Speak

A Coldplay fan, requesting anonymity, said, "I had logged into BookMyShow at 11.30 am. At 12.30, I logged into Viagogo and saw that tickets were available at exorbitant rates. Luckily, I eventually managed to book the tickets via BookMyShow."

(From left) Coldplay members Guy Berryman, Will Champion, Jonny Buckland and Chris Martin. Pic/X/@coldplay

"I logged in at 11 am and was added to the waiting room an hour later. Some 50,000 people were ahead of me and I could select the tickets in four minutes. Last time, there was no virtual waiting room. On Saturday, there were no technical glitches. I am surprised to see that I got the tickets. I am overjoyed. It's a miracle. My friend had logged in at 11.58 am and still had managed to get the tickets in the first slot," a Coldplay fan said on condition of anonymity.

Rudra Thaker said he got a ticket for the second show at 1 pm. "I logged in at 11.30 pm and there was a virtual queue. Some 4 lakh people were ahead of me. However, later, I was able to book a ticket in the second slot," he said. Antara Bhide, who tried in vain to book tickets for the DY Patil show in September, said was disappointed that she could succeed this time. "Just like the last time, I couldn't manage to book a ticket. However, I feel the system has improved since September. I did not try my luck on Viagogo," she said.

Kasifa Hussain, another unsuccessful fan, said she would not opt for Viagogo as it was a "black marketing app". "I couldn't book a ticket via BookMyShow, but I found Viagogo, where tickets were being sold at sky-high prices, to be dodgy," she said.

New system

According to BookMyShow, the automated queue randomisation system was introduced this time and awareness was created about it on social media. "This system is followed worldwide. In it, users are added to a virtual queue and random people are selected to book a ticket. The user's login time doesn't matter; the queue system is completely random," a BookMyShow official said.

Police investigation

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police is investigating allegations of black marketing in connection with ticket sales for the Navi Mumbai concert. Advocate Amit Vyas filed a complaint with the EOW in September, alleging that BookMyShow and the organiser Live Nation Entertainment used ticket slots to manipulate the ticketing process. Vyas also alleged that 23 individuals and entities conspired to black market the tickets.

Vyas, a Coldplay fan, said that he was disappointed that BookMyShow was the official ticket booking agency and has already filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court. "Tickets were available on Viagogo the last time. Based on that, I had filed a petition and it is pending in the high court," he said.

A BookMyShow source told mid-day that the company was aware that an FIR had been registered and they were cooperating with the authorities. "In addition to filing an FIR over the black marketing and scalping of tickets for recent high-demand live entertainment experiences, BookMyShow has also provided all the requisite information and details to law enforcement agencies and will continue to proactively fight against scalping and black marketing of tickets - practices that are condemned and punishable by law in India," the source said, adding that the booking agency denied any link with Viagogo. Vyas told mid-day that he had suggested measures to curb the interference of bots in the ticket booking process.