Yahoo News My experience trying to snag 'Infinity Tickets' for Coldplay in Hull
In case you needed reminding, or have been living under a rock for months, Coldplay are playing two dates in Hull next year as part of their Music Of The Spheres world tour.
Despite initially thinking it was a April Fools Day prank that got lost in the post when it was announced, it was true - and unsurprisingly the first batches of tickets sold out almost immediately. To make things easier for local people, the band also saved some tickets just for those with HU, YO, DN and LN postcodes too. Of course, they were quickly snapped up back in September as well.
Those that missed out were left wondering what might have been but, right from the start, Coldplay had one last chance up their sleeves which finally arrived today (November 22). Those tickets went on sale at 12pm and I had a go at securing a pair (they had to be bought in pairs).
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It was never going to be easy, not only because of the huge demand for them, but also because these tickets were priced at just over £20 each, including booking fees, making them the ultimate bargain for fans of the band.
Going into this free-for-all, I had an evenly balanced ticket-snagging record. Oasis were bagged with relative ease, but Glastonbury recently proved to be elusive. I wasn't fussed first time around to see Coldplay at Craven Park, but FOMO kicked in when I saw the group chat giddy with excitement - obviously by then it was too little too late.
Here's how my experience went ahead of the sale on Friday ...
11:50am - Ticketmaster signed in, date at the ready with ten minutes' notice. Better early than late.
Considering I'd just forked out £80 to see Sam Fender, these £20 tickets were looking like an absolute steal. Concert prices is a rant that I can go on for an age, but for all intents and purposes, I'll refrain from that, and credit where credit is due for these cheaper tickets.
There's been a lot in recent times about grassroots venues struggling, so another good initiative Coldplay are involved in is that 10 per cent of all proceeds are going to the Music Venue Trust.
12.05pm - The 'Infinity Tickets' were under their own tabs for the shows, so all that warm up was for nothing. Alas, I'm finally in the queue. Getting PTSD at the thought of the Oasis fiasco that many people went through, it was quite refreshing just to see that there were only 5,211 people in front of me. We wait and pray. Although it's urged to only stick to one device, I had a nosey at the state of the only other UK stop - Wembley. Just the 15,000 trying to bag tickets ...
12.09pm - With the dreaded blue progress bar halted at 4,491, a message appears - "UPDATE: There are currently no tickets available. This ticket sale is now closed." Crumbs. I thought Glastonbury selling out in half an hour was sharpish, but nine minutes is pretty remarkable. I can only guess there weren't a huge number of these tickets available this time - infinity by name, not by nature.
12.16pm - In a turn of events, whereas some people might give up once seeing that pop up, I had it on the background while carrying on with my work. The queue was slowly going down, and then it suddenly jumped from more than 4,000 to 300. Don't give me hope.
False alarm. I was taken through, but rather than a miraculous checkout, just a tab informing me that tickets are unavailable. Oh well, no point crying over it.
For those who bagged tickets either first time around or got a pair of 'Infinity Tickets' - enjoy the show come August next year!
