Is VAN HALEN Auctioning Off Hundreds of Tickets?

December 4, 2007

Alfred Branch, Jr. of TicketNews reports: Following the lead of BEYONCE and LYNYRD SKYNYRD/HANK WILLIAMS, JR., it appears that VAN HALEN are auctioning off dozens of tickets for their upcoming 2008 shows, based on a review of Ticketmaster's TicketExchange website. The band's current tour, featuring the return of David Lee Roth on vocals with Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen, has been one of the top-selling tours all year, according to TicketNews' weekly ranking of leading concerts.

For a March 17, 2008 show at Madison Square Garden, for example, tickets were being offered on the TicketExchange for as high as $2,885 a piece for some premium seats. Tickets went on sale for the show at 10am [on Monday, December 3], but these seats, and dozens of others, were up on the TicketExchange in less than 10 minutes after the general onsale, which would appear to be impossible unless the tickets were withheld from the public and posted separately. Traditionally, bands, promoters and venues play around with tickets for shows, making them available in waves or withholding them outright for complimentary or other purposes.

"It's impossible for those tickets to be from anyone but the artist and promoter," said one ticket broker who observed the onsale. "They were up on the exchange within minutes."

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