Fans attempting to buy pre-sale tickets for Sam Fender's St James' Park shows have reported being left "frozen" in queues, with some resale listings now priced at £885 or more.
The pre-sale for the Proper Massive Tour dates in 2027 was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but a "sophisticated bot attack" brought it to a halt. Fans encountered website errors and buffering, and only a very small number of tickets reached genuine buyers.
As a result, the pre-sale was moved to today and switched from the original platform, Gigantic, to Ticketmaster. However, fans have again complained about the process, with queues reaching 98,000 and some reporting being stuck on the same queue number for extended periods.
Fans report queue freezes and slow checkout
One fan said: "The blunder of Sam Fender presale is insane. I thought I lucked out with my queue number only for the website to be SO SLOW and Ticketmaster to not let me go to checkout. How is this fair lol will go cry now."
Another added: "Shambles of a presale for Sam Fender in Newcastle. First it was the gigantic issue yesterday. Today when I got through the queue which took over an hour (from 22,000) when it opened, there were tickets seemingly available but as soon as you add them to basket they have gone."
A third said: "Any reason why the Sam Fender presale has froze? Me and plenty others on here have been stuck on the same number for ages!"
Despite the complaints, some fans reported success. One said: "Sam Fender secured. Easiest sale I've ever been in." Another added: "The difference between presale yesterday and o2 priority sale today for Sam Fender. Over an hour queuing yesterday and got nothing, 2 minutes today and now I have 2 standing tickets."
Resale prices reach new highs
Resellers have been active this week, buying up tickets and offering them at inflated prices. Pitch Standing tickets, originally priced at £85, can cost up to £97 including seller fees.
Yesterday's highest resale price was £694.34 for both the 3 June and 5 June dates. Now, on ticket reselling site StubHub, there are up to 8 tickets for sale at £885.07 each for Saturday, June 7.
Another reselling site, Viagogo, has listings over £1,000 for each night, with some tickets priced at £1,288 despite a face value of just £110 — more than ten times the original amount.
Scams have also appeared on social media, with thousands of accounts offering to sell "extra" tickets to the St James' Park shows. Other venues, including Wembley, have resold tickets at much lower prices than St James' Park.
