Adele’s concert sells out in a jiffy

Fans report getting stuck for 45 minutes or more on ticketing websites

NEW YORK: Tickets for Adele’s first concert tour of North America in five years sold out within minutes for venues on the US East Coast on Thursday, leaving thousands of fans empty-handed and venting their frustration on social media.

The British singer’s 56-date tour, announced earlier this week, follows record-breaking sales of 5.2 million units in the US alone of her new album, 25. Fans reported getting stuck for 45 minutes or more on ticketing websites, only to find that seats were sold out for major cities on the tour that starts in July in St Paul, Minnesota, and ends in Mexico City on November 15.

Adele’s representatives said tickets for some shows were going on sale at 10:00am local time in the relevant cities, but otherwise declined to comment. Trending on Twitter were #Adeletickets and #Adelesoldout, with fans posting memes, messages and GIFs inspired by the Grammy Award-winning singer’s lyrics and music videos.



Tickets for many shows appeared within minutes on secondary market sites such as Stubhub, with asking prices ranging from $9,999 each for seats closest to the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden to $300 each for those in the furthest reaches of the arena. Official prices ranged from $40 to $750 each for premium packages.

Adele’s 25 is already the biggest-selling album of 2015 in the US, and has broken records dating back to 1991 when Nielsen Music first started tracking sales. Tickets for her UK and European concert tour, starting in February, also sold out within minutes when they went on sale earlier this month. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2015.

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