RICHMOND, Va. — Seasoned concertgoers are well aware of the trials and tribulations associated with buying tickets to see their favorite acts perform live on stage these days (hello there, Swifties).
Still, frustration among some Dave Matthews Band fans bubbled over on social media Friday as they attempted to obtain tickets to see the Virginia-based, recently Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band return to Richmond for the first time since the 1990s.
Tickets to the two July shows at the still under construction Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront sold out quickly.
But as is the case with most concerts, it never really sells out as "sold" tickets often go back on the resale market as "platinum" tickets.
Face value for tickets was around $180 for tickets in the pit area in front of the stage before taxes and fees.
Shortly after tickets went on sale, ticket prices skyrocketed into the several-hundred-dollar price range, and some prices went north of $1,000.
Needless to say, fans shut out of the lower prices were not pleased.
"Sold out in six minutes and immediately 100s of scalped tickets available on third-party site," CBS 6 Facebook commenter Stephen Blue posted. "Venues and artists should void the sales of tickets that immediately appear online for resale."
"Bots have ruined ticket drops for every major artist," Tyler Ward added. "I’m not surprised this happened to DMB. A better system needs to be developed so scalpers don’t immediately get to resell for well above face value."
"I joined Warehouse [Dave Matthews fan club] and got tickets for Tuesday's show. With this being a very small venue, I kinda expected tickets to be very pricey. Two lawn tickets for $170+ total wasn’t too bad. But those same tickets were a lot more this morning," Joe Rollins said.
"Frustrating and rip off," Bobby Clark said. "Logged into Ticketmaster/Live Nation and waited in the queue. Once I was allowed in I viewed the available $900+ tickets. I also noticed there were no lawn seats available. As I was looking to place a second mortgage payment on my house to purchase tickets, the site glitched and kicked me out. Moral of the story, these ticketing sites and venues take advantage of concertgoers. My two cents that I didn’t get to spend."
Dave Matthews Band is managed by the same company that owns the Allianz Amphitheater.
While Dave Matthews performed an acoustic concert at the Siegel Center in October 2008, the Dave Matthews Band last played in the Richmond area at the Classic Amphitheater (now Virginia Credit Union Live) in April 1996 and June 1997.
The band also performed with the Richmond Symphony on Valentine's Day 1995.
Before making it big, the Charlottesville-founded Dave Matthews Band played weekly gigs at the Flood Zone, a club that once stood in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom neighborhood.
How was your Dave Matthews Band ticket buying experience? Email the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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