Tom Petty Fights Back Against Scalpers

[Headache in a Suitcase]

from Billboard.com

Tom Petty and his fans are fighting back against scalpers who used the artist's fan club to score tickets to an upcoming run of shows with Pearl Jam in St. Paul, Minn.

Fans complained last week that many tickets for June 26-27 shows at the Excel Energy Center intended for fan club members later showed up on secondary market sites at prices several times face value.

With the help of Ticketmaster, promoter Jam and site administrator Signatures Network, Petty's management identified and canceled some 600 tickets purchased at the tompetty.com pre-sale that were to be resold. The voided Petty/Pearl Jam tickets (no issues were reported regarding PJ's pre-sale) will be offered once again to fan club members under more strict guidelines. Those who buy the tickets will have to show a photo ID to pick up the tickets on the night of the concert.

More than 800 tickets for Petty's June 20 at New York's Madison Square Garden are also being voided for the same reasons, according to a spokesperson for the artist.

"We don't claim to have completely eliminated all reselling activity on these or any other shows," Petty manager Tony Dimitriades said in a statement on Petty's site. "But this is definitely a step in the right direction and a major strike on behalf of the good guys."

Jerry Mickelson, co-president of Jam Productions and promoter of the Petty/PJ Minneapolis shows, says the incident reveals how prevalence of the scalper issue.

"Petty was a reminder of how bad things are and how the public is really getting taken advantage of," he says. "It's well worth the effort for the real fans who wait in line and online to get the tickets at the price the band and the promoter have agreed to sell the ticket at."

Mickelson says Jam will in the future implement a similar practice for the best seats at in-demand shows going forward. "For any hot show, Jam is having the best seats picked up only at the box office by the person that purchases the tickets," he says. "We just did this for Radiohead in Chicago. Only the person who buys the ticket will be able to obtain that ticket and will have to go immediately into the venue."

 

[one4u2]

 

[clifedge]

 

[MrBrau1]

Tom Petty kicks ass.

 

[fah]

 

[Lila64]

I saw it posted on livedaily.com earlier in the day. Props to you Tom

 

[clifedge]

Tom Petty kicks ass.

 

[BluRmGrl]

Tom Petty kicks ass.

Indeed.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Good for him.

 

[sami0201]

 

[nbcrusader]