Global Courant 2023-05-19 10:13:00
JAKARTA – The chance to see Coldplay perform in Indonesia and Malaysia for the first time in November has sparked a “ticket war” according to news outlets and netizens, as high demand has led to tickets for the British band’s concerts selling for six times the original are resold price.
The rock band announced earlier in May that it would perform its first concert in Indonesia on November 15, at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, as part of the Asia leg of their Music Of The Spheres World Tour.
PK Entertainment and TEM Presents are the local concert promoters.
Presale tickets exclusive to cardholders of Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia released on Wednesday sold out in 30 minutes, even though the opening lasted two days.
Ticket sales to the public began on Friday, and local reports quoted one of the concert promoters as saying that a total of 70,000 tickets are up for grabs.
However, fans are still finding it difficult to get a ticket, and many took to social media to express their frustrations, with some complaining about having to wait in an online waiting room, with 500,000 others in front of them.
The demand for tickets is so great that some in Indonesia are trying to convert a quick dollar at huge resale prices.
For example, on the e-commerce website Kick Avenue, Coldplay tickets in the most expensive venue zone are selling for Rp 60 million (S$5,415), more than five times more than the original price of Rp 11 million.
“It’s just annoying because those who really want to watch have been waiting for years, and they can’t get it because they lost to brokers,” one netizen said.
The outrage stems from already negative reactions to concert ticket prices, which some said were too high, with the most expensive costing Rp 11 million and the cheapest Rp 800,000.
Local musician Fiersa Besari posted on Twitter on May 11: “Eleven million. That’s 22 million for a couple. I can buy bakso (meatballs) to feed an entire district (with that money). But bakso vendors are there every day. Coldplay may never come back.”
News of this ticket war has reached the band, and in a video interview with Indonesian YouTuber Najwa Shihab uploaded Thursday, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said this won’t be Coldplay’s only time in Indonesia and they will return to the archipelago to play again.
A day after it was posted, the video had already been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno also addressed the matter in an Instagram post on Wednesday, saying work is underway to add more shows.
“For Coldplay fans, be patient. We are not only working with them on a one-day concert, but on more. At least add another day,” he said.
