Fans queued for over ten hours in Manchester for the start of Chappell Roan’s European tour but some were left disappointed as resold tickets failed to materialise.
Eager fans joined the queue before 8am on Friday morning to catch the rising American pop star’s evening show at the Manchester Academy.
Tickets went on sale in March 2024 priced between £20 and £35 but Chappell’s viral success around her singles Good Luck, Babe and Hot To Go has prompted high demand for tickets on resale websites in recent months.
First in line, Sara von Roenn had flown from Kentucky to see Chappell Roan in Berlin but after that show was cancelled, she bought a ticket on the exchange website Viagogo and flew to Manchester—only to still be waiting for her ticket in the queue.
Roenn said: “I travelled just for this, I flew in on Thursday at midnight and I arrived at the queue at 7:30am.
“The Berlin gig was cancelled while I was on the plane ride over so I panicked and brought a ticket for this one in Manchester.
“I’ve had really good experiences on Stub Hub but I didn’t see any available there at the time so Viagogo were the only ones that had some available.”
Stub Hub and Viagogo had quoted tickets starting at £750 up to £1,000 on Wednesday with upcoming dates in Glasgow, Dublin and London priced at similar amounts.
Sam Millard,18, from Wellingborough, said: “I missed out on the first round of tickets, missed out on the second and I had to go because this is probably the last time she will play at a smaller venue.
“I went onto Stub Hub which looked the most trustworthy and paid £450 and they said it would be sent by 6pm yesterday but today there is still nothing.
“I have spent £650 with accommodation, five hours commuting and I don’t even know if I have a ticket.
“Worst-case scenario I will have to go down the line to see if anyone has any spare tickets with them and offer them my 2nd place in line.”
Freya Dilon, 20, from Staffordshire said: “When I tried to get tickets for the London show last year, it was either bots who were scamming people or it was genuine tickets but for way too much money and I think the tickets for this show in Manchester are reselling for over £300 and we bought ours in the presale for £35.”
In August, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds announced the Government’s plan to introduce consumer protections on ticket resales with a public consultation intended to go ahead in the Autumn.
In a video posted on X, Reynolds said: “We are going to put a stop to ticket touting to protect consumers, businesses, artists and sports players.”
Chappell Roan’s European tour continues on tonight (15 September) in Glasgow before heading to Dublin on Tuesday (17 September) and three nights in London starting on Thursday (19 September).
Feature image: Jordan Edwards
