Paramore singer Hayley Williams joined the growing chorus of public critics of Ticketmaster, slamming the ticketing giant owned by promoter Live Nation Entertainment while onstage performing in Cardiff, Wales. Williams, whose group is set to return to North America for a sprawling tour with Bloc party, Foals, The Linda Linas, and Genisis Owusu that runs from May through early August, said the hated company “need[s] to get their shit together.”
https://twitter.com/paramore/status/1647611967039741953
The singer’s comments came from the stage on April 15, and reportedly stemmed from the artist’s frustration for how comically bad the ticket-buying experience has become for consumers with Ticketmaster so dominant in the space.
“I wanna say one more time how special it is that you’ve all made it tonight. We don’t take it lightly, we know, honestly, especially now, it’s a huge sacrifice to come to a show because Ticketmaster need to get their shit together,” she said.
“We’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves too because we were like, ‘People are spending money that they don’t have to come and hang out with us and we better give them something that’s worth that’. We just love you so much.”
Ticketmaster and its corporate parent Live Nation have been under unprecedented fire in recent months, as they’ve faced repeated accusations of monopolistic practices that harm consumers through both elevated pricing and sub-standard service due to a lack of any real need to innovate for lack of competition. Pressure has been mounting both from lawmakers – including a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that was enormously critical of the company in January and subsequent “Junk fee” and “holdback” legislation (that will face major headwinds from Live Nation’s enormous lobbying engine), as well as from artists themselves, most notably The Cure and singer Robert Smith’s public push against many of their failings for his group’s North American tour dates.
Ironically enough, Paramore has been of the most active participants in some of Ticketmaster’s most hated programs, requiring its fans to register for “verified fan” system for access to the groups tickets for the tour, despite that system being used primarily to program the ticket price surging “dynamic” and “platinum” programs that have sent ticket costs through the roof in recent months. Those very systems were subject to major fan complaints for Paramore’s own shows when they went on sale last year.
Paramore also embraced the practice of “delivery delay” on tickets, which means that the mobile-only system won’t have the actual tickets populate in user accounts until just days before the show. This system serves no meaningful purpose other than to allow Ticketmaster and event promoters to harm competing ticket resale companies by sewing consumer doubt that tickets they purchase through other marketplaces will be delivered in time for the show.
Paramore continues with shows in the UK and Ireland, before heading over to North America to start its spring and summer shows on May 23 at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. Full tour details and ticket links are available below:
Ticket Links
Paramore tickets at MEGASeats.com | 15% off use code TICKETNEWS
Paramore tickets at ScoreBig
Paramore tickets at SeatGeek
Paramore tickets at StubHub
Paramore tickets at Ticket Club | Free membership use code TICKETNEWS
Paramore tickets at Vivid Seats
Paramore Tour Dates
Spring 2023
Sat May 20 – Gulf Shores, AL | Hangout Music Festival!
Tue May 23 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center*×
Thu May 25 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena*×
Sat May 27 – Atlantic City, NJ – Adjacent Festival!
Sun May 28 – Boston, MA | Boston Calling Festival!
Tue May 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden*×
Wed May 31 – New York, NY | Madison Square Garden*×
Fri June 02 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena*×
Sun Jun 04 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse*×
Mon Jun 05 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse*×
Wed Jun 07 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena*×
Thu Jun 08 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena*×
Sat Jun 10 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center*×
Sun Jun 11 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paint Arena*×
Tue Jun 13 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center*×
Wed Jun 14 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live*×
Sun Jun 18 – Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo Festival!
Thu Jul 06 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center+°
Sat Jul 08 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena+°
Sun Jul 09 – Austin, TX – Moody Center+°
Tue Jul 11 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center+°
Thu Jul 13 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena+°
Sat Jul 15 – Palm Springs, CA | Acrisure Arena+
Sun Jul 16 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena+
Wed Jul 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum+
Thurs Jul 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum+
Sat Jul 22 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center+
Mon Jul 24 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena+°
Tue Jul 25 – Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum+°
Thu Jul 27 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena+°
Sat Jul 29 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center+°
Sun Jul 30 – St Louis, MO – Enterprise Center+°
Tues Aug 1 – Milwaukee, WI | Fiserve Forum+°
Wed Aug 02 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center+°
*With Support Bloc Party
+With Support from Foas
°With Support from The Linda Lindas
×With Support from Genesis Owusu
!Festival Performance
