While it gets to the home stretch of its initial run of North American concerts this summer, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour continues to generate headlines (and headaches) as shows go on sale for global shows later this year and into 2024. This week, fans expressed fury after tickets sold for concerts in the United Kingdom were allegedly changed to be “lead booker” events after they were sold – leading many who bought tickets for friends and family stuck unable to send them on to the intended recipient.
“This policy was introduced after the presale period, resulting in individuals who purchased tickets as gifts or for their children being unable to attend events they were eagerly looking forward to,” reads a petition on Change.org demanding the policy be changed started by Georgia Parry, already signed by more than 1,000 people in less than two days as of Thursday afternoon.
“As a concerned ticket buyer, I have personally experienced the negative consequences of this policy. My friend kindly booked a VIP ticket for me at a cost of £300, only for us to later discover that I would not be allowed entry due to the lead booker restriction. This unexpected turn of events left me feeling scammed by Ticketmaster and deeply frustrated.”
Allegedly, the “lead booker” policy, which means that the person who purchased the tickets must attend the show accompanied by anyone who wishes to use any of the tickets they purchased, was not disclosed prior to purchase. Because of this, parents who bought on behalf of their children and others who bought tickets for others because they got in through the byzantine “verified” fan mess when others did not, are now stuck with no option but to attend or forfeit the tickets entirely for the entire group.
“The eras tour was not listed as a lead booker-only event on the website during the presale,” one consumer told a Liverpool newspaper. “How is this even possible? This is particularly concerning for me as two VIP tickets amounting to over £600 were bought for myself and my friend by another friend.”
Another fan online said: “Please do something about UK Eras tour – Ticketmaster sold tickets & now saying the lead booker has to attend. Lots of v upset fans here today!”
In an email exchange that has been seen by the Liverpool ECHO a fan was told by Ticketmaster that it has “updated” its policy in regards to the tour.
In the email the fan wrote to a chat assistant for Ticketmaster: “… I have proof from when we spoke to Ticketmaster where they clarified for us that this was not a lead booker event. So this is completely unfair what you are doing.”
Social media is also aflame with angry posts by fans and parents in particular who had intended on transferring the tickets to a child to attend with friends, and now must apparently burn one of the tickets by going themselves.
@TicketmasterUK @TicketmasterCS please can you confirm if Taylor Swift:
Eras tour is a lead booker event. When I booked the event using my dads card nothing was stated on the website. We received this email two days ago and now you change it and it’s messed loads of us round! pic.twitter.com/dW0kFgB9bF— Jessie ♡ (@jxssbroadbridge) July 17, 2023
@TMIrelandHelp please see this screen recording as of 18th July the eras is not a lead booker event. This cannot change can it? pic.twitter.com/Ju8kSBnkpn
— Gemma (@swiftiegemma) July 19, 2023
@deandunham What are your thoughts about the Taylor Swift #ticketmaster lead booker debacle? We bought tickets when there were no obvious warnings & when the ticket master website said there were currently no lead booker events. Thank you #leadbooker pic.twitter.com/xkixUuk5Rh
— Jane Jene. (@JaneJene5) July 19, 2023
The mess is reminiscent of when the Black Keys were an early adopter to the weaponization of ticket transfer capabilities to box people out from events, when it made tickets non-transferable without notice for a show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. In the wake of that mess, which left hundreds stranded outside of the show for having purchased tickets on resale marketplaces, other artists have been convinced to lock out ticket transfer, including the Foo Fighters, and The Cure, as well as Neil Young, who had the audacity to say his policy was to keep prices low, all while using price surging “platinum” ticket pricing schemes for his limited performances this year.
After ripping @Ticketmaster directly in March over its fees and price surging, Neil Young is using the company's mobile-only ticketing systems AND price-surging "Platinum" options for tour dates he announced Friday. https://t.co/qywkxZM0Dw
— TicketNews (@TicketNews) June 9, 2023
Swift also appears to be using “platinum” pricing on her tour, though re-branded as “package” prices
The UK media and mps in the usual anti secondary rant after taylor swift sales but not one mentions platinum? How many thousands tickets UNSOLD due to out and out greed? Have the media been paid off to remain quiet? Here is Dublin and Wembley on TM not viagogo. Disband TM NOW pic.twitter.com/IVeEcdBlIw
— steven (@DougieRedman22) July 20, 2023
Such actions would be illegal under protections proposed for consumers both by the Ticket Buyer’s Bill of Rights and by the proposed BOSS and SWIFT Act introduced by Reps. Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone of New Jersey, but action on these legislative efforts has been slow going, likely due to the enormous lobbying power of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
Taylor Swift shows in the UK and EU are not until next summer, with the singer finishing out North American dates in August before performing in Mexico and South America later this year, followed by an Asia/Pacific run early in 2024.
Full scheduled dates and ticket links are included below:
Taylor Swift Ticket Links
Taylor Swift tickets at MEGASeats.com | 10% Off
Taylor Swift tickets at Scorebig
Taylor Swift tickets at SeatGeek
Taylor Swift tickets at StubHub
Taylor Swift tickets at Ticket Club | Free Membership
Taylor Swift tickets at Vivid Seats
Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Dates
Saturday, July 22 – Seattle, WA | Lumen Field
Sunday, July 23 – Seattle, WA | Lumen Field
Friday, July 28 – Santa Clara, CA | Levi’s Stadium
Saturday, July 29 – Santa Clara, CA | Levi’s Stadium
Thursday, August 3 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Friday, August 04 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Saturday, August 5 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Monday, August 7 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Tuesday, August 8 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Wednesday, August 9 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium
Thursday, August 24 – Mexico City, MX | Foro Sol
Friday, August 25 – Mexico City, MX | Foro Sol
Saturday, August 26 – Mexico City, MX | Foro Sol
Thursday, November 9 – Buenos Aires, AR | Estadio River Plate
Friday, November 10 – Buenos Aires, AR | Estadio River Plate
Saturday, November 11 – Buenos Aires, AR | Estadio River Plate
Friday, November 17 – Rio de Janeiro, BR | Estadio Nilton Santos
Saturday, November 18 – Rio de Janeiro, BR | Estadio Nilton Santos
Sunday, November 19 – Rio de Janeiro, BR | Estadio Nilton Santos
Friday, November 24 – Sao Paulo, BR | Allianz Parque
Saturday, November 25 – Sao Paulo, BR | Allianz Parque
Sunday, November 26 – Sao Paulo, BR | Allianz Parque
2024 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Dates
Wednesday, February 7 – Tokyo, JP | Tokyo Dome
Thursday, February 8 – Tokyo, JP | Tokyo Dome
Friday, February 9 – Tokyo, JP | Tokyo Dome
Saturday, February 10 – Tokyo, JP | Tokyo Dome
Friday, February 16 – Melbourne, AUS | Melbourne Cricket Grounds
Saturday, February 17 – Melbourne, AUS | Melbourne Cricket Grounds
Friday, February 23 – Sydney, AUS | Accor Stadium
Saturday, February 24 – Sydney, AUS | Accor Stadium
Sunday, February 25 – Sydney, AUS | Accor Stadium
Saturday, March 2 – Singapore, SG | National Stadium
Sunday, March 3 – Singapore, SG | National Stadium
Monday, March 4 – Singapore, SG | National Stadium
Thursday, March 7 – Singapore, SG | National Stadium
Thursday, May 9 – Paris, FR | La Defense Arena
Friday, May 10 – Paris, FR | La Defense Arena
Saturday, May 11 – Paris, FR | La Defense Arena
Sunday, May 12 – Paris, FR | La Defense Arena
Friday, May 17 – Stockholm, SWE | Friends Arena
Saturday, May 18 – Stockholm, SWE | Friends Arena
Sunday, May 19 – Stockholm, SWE | Friends Arena
Friday, May 24 – Lisbon. POR | Estadio Da Luz
Saturday, May 25 – Lisbon. POR | Estadio Da Luz
Thursday, May 30 – Madrid, ESP | Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Sunday, June 2 – Lyon, FR | Groupama Stadium
Monday, June 3 – Lyon, FR | Groupama Stadium
Friday, June 7 – Edinburgh, UK | BT Murrayfield Stadium
Saturday, June 8 – Edinburgh, UK | BT Murrayfield Stadium
Sunday, June 9 – Edinburgh, UK | BT Murrayfield Stadium
Thursday, June 13 – Liverpool, UK | Anfield Stadium
Friday, June 14 – Liverpool, UK | Anfield Stadium
Saturday, June 15 – Liverpool, UK | Anfield Stadium
Tuesday, June 18 – Cardiff, UK | Principality Stadium
Friday, June 21 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
Saturday, June 22 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
Sunday, June 23 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
Friday, June 28 – Dublin, IRE | Aviva Stadium
Saturday, June 29 – Dublin, IRE | Aviva Stadium
Sunday, June 30 – Dublin, IRE | Aviva Stadium
Thursday, July 4 – Amsterdam, NED | Johan Cruijff Arena
Friday, July 5 – Amsterdam, NED | Johan Cruijff Arena
Saturday, July 6 – Amsterdam, NED | Johan Cruijff Arena
Tuesday, July 9 – Zurich, SWI | Stadion Letzigrund
Wednesday, July 10 – Zurich, SWI | Stadion Letzigrund
Saturday, July 13 – Milan, IT | San Siro Stadium
Sunday, July 14 – Milan, IT | San Siro Stadium
Wednesday, July 17– Gelsenkirchen, GER | Veltins-Arena
Thursday, July 18– Gelsenkirchen, GER | Veltins-Arena
Friday, July 19– Gelsenkirchen, GER | Veltins-Arena
Tuesday, July 23 – Hamburg, GER | Volksparkstadion
Wednesday, July 24 – Hamburg, GER | Volksparkstadion
Saturday, July 27 – Munich, GER | Olympiastadion
Sunday, July 28 – Munich, GER | Olympiastadion
Thursday, August 1 – Warsaw, POL | PGE Narodowy
Friday, August 2 – Warsaw, POL | PGE Narodowy
Saturday, August 3 – Warsaw, POL | PGE Narodowy
Thursday, August 8 – Vienna, AUS | Ernst-Happel-Stadion
Friday, August 9 – Vienna, AUS | Ernst-Happel-Stadion
Saturday, August 10 – Vienna, AUS | Ernst-Happel-Stadion
Thursday, August 15 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
Friday, August 16 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
Saturday, August 17 – London, UK | Wembley Stadium
