Two more nights have been added to the London leg of Madonna’s tour but fans were left disappointed after tickets were snapped up and immediately touted for up to five times the original cost.
Due to “phenomenal demand”, Madonna announced a total of four dates at the O2 as part of her Celebration Tour, which is scheduled to reach London in October.
After overwhelming pre-sale demand, a second London show was announced on Thursday, and then a further two on Friday.
Tickets for the four performances, on October 14, 15, 17 and 18, went on sale on Friday at 10am.
But almost immediately excited fans were having to wait with thousands of others in an online queue via Ticketmaster, while being warned that ticket availability for all shows was already “extremely limited”.
With the cheapest seated ticket selling for just under £50 on official sites, fans were shocked to see the lowest-priced tickets available on Viagogo at just under £300.
Ticketmaster sold tickets for between £47.55 and £432.25 each, while Live Nation had tickets available for between £143 and £1,541.
However the cheapest seated tickets on Viagogo “with an unrestricted view” were advertised for £294 while the most expensive tickets would put fans back £1,870.
Fans were shocked at how fast tickets sold out and vented their frustration online about missing the Queen of Pop perform in the capital.
One person wrote on Twitter: “Can’t believe I spent an hour trying to Madonna tickets for London, they sold out, then she adds two more dates WITHOUT announcing it…so they sold out before I even knew about it.”
Another wrote: “So Madonna added more London dates but no tickets. Guess all the scalpers & scum that buy to sell got them.”
A third said: “I couldn’t get tickets for extra London nights but so many on resell sites already.”
A number of Twitter users were already trying to onsell tickets just hours after they first went on sale, with prices set at around £350 for two.
Produced by Live Nation, Madonna’s 35-city global tour will kick off in Vancouver on July 15 with stops in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and other cities before making its way to Europe.
The singer will perform at 11 European cities, including London, Barcelona, Paris, and Stockholm.
“The Celebration Tour will take us on Madonna’s artistic journey through four decades and pays respect to the city of New York where her career in music began,” Live Nation said.
“I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” said Madonna.
