Music fans warned over ticketing sites after Brian Wilson scam

A music fan paid almost €1,000 for two tickets that did not exist for a Brian Wilson concert last week.

The American punter bought the tickets for Wilson’s July 25th concert at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin, at which he played The Beach Boys’ classic album Pet Sounds in full.

Promoter Peter Aiken said the fan "went mental" when he was refused entry at the venue, as the tickets he had purchased online did not exist.

Mr Aiken said he could not accommodate the fan because the concert had been sold out for weeks beforehand.

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He said the incident demonstrated that fans should not buy tickets from secondary websites.

In total, sixty fans who had paid for tickets to ZZ Top at the 3Arena on Friday night and 30 fans who had paid for tickets for the Brian Wilson show in Dublin were refused entry.

Mr Aiken, of Aiken Promotions, said there was a “crazy” atmosphere at both venues when fans who had bought tickets turned up to collect them at the box office, only to find that the tickets did not exist.

“If someone was robbed of €100 at an ATM, the gardaí would act immediately, but nobody seems to care about this,” he said. “Fans are going to wreck the place if this continues.”

Viagogo

Mr Aiken said the tickets had been purchased through the controversial website viagogo, which has its European headquarters in Limerick.

He urged fans to contact Aiken Promotions if they had purchased tickets on secondary sites and said the promoter will advise if the tickets are valid or not.

Previously, Mr Aiken had warned fans against purchasing tickets on secondary ticketing sites for the sold-out series of Ed Sheeran concerts, referencing in particular Seatwave.

“You don’t have to prove [on the sites] that you actually have tickets,” he said at the time. “You’ve got to remember that a lot of those tickets you see are people speculating. They don’t actually have tickets.”

Viagogo did not respond for comment.

*This article was amended on August 1st, 2017.