This Sunday afternoon, many fans of the popular British band Coldplay in India had a bittersweet experience when they tried booking tickets for the band’s concert slated to take place in Mumbai in January. In this frenzy, one woman’s struggle stood out who claimed, she did not “even like Coldplay”, but had to spend hours on her computer to grab tickets worth ₹12,000 for her family.
Naomi Barton wrote on X, “I don’t even like Coldplay but my entire family has harangued me into contributing my devices to The Grand Ticket Buying and now I am 22,000 in the queue and they are 1,50,000 in queue so my whole day is going to be spent looking at this page and carefully not refreshing it.” She added that this has indeed turned into an impromptu family gathering, where everybody is on Google Meet starring at her screen. They have also arranged snack, and were indulged in discussions over what if only expensive tickets are available.
This has turned into an impromptu family gathering. We are all on Google meet watching my screen. Refreshments have been acquired. Discussions are underway as to what we will do in case of only expensive tickets being available. Credit cards are being examined.
— Naomi Barton (@therealnaomib) September 22, 2024
In the wait for page reload, Naomi settled down with a book. Soon, though, all the reasonably priced seats were sold out. Her family sent her extra money to try for standing tickets while they indulged in “frantically delusional conversations” trying to justify spending an extra ₹10,000 over their budget. As her spot in the queue dropped from 1.5 lahks to nearly 8,000, only 16 per cent of the ground-standing tickets remained.
Soon enough, the ticket prices skyrocketed to ₹ 12,000. “We’re debating whether these tickets are legit or a scam,” she remarked.
Lastly, the Coldplay-loving Barton family settled on their spending limit. “I’m not paying one lakh to scalpers. If that’s the price, I just won’t go,” declared one family member.
