Lady Gaga attends the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London, Britain March 13, 2022. - Reuters file
SINGAPORE: Scalpers are reselling tickets for Lady Gaga’s upcoming concerts in Singapore at inflated prices, soon after the pre-sales for Mastercard holders kicked off on Tuesday (March 18) at 10am.
The singer will perform at the National Stadium on May 18, 19, 21 and 24 – her only concerts in Asia.
The prices from official ticketing platform Ticketmaster range from $148 to $368, while VIP packages cost $648 to $1,348.
After accessing the ticketing page, buyers are assigned a virtual queue number, which reached over one million within 10 minutes after the pre-sales started.
As at print time, Mastercard pre-sale tickets were not available for all four days.
According to Kallang Alive Sport Management, which worked with concert organiser Live Nation for the concerts, more than 200,000 local and international fans are expected at the concerts.
On online marketplace Carousell, listings for the concert tickets started appearing within minutes after the pre-sales kicked off.
One seller peddled VIP tickets at $30,000, and another at $38,888.
On resale sites Viagogo and Stubhub, they were priced at up to $12,000 each.
Lady Gaga fans who managed to get tickets, such as Zulkynaen Muhammad, started preparing hours before the pre-sales started.
“I joined the waiting room at 8am and got my tickets only at 11.10am,” says the 29-year-old, who builds virtual 3D models. He paid $288 each for two tickets to the May 18 show.
“It was stressful, the page was loading so slowly, and I had to refresh just to get in.”
The whole experience was worth it, says the fan, who watched the pop star perform at Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2012 as part of her global Born This Way Ball tour. “I’m excited and emotional, as I’ve been waiting for 13 years.”
Fellow Little Monster – the term given to Lady Gaga fans – Lisa M, who declined to give her last name, says she managed to secure her tickets only after several attempts.
“It was extreme madness. I was in the queue since 9.30am and got kicked out a few times. Thankfully, I got my hands on them and I know my 14-year-old self is happy,” says the 29-year-old civil servant.
She bought three tickets at $268 each for the May 21 show, which will be her first time watching Lady Gaga live.
Fans have been discussing the concerts on online platforms such as Telegram since they were announced on March 10.
“The Little Monster community has been the greatest support, it felt like there was no competition to get the tickets. Everyone was rooting for one another to get the tickets.”
Khairul A, who declined to give his full name, managed to score one VIP ticket at $668 after trying to log in to Ticketmaster on three devices.
The 25-year-old student says: “It’s a bit pricey at $668 a ticket, but I’m ‘paying’ only about $55 a month for the next 12 months.
“Money can always come back. I have been her fan since Poker Face came out in 2008. The last time she came, in 2012, I was too young to go and, now, I have adult money. I am still in shock that I managed to secure a ticket.”
There will be three other pre-sales before general sales start on March 21.
The Klook pre-sale will start at 10am on March 19 via the Klook app.
The KrisFlyer pre-sale will be from noon on March 20 (www.ticketmaster.sg and KrisFlyerExperiences.com), while the Live Nation pre-sale will be from noon on March 20 (www.livenation.sg and for VIP Experiences, go to vip.livenation.asia). - The Straits Times/ANN
