A huge rush to buy tickets for the UK leg of Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour led to the O2 Priority website crashing on Thursday morning.
Minutes after the coveted tickets went on pre-sale at 10am, despairing fans complained about the booking website and app going down, while others said queues of 200,000 people were already in the queue ahead of them.
O2 issued an apology to customers struggling to secure tickets amid the “huge” demand, and assured some people were managing to make bookings.
not 200,000 people in front of me for O2 priority 😭 pic.twitter.com/USJ14jmHK5
— Angelo Carlos (@4xac) February 2, 2023
It will see her peform six concerts in the UK in late May and early June, including three at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as shows in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Sunderland.
Tickets went on pre-sale to O2 Priority customers at 10am on Thursday, five days before they go on general sale on February 7.
@O2 The sale isn’t even live yet, and already your app is down, the last 2 sets of tickets I’ve tried to get using Priority has gone the exact same way. If the app can’t cope with demand, don’t flaunt early access to your network users which we can’t actually even use!
— Jade Tant🦩 (@JadeyBum1990) February 2, 2023
But fans reported the app and website had crashed even before the pre-sale began.
Other social media users reported how they managed to get through to the ticket-booking site before being “kicked out”, while others reported huge queues of people waiting to access the website.
“Tickets aren’t selling, had them 3 times in my basket and it wouldn’t let me check out,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
“My sister managed two tickets. I had them in my basket twice and then error as I went to pay,” said another.
We apologise to anyone experiencing difficulties trying to get Beyoncé tickets through Priority. Tickets are selling and we're seeing huge demand. We're doing everything we can behind the scenes to help keep the app running smoothly.
— O2 (@O2) February 2, 2023
“200,000 people in front of me for the O2 priority tickets,” one Twitter user named Luti wrote around 10.15am.
In an apology on Thursday morning, a Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “We apologise to any customers who are experiencing difficulties trying to get Beyonce tickets through our Priority platform today.
“We’re seeing huge demand and we’re doing everything we can to help ensure all our customers can get through.”
both the o2 priority app and site are down omg... the weapons fashioned against me are really prospering rn
— mich 💌 (@michkeenah) February 2, 2023
Crazy in Love singer Beyonce recently performed at a private event in Dubai, attended by celebrities and influencers, but hasn’t gone on tour since 2018’s On the Run II Tour with husband Jay-Z.
Her last solo headline tour was seven years ago - the Formation World Tour in 2016.
She announced the news of the latest tour on Instagram, with a photo of her wearing a disco ball-cowboy hat, riding a silver horse.
Beyonce UK tour dates
Beyonce will perform six UK shows, across England, Wales, and Scotland:
- Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, May 17
- Edinburgh’s Murrayfield, May 20
- Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, May 23
Beyonce will perform three shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
- Monday, May 29
- Tuesday, May 30
- Friday, June 2
She will also perform in European cities including Stockholm, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lyon, Marseille, Cologne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Warsaw.
In the US, Beyonce will visit major cities like Philadelphia, Nashville, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Just announced 🚨 @Beyonce returns to the global stage for the RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR 🙌 Grab your Priority Tickets before anyone else from 10am tomorrow #O2Priority 👉 https://t.co/M9BcjCnAjF pic.twitter.com/DsdRT4HDZ4
— O2 (@O2) February 1, 2023
How to get tickets to Beyonce’s tour
Tickets for Beyonce’s UK dates are available to buy on O2 presale from 10 am on Thursday, February 2. O2 and Virgin Media customers can access Priority via the Priority app.
There will then be a Live Nation presale on Friday, February 3, at 10am, followed by a BeyHive presale on Monday, February 6, at 9am. Tickets will go on general sale on Tuesday, February 7, at 10am.
During the presales, tickets will be limited to four per customer, but during the general sale, customers will be able to buy up to eight tickets each.
Tickets will be available to buy for the May 29 and May 30 shows but not the June 2 date just yet. Although this third date appeared on Beyonce’s website on February 1, it has since been removed, and may be a surprise bonus show to be announced at a later date--so keep your eyes peeled.
