Foo Fighters fans have been left outraged and confused after discovering their tickets for the upcoming Taylor Hawkins tribute concert have been cancelled. The gig, which is due to take place on September 3 at Wembley Stadium in London, is one of two performances by the American band in tribute drummer Taylor, who tragically died in March this year at the age of 50.
The band are due to play a second tribute concert in Los Angeles later next month - with other big acts such as Nile Rogers, Brian May, Liam Gallagher and Taylor's son Shane Hawkins joining the line-up. However, many devoted fans who had paid hundreds or even thousands of pounds to attend the once in a lifetime concert have been left devastated after finding out that their tickets have been cancelled.
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Ticket providers Ticketmaster and GigsandTours cited 'booking irregularities' in emails that were sent out last week - and have now claimed it was a 'bid to stop touts' and genuine fans can buy the exact same ticket again.
Heidi Silver from Arlington, Virginia, USA, was part of a group of six who had spent nearly £10,000 for non-refundable flights and £5,000 for accommodation in order to attend.
She is still waiting to see if the £580 she spent on four tickets will be refunded to her or given back to her.
"I purchased four tickets during the presale, the money left my account and I got a confirmation email. Then, on Wednesday I got an email saying they had been cancelled," said Ms Silver.
"Obviously I panicked and started following all the right protocols to find a resolution, but there is no customer service number for Ticketmaster. The TicketmasterCS Twitter account even asked me to stop tweeting them."
For many Foo Fighters fans, this is the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to one of the greatest drummers of all time and a much-loved member of the band who was known for his incredible solos and singing skills.
"This is a one-off gig that meant the world to me to pay my respects," said Christopher Newman, 33, from Solihull.
Again, Mr Newman had his tickets cancelled with Ticketmaster citing booking irregularities.
He said: "I am sure the band themselves will be upset knowing that their one time to pay respects to their fallen brother has turned to chaos just weeks before."
Ben Wiloughby, from North Yorkshire, has become a customer service provider of sorts as he has started a Twitter group with over 40 people who have had their tickets cancelled, all citing booking irregularities.
He said: "The customer service is useless and just blames us and if you actually manage to get further with them they go on to blame the concert promoter SJM."
SJM are a company who own well-known ticket provider GigsandTours, who have also cancelled fan's tickets without much of a reason.
Natalie Starks, 41, from Chicago USA had booked the trip of a lifetime to see this tribute concert with her husband with tickets bought through GigsandTours.
"We spent a total of $2,700 (£2,280) on flights and a hotel for both me and my husband. We are staying from September 2-8," she said.
But now, it is unclear whether they will be able to get their tickets back, leaving the dream trip in doubt.
She said: "We are huge fans. I saw them in 1996 for the first time and I try to see them every time they are in Chicago. I was also a huge fan of Nirvana and this would have been the first time I would get to see all living members of the band playing together as the basist Chris Novoselic will be there."
It is still unclear how many tickets have been affected by this cancellation, with some fans guessing it could be in the hundreds.
In response, a Ticketmaster spokesperson said: "In a bid to stop touts, the event organiser implemented a safeguard that cancelled any tickets where ticket limits had been exceeded or suspect purchase behaviour was identified. Any genuine fan who had a ticket cancelled can re-book the exact same ticket at the exact same price, and all impacted customers have been notified in how to do so."
For now, the fans will have to wait and see if their tickets can be purchased again or if they will have to miss the once in a lifetime gig.
GigsandTours have been approached for comment.
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