The prodigious Canadian rapper Aubrey Drake Graham, more commonly known as Drake, has just announced his first US tour in four years, which will feature fellow rapper 21 Savage. While the musical icon has performed at some music festivals and special concerts over the past few years, this marks his first full-fledged tour since 2019. However, fans are now up in arms after tickets to Drake’s “It’s All a Blur” tour went on sale last Friday, with some asserting that they are “fighting for their lives” just to attend.
Although Ticketmaster advertised ticket prices starting at a seemingly reasonable $69, fans were quick to share videos displaying upper-level seats for a staggering $200. According to The Root, some fans even reported seeing tickets sold for as much as $1,000, while ticket reselling site SeatGeek was allegedly peddling tickets for a mind-boggling $5,000 in certain cities as of Saturday afternoon. Naturally, this exorbitant pricing has led to a bevy of complaints and jokes on social media, as well as desperate pleas for affordable tickets.
It’s worth noting that some fans, despite the high cost, purchased nosebleed seats and expressed gratitude for merely being in the same building as their favorite artist. However, others have compared the experience of securing Drake tickets to the legendary difficulty of obtaining tickets for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour, which is also scheduled for this summer. One fan even went so far as to pay $300 for tickets in the same area for a different city.
While some Twitter users have placed blame on Ticketmaster for the high prices, despite Drake’s tickets being released on at least one other ticket outlet, others have expressed frustration with the concert-ticketing giant. In fact, Ticketmaster has been in the hot seat with concertgoers in recent months. Fans of Taylor Swift have also expressed outrage at the high cost and difficulty in obtaining tickets to her upcoming 2023 Eras tour. On Friday, the platform announced that it would refund fans of rock band The Cure after lead singer Robert Smith joined fans in calling out Ticketmaster for its “unduly high fees.”
All in all, while fans are undoubtedly thrilled at the prospect of seeing Drake live once again, the steep price tags have left many feeling disillusioned and dismayed.
