As fans sat prepared and anxious as tickets went on sale today for Bruce Springsteen's We Take Care of Our Own tour, many were sent error messages or delayed as tickets were selling by the thousands. Many were left out in the cold only to learn they were the victims of professional ticket scalpers that orchestrated at least one crippling attack on Ticketmaster's online sales system. Bruce Springsteen posted a note to fans on his site also directing his message to Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster responded on their site but both posts seemed to have since been removed. Before many fans could get through to buy tickets, the close few rows were already appearing for sale on ticket 'broker' (scalper) sites for thousands of dollars each outraging many fans and The Boss. Bruce Springsteen begins his 2012 tour in Atlanta on March 18 at the Philips Arena and has another 50 show scheduled across the U.S. and Europe through July, 2012.
In 2009 Ticketmaster settled with the Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/ticketmaster.shtm for deceptive business practices with the sale of Bruce Springsteen tickets. Ticketmaster was found guilty of running a bait and switch operation with its subsidy, TicketsNow, a premium seat broker and sales service. When Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale in 2009, many customers were told on Ticketmaster's website that tickets were not available and were then sent to TicketsNow and offered tickets at gouging ripoff prices of up to 400% of the tickets' face values. In the 2009 Ticketmaster-Springsteen fiasco, Ticketmaster was found to not provide clear disclosures that customers were being redirected to TicketsNow. Not only was TicketsNow setting aside premium seats to gouge music fans, TicketsNow was also listing and selling tickets which they did not have. Unfilled orders were not refunded for three months.
The problems fans faced with buying Bruce Springsteen tickets today, while cause by scalpers' computer attacks on Ticketmaster's servers, there were still premium seats showing up right away on the websites of TicketsNow and dozens of other scalpers of concert tickets. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) urged Ticketmaster to sell off its subsidy TicketsNow in 2009 and proposed legislation to prevent all third party concert and event ticket resellers to make tickets available for sale for 48 hours after a initial ticket release.
On March 6, 2012, Bruce Springsteen is releasing his 17th studio album: Wrecking Ball. The album debuts 11 new songs by The Boss.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2012 Tour Dates:
US Tour Dates
March 18 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
March 19 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
March 23 - Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay Times Forum
March 26 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
March 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
March 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
April 1 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
April 3 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
April 4 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
April 6 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
April 9 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
April 12 - Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
April 13 - Buffalo, NY - First Niagara Center
April 16 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
April 17 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
April 24 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
April 26 - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
April 29 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 2 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
European Tour Dates
May 13 - Seville, Spain - Estadio Olimpico
May 17 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olimpico Lluis
May 18 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olimpico Lluis
May 25 - Frankfurt, Germany - Commerzbank Arena
May 27 - Cologne, Germany - RheinEnergieStadion
May 28 - Landgraaf, Netherlands - Pinkpop
May 30 - Berlin, Germany - Olympia Stadion
June 2 - San Sebastian, Spain - Estadio Anoeta
June 3 - Lisboa, Portugal - Rock in Rio Lisboa
June 7 - Milan, Italy - Stadio Meaza
June 10 - Florence, Italy - Stadio Francesco
June 11 - Trieste, Italy - Stadio Trieste
June 17 - Madrid, Spain - Estadio Santago Bernabu
June 19 - Montpellier, France - Park & Suites Arena
June 21 - Sunderland, UK - Stadium of Light
June 22 - Manchester, UK - Etihad Stadium
June 24 - Isle of Wight, UK - Isle of Wight Festival
July 4 - Paris, France - Bercy
July 5 - Paris, France - Bercy
July 7 - Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
July 9 - Zurich, Switzerland - Stadium Letzigrund
July 11 - Prague, Czech Republic - Synot Tip Arena
July 12 - Vienna, Austria - Ernst Happel Stadium
July 14 - London, UK - Hard Rock Calling
July 17 - Dublin, Ireland - RDS
July 18 - Dublin, Ireland - RDS
July 21 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hoven
July 23 - Bergen, Norway - Koengen
July 24 - Bergen, Norway - Koengen
July 27 - Gothenberg, Sweden - Ullevi
July 28 - Gothenberg, Sweden - Ullevi
July 31 - Helsinki, Finland - Olympic Stadium
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