Rock heavyweights Gang Of Youths join campaign to oust Viagogo from Australia and protect fans from scalpers

Box office-busting rockers Gang Of Youths are on a mission to close down ticket scalping site Viagogo in Australia as they wind up their massive national tour.

Box office-busting rockers Gang Of Youths are on a mission to close down ticket scalping site Viagogo in Australia as they wind up their massive Say Yes To Life national tour.

In the middle of their six-night, sold-out stand at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the band have called on fans and other artists to share examples of how they have been ripped off by the “fraudulent operation.”

It is believed hundreds of fans have unwittingly presented scalped tickets to their 21 shows since the Australian leg of the world tour kicked off in October.

Gang of Youths want Viagogo shut down in Australia. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Go Farther In Lightness chart-toppers have sold a record-breaking 50,000 tickets here.

In a lengthy post on their Facebook page, the band called on the industry to join with fans to “eradicate this business from Australia.”

“As many of you have encountered through your businesses (and I’m sure personally through friends and family), Viagogo has become one of the most disgraceful and disruptive scams our live industry has faced in recent years,” the post stated.

“Viagogo impacts promoters, managers, venues, ticket agencies and most importantly artists and their fans.

“A number of different bodies over the past 12 months have been talking to both State and Federal Government regarding this issue. There is an opportunity to help eradicate this business from Australia.

“We are calling for as many examples of how this fraudulent operation has affected your business, additionally, we are encouraging artists to also post on their socials so fans can reply with real-life examples of how they have been affected by Viagogo.”

Peking Duck warned fans against buying from the website during their Australian tour. Picture: Dylan Robinson

The site advertised tickets for the completely sold out concert on Tuesday for between $80 and $202 on Monday afternoon.

The band’s team state they will collate the examples to present to the ALP to assist their campaign pledge to close the site in Australia.

Gang of Youths aren’t the only artists warning fans to not buy tickets from the site.

Peking Duk and The Rubens called out Viagogo during their tours earlier this year when they discovered dozens of fans had bought tickets from the site believing it to be a legitimate resale platform.

An investigation by Music Junkee into the impact of Viagogo on the FOMO festival found there were about 2000 complaints about fake tickets, representing five to 10 per cent of the total number of available tickets.

The Rubens were not happy when their fans got stung by scalpers. Picture: Supplied.

German rockers Rammstein took the site to a German court to prevent tickets to their in-demand European shows landing on the fan resale sites approved by the band.

Viagogo have been forbidden to “allow the sale of tickets for the 2019 Rammstein stadium concerts in Germany”, and “assert that they are valid tickets for entry”.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Viagogo are facing off in the Federal Court, with the ACCC alleging misleading or deceptive conduct, including through the use of the word use “official” in Google advertisements.

Submissions about your experience with the site should be sent to [e-mail] by Wednesday.