Ticketek apologises after barcode entry fails record-breaking Ed Sheeran concert

Ed Sheeran fans have been warned to download their tickets to Friday’s concert early after a barcode glitch led to long delays for hordes of concert-goers on Thursday night.

Ticketek on Friday apologised to fans, many of whom were forced to queue outside the ticket giant’s MCG office to get their entry passes printed before the record-breaking Ed Sheeran concert on Thursday.

Ed Sheeran performs at the MCG on Thursday night.Credit: Rick Clifford

Concert goer Angelica James said the Ticketek app failed to load the barcode of the tickets used to scan fans through the gates. Others were unable to add tickets into their digital wallets.

Tickets for the concert were only able to be accessed via the ticketing giant’s app.

“[The app showed] the order number, customer ID and seating information but the thing that didn’t come up was the barcode,” James said. “It would just continue to load and then time out.”

She made her way to the front of the queue, assuming she would be able to get through the gate by showing the other details of her tickets.

Ed Sheeran performs to a sold-out crowd at the MCG on Thursday night.Credit: Rick Clifford

“It wasn’t until we got to the front that they were saying ‘no you cannot come through unless you have the barcode’,” she said.

Eventually, those clustered around the front of the line waiting for the app to load were told to head to the Ticketek office to get their tickets printed.

“There were thousands of people lining up [at the Ticketek office]. It was a sea. You literally couldn’t even tell there was a queue.”

James joined the line for the office, but as the start time for the concert edged closer, she tried her luck at another gate. They let her in with the other ticketing information she had on the app.

“We got to our seats with six minutes to spare. And that’s only because Ed was running a little bit late,” she said.

A spokesperson from Ticketek said a small number of app users were affected by the issue, which prevented users from accessing the barcode.

“Ticketek apologises to those fans who experienced a delay in entering the MCG for Ed Sheeran’s concert last night,” the spokesperson said.

“We thank fans for their patience whilst Ticketek enabled a solution, which saw all fans admitted prior to the start of the concert.”

Sheeran will perform on Friday night at the MCG for his second and final show in Melbourne.

That show of Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour has broken records for the most number of tickets sold for an Australian concert at 107,000 attendees.

The last time the MCG hosted a crowd of more than 101,000 people was when Hawthorn defeated Carlton in the 1986 VFL grand final. The pre-game entertainment at that game was led by the late Olivia Newton John.

Sheeran trumped record-holder Eminem, who performed in front of 80,708 fans at the stadium as part of his Rapture world tour in 2019.

Other large concerts at the MCG included Sound Relief (80,518 in 2009), Billy Joel (76,339 in 2022), and Guns N’ Roses (73,756 in 2017).

The largest attendance recorded for a single-day event at the MCG was the Billy Graham Crusade, hosted by the prominent evangelical preacher, which attracted 130,000 people in 1959.

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