Because of a ticketing glitch for international rocker Prince, alarmed Australian fans who had forked out top dollar for front row seats were told they weren't going to have such a VIP view.
On the eve of Prince's Piano and a Microphone solo tour, shocked concertgoers who had purchased A$815 (NZ$882) premium tickets were sent emails telling them there had been a mistake and they now had new seats which were not as close to the stage.
Premium ticket-holders had booked what they believed to be the best seats in the house in the first five rows of the Melbourne State Theatre.
Fairfax reported about 100 ticketholders were told by email days before the first show they were going to be seated in rows 6-15 instead.
The email, sent out at the close of business on Friday, sent fans into a spin and sparked a flurry of complaints on the Facebook page of tour promoters, Dainty Group.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson later blamed the glitch as a human error and confirmed VIP ticket-holders would be seated in their original seats.
"Due to human error, a small number of VIP package customers received email confirmations with incorrect seating details. Fewer than 100 customers were affected across four shows. Ticketmaster has rectified the issue and contacted the impacted patrons," said the spokesperson.
The company also offered disgruntled concertgoers a A$100 gift card as compensation.
Prince is due in Auckland next week to play two shows at ASB Theatre on Wednesday night.
- nzherald.co.nz