Jackson to play 30 London O2 concerts?

[Perdita]

TOUTS swooped to grab MICHAEL JACKSON tickets yesterday — then demanded up to £2,500 a pop just minutes after a ****-up left fuming fans EMPTY-HANDED.
Phone lines jammed and a website crashed as 1.5million people clamoured to snap up the first batch to go on sale for Jacko’s concerts at London’s O2 arena.

Last night he added 18 MORE shows to his ten-night run — amid fury at touts somehow getting their hands on tickets while desperate fans were left with just mega phone bills.


Outraged Rich Diment, 28 — among callers who swamped The Sun to blast the shambles — raged: “I’ve been a Michael Jackson fan all my life. It’s frustrating as well as a rip-off.”

The Bristol insurance worker was among O2 phone customers meant to have been given priority after registering and getting a special code for tickets that went on sale at 7am yesterday.

The rest will be offered to the general public tomorrow.

Rich phoned authorised seller Ticketmaster on the dot but got an automated message saying there were “problems”.

After also battling in vain to buy online he said: “I don’t want to pay a tout, but I may have to.”

Fed-up Matt Rice, 27, of Coventry, was left hanging on the phone for two hours — and was eventually cut off.

He then discovered all the tickets had gone.

The rail worker fumed: “It’s my only chance of ever seeing the King of Pop live.

“I wanted to take my wife Michelle. If I don’t get any when the rest go on sale I’ll have to fork out on the black market.”

Yesterday fan-to-fan online ticket exchange Seatwave was offering two tickets for £2,999.99 — while another seller was asking £5,000 for a pair.

Face value is between £50 and £75. A pair of tickets among the scores being offered on eBay were priced at £1,000.

One gloating tout declared: “I have bought these tickets from Ticketmaster this morning.

“Lots of people with pre-sale codes missed out.”

Ticketmaster blamed a “technical issue” for the chaos and said it was sorry.

Boss Chris Edmonds told how demand was “unprecedented”.

Meanwhile the 20,000-seat arena said: “We apologise.”

Jacko, 50, will earn £35million from his “This Is It” tour.

His London shows — which he says will be his last here — will now run from July 8 until September.

That is not fair

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

We got 4 tickets to this from the pre sale tickets yesterday, i am still yet to decide if i want to go or not

[Perdita]

Michael Jackson has continued to add dates to his O2 residency, which now stretches into September.

The 50-year-old popstar has increased the number of dates to 27 in response to incredible demand. It is still not known how many shows Jackson may end up scheduling in total.

Originally the 'Thriller' singer announced a ten-show run at the London venue, but following the huge response to presale tickets, he has now confirmed another nine.

He now has 11 shows in place for July, nine in August and seven scheduled for September.

Jackson's 'This Is It' concerts will be the singer's first full live shows since his 1996/97 'HIStory' tour. He has described the gigs as his "curtain call", insisting that they will be his last ever in the UK.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster has apologised for "technical problems" that occurred during the ticket sale on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately due to a technical issue, we were unable to facilitate all immediate ticket requests," said managing director Chris Edmonds.

"Apologies to those fans who were unable to log on, but fans should keep on trying to purchase tickets."

[Layne]

Two friends have each got 4 tickets through the presale code thing, i can go if i want but i dont know if i fancy it - Michael is good but i literally only know and like a handful of his songs so i dont know if its worth it.

[Siobhan]

Two friends have each got 4 tickets through the presale code thing, i can go if i want but i dont know if i fancy it - Michael is good but i literally only know and like a handful of his songs so i dont know if its worth it.

Layne.. my friend went to see Jackson when he played Ireland years ago.. didn't like him or really know his music but he said it was one of the best concerts he has ever been too.. plus this is his final concert so you have nothing to lose by going

[Layne]

Yeh thats the other sde of my mind, i mean im sure it will be an AMAZING concert and this is a one time only shot!

[Perdita]

Michael Jackson's residency at London's O2 arena will continue well into 2010 after the singer added more dates to his farewell tour.

The veteran pop star will now play 45 nights at the venue, with seven shows planned for January and February.

Pre-sale tickets for Jackson's first ten dates sold out on Tuesday but some fans complained of "technical problems" trying to register online.

Ticketmaster director Chris Edmonds said demand was "unprecedented".

He added: "Unfortunately due to a technical issue, we were unable to facilitate all immediate ticket requests. Apologies to those fans who were unable to log on, but fans should keep on trying to purchase tickets."

Additional codes are being issued, the organisers said, with registration being dealt with on a first come, first served basis.

The pre-ticket sale will close later with the rest of the tickets going on sale to the general public from 0700 GMT on Friday.

Tickets for the Jackson shows are already being sold on the online auction website eBay.

Prices on the site range from £170 to £10,000, but tickets bought directly from the singer's website or Ticketmaster cost up to £75.

The final date listed on the singer's website is 18 February 2010.

Jackson, who has won 13 Grammy awards, has said this will be the last time he will perform in the UK.

In August and September 2007, Prince played 21 concerts at the O2 arena together with a number of aftershows at its club venue, Indigo.



At this rate he will give concerts until he is old enough to legally retire

[Perdita]

The setlist for Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' shows at London's O2 have reportedly been leaked.

According to The Mirror, the shows will feature the singer's 'Greatest Hits', allaying promoters AEG Live's fears that he may perform tracks from his more recent back catalogue.

"Bosses were concerned that Michael might veer away from his greatest hits," said a source. "He wanted to guarantee that this would not be the case and produced the list to reassure them.

"He's toying with the idea of doing Jackson 5 [songs], and he'll open with a four minute long intro to Billie Jean."

Presale tickets for 30 Jackson concerts sold out yesterday. He has announced further dates today, which stretch into 2010.

The reported setlist is as folows:


'Billie Jean'

'Wanna Be Startin' Something'

'Rock With You'

'The Way You Make Me Feel'

'Don't Stop Till You Get Enough'

'I Just Can't Stop Loving You'

'Human Nature'

'Smooth Criminal'

'Girlfriend'

'Beat It'

'Man in the Mirror'

'One Day In Your Life'

'Heal The World'

'You Are Not Alone'

'Remember The Time'

'Thriller'


If this is true, it should be a great concert.

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Hope that is true, though it is a shame Bad won't be done but still a good bunch of songs

[Bryan]

i'm up at 6:30 tomorrow for tickets! gonna sell them on ebay and make a tidy little profit!