A few days ago, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell responded to a fan’s angry tweet with an offering of free tickets.
Now, that fan has issued an apology to Isbell.
Videos by American Songwriter
“@JasonIsbell let me start off by saying I am sorry for what I said, those words came out of frustration,” wrote the fan, Sanford Ader, on Sunday (November 19). ‘I am truly humbled by you putting me and my dad on your guest list and I cannot thank you enough. Hopefully, you read this tweet. Again thank you so much, see you in March,”
Responded Isbell, “Thanks Sanford. Hope y’all enjoy the show.”
The exchange started at the end of the week when Ader tweeted to the Americana star, writing in a now-since deleted post, “My dad is a huge fan and found out you are coming to Rapid City SD. Tickets are 350 dollars a piece for floor tickets. Guess you don’t really want to play for the working people anymore”
Isbell’s response in a “quote tweet” that’s also been deleted: “1: Those are the most expensive tickets and there are some available for much less 2: You’re on the guest list plus 1. Y’all have fun.”
Well now, the two have done what rarely happens on social media: made up. Kudos to both of them.
Isbell isn’t the only artist addressing ticketing matters these days, of course. Famously, tickets for Taylor Swift concerts have been stalled, paused, and caused a ruckus for fans who wanted to get a glimpse of the “Anti-Hero” singer on her forthcoming tour.
Swift recently responded, saying she won’t be making excuses for anyone regarding the ticket situation. Read more about that HERE.
It seems the cost of concert tickets is going through the roof seemingly more so each week. That reality prompted HBO’s John Oliver to devote an entire segment of his show, Last Week Tonight, to Ticketmaster and its gouging of fans.
In the 20-minute segment, Oliver roasted Ticketmaster for exorbitant surcharges, fees, and price gouging, which included sometimes raising the price of tickets many, many times over—sometimes even 7,000%.
Oliver highlighted the Ticketmaster merger with Live Nation, which he says probably should never have happened. He also talks about Pearl Jam’s attempt to circumvent Ticketmaster in the ’90s, which didn’t exactly work out the way the band had hoped.
“The average price for a popular concert has more than tripled since the mid-’90s, which vastly outpaced inflation—and that’s before the resale market kicks in, adding its own problems,” Oliver said.
Photo Alysse Gafkjen / Sacks & Co.