The Cure’s Robert Smith “Sickened” at Ticketmaster Fees

Robert Smith said he is “sickened” by high Ticketmaster fees after The Cure strived for low ticket costs for their upcoming North American Tour.

The band announced a 30-date tour across the U.S. last week. The trek will kick off at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on May 10. The shows will meander around the country before ending on July 1 at the Miami-Dade Arena in Florida.

Prior to the tickets going on sale, Smith wrote to fans an email explaining the decision to keep ticket prices low. “The Cure have agreed all ticket prices, and apart from a few Hollywood Bowl charity seats, there will be no ‘platinum’ or ‘dynamically priced’ tickets on this tour,” he said (quote via NME).

The band took it one step further claiming the tickets would not be “transferable” to minimize “resale and keep prices at face value.”

However, those ambitions were quickly shut down as the Verified Fan sale went live and several fans reported that Ticketmaster fees – including a service fee, facility charge and order processing fee – exceeded the price of the actual tickets.

Smith has responded to the backlash, tweeting that he was “sickened” by the “ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle.”

“To be very clear: the artist has no way to limit them,” he continued. “I have been asking how they are justified. If I get anything coherent by way of an answer I will let you all know.”

He went on to say that he received information that ticket resale company StubHub had pulled listings for almost all the dates except New York, Chicago and Denver due to those cities having “laws protecting scalpers.”

“Please don’t buy from the scalpers – there are still tickets available – it is just a very slow process,” Smith said.

“I will be back if I get anything serious on the tm fees,” he continued. “In the meantime, I am compelled to note down my obvious recurring elephant in the room thought… that if no-one bought from scalpers… then… x.”

This will be The Cure’s first tour in the U.S. since 2016, save performances at Pasadena’s Daydream Festival and Austin City Limits in 2019.

(Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)