writtenbycaitlin

Concert ticket sales are becoming increasingly more difficult as the years go on. In recent years, fans frequently complain of ‘Ticketmaster wars’, being placed into queues with sometimes hundreds of thousands of fans, and also bots. It’s a stressful activity.

But now imagine this, but over the phone. Calling hundreds of times just to get put into a queue. Sitting in a queue, with no visual moving bar, or queue number to let you know how long the wait will be.

But you know the wait will be long, because they probably only have a few people dealing with a lot of calls. And, even in the few instances that it is online, you’re fighting for one of less than a few hundred spaces.

This is concert ticket sales for disabled people.

I had no idea how bad it was, until my first experience of it. Wembley Stadium’s ‘accessible’ booking system is atrocious. I found that out when attempting to get wheelchair accessible tickets for Taylor Swift’s: The Eras Tour.

It’s certainly not accessible. Not everyone has a support system that they can rely on to help them. How can disabled people be expected to keep calling over and over again? Or left waiting for hours when they’re already often experiencing limited energy, or pain? It’s bad enough to expect of a healthy/able bodied person, let alone someone who is already struggling due to disability.

It was the same for Coldplay, where we couldn’t even get through. This time they actually offered the option of a call back. This is slightly better, at least you’re not sat on hold all day. Except they never even called back.

Frankly, after experiencing this repeatedly, I’m jealous of the standard ‘Ticketmaster wars’. 

Some venues are updating their ways of selling accessible tickets. In my experience, I’ve never encountered issues with BP Pulse Live. Their online system runs smoothly, and they are partnered with Access Card.

The O2 are also partnered with Access Card and AXS to sell their tickets online, in a separate sale for accessible tickets. However, when that online system fails, which in my experience today for Gracie Abrams, it did, disabled fans are left with no option but to phone. Once again, no option for a call back, sitting with no idea where you are in the queue, or if there will be anything when you get through. 

There is no option of just buying resale if it doesn’t work out. Or getting spare tickets from someone you know. Those select few tickets are it for us.

Other venues often expect you to just buy a standard ticket, hoping for the best, and then email as quickly as you can to hopefully get it changed to an accessible ticket, and get a companion ticket. Why aren’t we just making these available online in the first place?

What should venues be doing to make it more accessible?

Tickets should be sold online. They should be made available the same ways that any other tickets are. A partnership with Access Card is ideal for this. Just adding the extra step of entering the ID number to add accessible tickets to the map, ensuring they are left for those who need them. And, this would then allow disabled people to buy their tickets the same way as everyone else, and also purchase standard tickets at the same time for any of their non-disabled friends too. 

There should still be a phone line, as not everyone can book online. But these should be made more accessible too. The option of a call back should be offered instantly. You should be told your place in the queue. It should only take one phone call to be placed on hold.

Seating availability

And honestly, I think there should be more accessible seating.

At Wembley Stadium, there are around 400 accessible seats, including wheelchair spaces and ambulant seating. This accounts for 0.44% of all tickets at 90k capacity. At The O2, wheelchair spaces account for around 0.35% at 20k capacity.

In the Uk, around 2% of people are a wheelchair user, and about 25% are disabled. Even just for wheelchair users, this is 5 times the amount that is allowed for with current seating. Now, not all of these people will attend concerts, and not all of these people will require accessible seating. But, it’s certainly much more than 0.4%.

Our odds of getting tickets that we can actually use, are so much slimmer than everyone else’s. It’s unfair and disproportionate.

Disabled people want to enjoy live music just like everyone else!!!

What about VIP?

It is extremely rare that VIP packages are offered with accessible seating. Usually, VIP packages are sold with a GA standing ticket, automatically making them inaccessible to many disabled people.

Other times, there is an option for seated VIP, but not in the wheelchair or ambulant spaces.

This means that disabled people miss out on exclusive merch, lounges, and other perks that are kept out of reach from them. This needs to change!

In my opinion, VIP should be an optional add-on to accessible seating. This is occasionally an option, but rarely.

Gracie Abrams previously offered this on her ‘Good Riddance’ Tour, but unfortunately not for her more recent tours.

Is that all?

No. This is just the struggles that disabled concert goers face before they even go to the concert. Not to mention struggles with access needs not being met in the venue, discrimination, bad views from access platforms/sections, and more. Or, the fact that some venues are still inaccessible to wheelchair users in 2026!

Venues are falling short of their responsibility to provide equal access to their disabled customers, and this needs to be talked about!

Please feel free to share your experiences if you have struggled with this, in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Follow my social media for more content! Including more on live music and life with chronic illness.

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