Sleep Token: the ugly mess of tickets

The band’s upcoming North American concert series Sleep Tokens is one of the most anticipated heavy rock tours of 2024. So eagerly awaited, in fact, that it has attracted touts and bots, much to the irritation of the mysterious British band’s fan base.

Sleep Token’s American audience took to social media to express their displeasure over a failed ticket pre-sale last week, leaving tickets sold out in most markets and in the hands of flippers (those who buy and resell at prices increased).

Many of those who signed up for pre-sale ticket codes did not receive them at the promised time, and some even received them a day late after the tickets sold out.

The tour’s promoter, AEG Presents, sent an apologetic email to fans after the issue, stating: “While our intentions were good, to put it simply: we failed. Our emails and sales codes were sent on time but delivered to you late. And while there are many reasons for this, there are no excuses. We abandoned you and the band.”

Now Sleep Token has come forward to reassure fans that tickets stolen by scalpers and bots – some worth up to $10,000 – are being identified and cancelled.

“Tickets for the North American “Teeth of God” tour were quickly sold out, except for a limited remaining portion in Montreal,” the band wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Meanwhile, so-called ‘bot/scalper’ purchases are identified and deleted, before being redistributed so they can be allocated to genuine followers. Please stay informed if you would like to participate.”

While the cancellations will hopefully open up some tickets to potential concertgoers at a realistic price, some die-hard fans have already splurged on tickets, but they may be cancelled.

Someone didn’t like the solution and commented on the band’s Instagram profile: “What if we got fooled and bought tickets from a scalper to be able to attend your show? I’ll be really pissed off for not having received my code and for having shelled out hundreds of dollars for tickets so I could see you and not be able to only because those tickets will be cancelled.”